Childhoods End

Arthur C Clark

by RH Value Publishing

No cover — RH Value Publishing: Childhoods End (Hardcover, 1985, Random House Value Publishing)

Hardcover

English language

Published Sept. 21, 1985 by Random House Value Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-0-517-49115-7

View on OpenLibrary

(165 reviews)

Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens, but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their ships, governing through indirect rule. Decades later, the Overlords eventually show themselves, and their impact on human culture leads to a Golden Age. However, the last generation of children on Earth begin to display powerful psychic abilities, heralding their evolution into a group mind, a transcendent form of life.

58 editions

barbaroig@plaerdemavida.cat reviewed La fi de la infància by Arthur C. Clarke

Clàssic imprescindible

5 stars

Quantes històries hi ha d'invasions alienígenes? Aquí en Clarke ens n'explica una de ben diferent.

Un bon dia, a les ciutats més importants del món, apareixen unes naus alienígenes immenses. Tothom ho té clar al veure-les, la història de la humanitat es troba en un punt d'inflexió, com quan l'ésser humà es va tornar sedentari, o va començar l'escriptura.

Els visitants, que no volen mostrar-se, de seguida ho deixen molt clar: no volen invadir-nos, només volen ajudar-nos a millorar la qualitat de vida de tots els humans. Aconseguir la pau mundial, erradicar la fam i les malalties, etc. L'única condició, a canvi, és abandonar la nostra ambició d'explorar l'espai exterior.

NOTA: si llegiu aquesta edició de Duna Llibres, deixeu la Introducció pel final, ja que explica un espòiler que fa que la primera part perdi una mica la gràcia.

joelchrono reviewed Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

TV and Radio are outdated, but this book is not

5 stars

Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke, is a book about the fate of humanity after they make contact with a benevolent alien race, that helps them reach a Golden Age of progress and peace. So, what if aliens invaded the planet, but they actually helped us build a utopia? And why?

Compared to the previous two books I read, that also deal with Humanity making contact with alien life. Childhood’s End takes place in Earth itself, in a time where humans are barely getting started in the space race, and right when they’re about to take their first steps, they realize they already lost—they are not alone.

These aliens, known as the Overlords, do not come to cause havoc, but they seem to want to help us. They end war, they end animal cruelty, they end racism, divisions and countries. They intend to help humanity achieve a united planet, a …

How this is done, and the events that develop in the novel, are something that I think you should simply read, it flies by, really quickly. The ideas displayed here are really, really interesting. For a book published in 1953, maybe the most aged thing—that is quite charming still—is how TV and radio are the main way information is delivered to people.

The commentary on humanity, consummerism, religion, racism, art, transportation, education, work, politics, and many other topics regarding Earth and how it lives its life under the guidance of the Overlords, is simply super interesting. I had never read a novel by Clarke, but I can see why he remains relevant to this day.

The ideas on display, about humanity, about alien life, about space—and beyond. They are just incredible. The novel was full of moments where I could not believe what I was reading, every time I turned my page there was something happening that only raised the mystery behind the Overlord’s true form, their true motives, the consequences of humanity living in a constant state of peace. The novel is not the longest I’ve read by any means, but its content is really thought-provoking and it just makes you question the things we take for granted even today.

I would dare say it is the most quotable book I’ve read in ages, the statements, the events, those last few chapters. I wasn’t worried about the stakes at hand, I could not even comprehend, I could not even grasp what happened, I could not even get mad. I could only read.

I am so glad I went into this blind. Simply a great book.

It is a bitter thought, but you must face it. The planets you may one day possess. But the stars are not for Man.

—Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End.

Marfey reviewed Childhood's end by Arthur C. Clarke (Pan science fiction)

Old book that got things right.

5 stars

The book was first published in 1951, but painted a future world, that is still believable today.

ManyRoads reviewed Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke

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5 stars

This is an absolutely outstanding, albeit disturbing, tale of the future. It is simply amazing that it was written in the 1950s. I place it in a category of must read science fiction.

Julie R reviewed Childhood's end. by Arthur C. Clarke

1953

3 stars

Written in 1953 and covering Clarke's ideas of modernity and social philosophy, it was interesting to compare reality with the fictional predictions of how to create utopia. Two moments stood out: the invention of birth control and paternity testing leading to the end of "Puritan aberration"; and while he claims, " Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded," he doesn't seem to apply this to systems-thinking. So, there's a lot of racism and patriarchy in a book that is trying to write those things out of fictional existence. I imagine Escher's flawed hand drawing the flawed human. He also had a character outraged at the THREE whole hours of radio/TV consuming people's minds, and how this was a blight on humanity's creativity and thinking. That one he seems to have nailed pretty spot-on. His solution for it was odd, and left out women completely. He kind of glosses over UBI or work-related issues. I suppose that was necessary to keep the focus on the plot, but it's a pretty huge handwavium for a utopia. I would have preferred to hear more about those things, and less about the flying transportation. There was a lot in the travel parts that I found silly. Did they not have international travel in 1953? [they did: 1945] It certainly hasn't cured any societal ills. As far as the actual plot of the book goes - meh. The aliens were a fun surprise, but beyond that I found it kinda dull.

sifuCJC reviewed Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Good look into human existence

4 stars

This book holds up fairly well. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe overly heavy prose or a strict adherence to science. But Clarke just tells the story.

