Clarke, Arthur C.

• Cradle (2)

  • This probably isn't the best of Clarke's works, but I haven't actually sat down and read anything else by him (though 2001 and Rama are on my list). It is a story about a bunch of skin-divers who are looking for what they think it some kind of buried treasure. I wasn't too impressed. In fact, I was annoyed.

• Childhood's End (7)

  • Based on the advice of not a few readers of my pages, I gave Clarke a second chance and have now begun to go back and read some of his "classics". This was the first, and it's a book worthy of its good reputation. Aliens appear in the sky over the world and proceed to tell the human race what's what, acting sort of like a chaperone for keeping the peace and helping mankind along in its maturation. But the aliens have some troubling secrets... As is the case with most "classic" SF, this book seems to be more philosophical in nature than most modern SF I'm used to, and it is a nice change of pace. With books like this defining the genre, I'm a little surprised the whole field of Science Fiction gets such short shrift in the big picture of Literary Criticism. If you're like me and have only gotten into reading seriously in the last two decades, do yourself a favor and find some of the classics like this book at the used bookstore. I'll be reading and reviewing more soon.

• Rendevous with Rama (7)

  • This book opens as a strange, rotating cylindrical body is observed on a comet-like path coming into the solar system about 50-100 years from the present (the habitable planets of the solar system are colonized by this time). The story is about the travails of an exploratory team which goes to the object called Rama and tries to unravel the secrets of this hollow, weirdly structured world. I really liked the attention paid to physical detail in this story...true to the definition of _science_ fiction. The story is fairly unpredictable and also disappointing in its brevity. Of course, that's what sequels are for... A true classic and worth finding in a used bookstore. A refreshing change of pace from the much more "frantic" pace (often with one or two too many plotlines) of more recent SF.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (9)

  • To all of you out there who wrote me letters advising me to read more classic science fiction like early Clarke, I thank you. "2001" is a really gripping story, even if you're already familiar with the fabulous movie. Clarke is one of the very few authors who seems to have the right "feel" for what space is like...very lonely and very dangerous. Perhaps the most terrifying pages in any novel I've EVER read (Stephen King included) began with the first inkling that something might be wrong with HAL 9000. All in all, the best word I can use to describe this novel is "majestic". If I could change one thing, it would be the disappointing final section. It was reasonably good, but it couldn't live up to the promise from the rest of the story. Better to end with "It's full of stars!" Do yourself a favor in any case and dig this up at a used bookstore if you haven't read it!

• 2010 (8)

  • This book is a sequel to the movie, rather than the book, as explained to some extent in the introductory notes. This is a worthy successor to 2001, as a new team of explorers is sent to Jupiter to rendevous with the now-abandoned spacecraft from the previous mission. The characters are well-drawn and compelling, and the plot is tense and interesting. What else can I say? Go read it.

• April 19, 2019

  • Written in 1986, this book (I've only found it in hardback at used bookstores) attempts to predict what life will be like in 50 years, on the anniversary of the moon landing. Already, there are enough changes that you can see precisely where he is WAY off base and where he is chillingly on target (he predicts the Web in this book, but perhaps not quite so soon, but he also predicts a US-Soviet conventional war in the first 20 years of the next century, with NATO vs Warsaw Pact). Still, it's readable, and for real Clarke fans, it's kinda neat to get some insights into how he comes up with his ideas for SF. If you can find it cheap, it's worth it.

• The Deep Range (7)

  • This book follows the career of a very talented man who, after a traumatic experience in deep space, embarks on a career in the service of the World Food Organization, tending to the gigantic herds of whales at sea now being used for a significant fraction of the world's food supply and other resources. Written in 1957, this book's tone seems typical of the optimism of the SF writers of the time, who looked past the Cold War and envisioned a united world government at peace. I wonder whether John Lennon was influenced at all by Clarke's work. Anyway, most of the story is an excuse to describe the details of this new world system, and it is very interesting. The plot is a little disjointed, covering as it does 25+ years in what by today's standards is a very short novel. I enjoyed the book, though I thought the end came entirely too suddenly with a few loose ends left hanging.

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