Of course there's anachronisms; it was written in 1953. Like the jarring use of the n-word, even though he uses it to express it's silliness. And although superbly advanced, they still use TVs and faxes. Kinda funny.

But he gets the important things right making the extrapolations thoughtful, even to us future-people. Like check this passage where he gets it so wrong (the time) yet perfectly right:

"If you went without sleep and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that's available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges--absorbing but never creating. Did you know that the average viewing time per person is now three hours a day?" …

This book holds up fairly well. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe overly heavy prose or a strict adherence to science. But Clarke just tells the story.

But he gets the important things right making the extrapolations thoughtful, even to us future-people. Like check this passage where he gets it so wrong (the time) yet perfectly right:

Worth a read for its scientific journey into the mystical.

marksutherland reviewed Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection)" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

As influential as this book may have been, it's not aged well. It feels like a counterpoint to The War of the World's: instead of "what if invasive colonialism happened to us?" resulting in death and destruction, we get benevolent dictators and a passive population that just rolls with it. The two women in the book are both objectified and infantalised, and while a prominent character in the book is black, there's some distinctly awkward race chat when he's introduced. This might have been considered progressive for the 50s, it seems well intended, but it's still pretty ignorant. The books conclusion is a bummer that again relies on the entire population of the earth shrugging when it hits an existential crisis. Always interesting to go back into the greatest hits of the genre, but I'm not sure this improves on TWotW in any meaningful way.

Paudie reviewed Childhoods End by RH Value Publishing

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3 stars

It's grand. A bit tedious towards the end.

Kaslov reviewed Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

What a wonderful book, especially in its ending and there is nothing I can say to summarize or analyze this book better than this quote:

“So this, thought Jan, with a resignation that lay beyond all sadness, was the end of man. It was an end that no prophet had foreseen – an end that repudiated optimism and pessimism alike.

Yet it was fitting: it had the sublime inevitability of a great work of art. Jan had glimpsed the universe in all its immensity, and knew now that it was no place for man. He realized at last how vain, in the ultimate analysis, had been the dream that lured him to the stars.

For the road to the stars was a road that forked in two directions, and neither led to a goal that took any account of human hopes or fears.”

Paul J reviewed Childhoods End by RH Value Publishing

Review of 'Childhoods End' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I enjoyed this book. Some of the technology references are a bit dated (the book was written some time ago). That said, they didn't detract from the story, which was fascinating. The book managed to retain a few plot twists until the end, which was really nice.

Pentapod reviewed Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke

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3 stars

I was quite enjoying this "science fiction classic" about Earth's first contact with vastly advanced aliens, right up until the point where telepathy and other paranormal powers became a thing, and then it lost me. That's not science fiction, and it's also just a big huge deus ex machina plot device. Meh. I could deal with there not being a single female character of the slightest interest, given this was written in the late 50s, but don't call it science fiction if your plot is going to revolve around phenomena that the book itself describes as unexplainable by science. Blah.

Matt McManus reviewed Childhood's end by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's end" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This was the moment when history held its breath, and the present sheared asunder from the past as an iceberg splits from its frozen, parent cliffs, and goes sailing out to sea in lonely pride.

Perspective is a fickle thing. You can go about your days thinking you’re engaged with your life. That you’re working towards increasing in knowledge & understanding. Though you continue to hope to grow in depth and awareness, you feel like you’ve don’t a good job mining the depths of yourself and what it means to be human.Then, as if a freight train has passed with in inches of your face, you are startled into awareness that you are nothing more than kid swimming in a back yard kiddie pool.For me, Childhood’s End is the freight train and Arthur C. Clarke is the conductor.To any fan of SciFi, the premise of this book is simple, it’s concepts familiar, and it’s characters relatable. However, it’s profoundly engaging and completely delightful. At some point you realize this book was written in 1953 and you’re hit by the train.Clarke is a master.I’ve had long, involved conversations with several people about this book. Each one about different aspects of it. Many about thoughts that seemed like throw-aways during the course of the story but had a depth that only revealed itself over time.I will read this book again and probably very soon.

paparomeo reviewed Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's End" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow, just wow.

neilernst reviewed Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection)" on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Not science fiction so much as a peek into the neuroses of the 1950s - nuclear weapons, ESP, and racial harmony.

Matthew Royal reviewed Childhood's end by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of "Childhood's end" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Well done, Mr. Clarke! I loved how the more I read, the more he subverted my expectations. Clearly written, beautifully structured and presented. I'm eager to read more Transhumanist sci-fi to see how well it meshes with modern interpretations of man's eventual ascension.