Arthur C. Clarke

Pen-names: Charles Willis, E. G. O'Brien --------------------------------------------------- "2001: A Space Odyssey" (nv) (Space Odyssey) (also as "Sentinel of Eternity") © Ten Story Fantasy, Spr 1951 novel: New American Library, 1968 --all time novel : 1975 Locus /28 (tie) --all time sf novel : 1987 Locus /38 --sf novel : 1998 Locus /27 --/ second place space sf novel --/ idea award --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "2010: Odyssey Two" (nv) (Space Odyssey) © 1982, Ballantine Del Rey --novel : 1983 Hugo --sf novel : 1983 Locus /2 --novel : 1983 SF Chronicle /3 --/ third place space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "2061: Odyssey Three" (nv) (Space Odyssey) © 1987, Ballantine Del Rey --sf novel : 1988 Locus /10 --/ fourth place space sf novel --/ wonder award "3001: The Final Odyssey" (nv) (Space Odyssey) © 1997, Ballantine Del Rey --sf novel : 1998 Locus /10 --/ cool sf novel ---------------------------------------------- "Against the Fall of Night" (exp. into "The City And The Stars") (Against the Fall of Night) © Startling Stories, Nov 1948 novel: Gnome Press, 1953 --/ FIRST place sf novella --/ idea award --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ awesome scale This book had the most profound effect on my life. Hardly any other reader would've had such circumstances in which I read it, so my opinion of this book may be biased. This was the FIRST (!) Science Fiction English-language book available to general public in the stores of communist-crazed Russia (in Pan Books edition), this was also the first SF book I read while learning English, so I translated it word-by-word. I have not re-read it since 1984, so my impressions are clouded by the Fog of Time. However, I want it to stay that way - the mystique and glamour of this book is going to recede into eternity, passing the occasional black holes of critique and publishing oblivion, and finally coming to rest in the center of the Galaxy, enigmatic and unbearably bright. (hmm... did I pick up the cosmological language from that novella somewhere along the way?) Getting back to the review: Arthur Clarke's youthful enthusiasm spills over the pages with the most tastefully appointed "coming-of-age" / "end-of-times revelation" kind of story in the history of pulps. Hardly anything approached the intensity of this novella and sheer audacity of scale ever since in the literature, mostly because the pulp constraints dictated the length to be very minimal, and Clarke' concepts had to be concetrated in ... not even a novel! Granted, its been expanded into a novel, and not just once (I have not read Gregory Benford's version as yet) - but as my review of "The City and the Stars" testifies, this singular chunk of "wide-eyed adventure" reads better, perhaps, in a novella form. Brevity is certainly a virtue. Your mind's imagination can expand upon the vista, if you so desire. The IMAX-large narrative consists of "escaping the closed, stagnated" world of the last City, getting on the quest for Universal meaning and uncovering of stupendous artifacts, "urban/pastoral way of life" conflict, and many hints of Something Larger than yourself or your world. Edmond Hamilton might've written it. Brackett might've written it (with less optimism in tone, perhaps). Clarke however did it, with grace and a surprisingly "non-stuffy" style. So read it and weep for the modern sarcastic, sceptical, cynical and cold "masterpieces" littering the shelves in Chapters. Old school still rules. review: 12-Jul-06 (read in 1984) ---------------------------------------------- "All the Time in the World" © Startling Stories, Jul 1952 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 "An Ape About the House" © Dude, May 1962 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "At the End of the Orbit" (also as "Hate") © IF, Nov 1961 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool sf story "The Awakening" © Zenith, Feb 1942 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "Before Eden" © Amazing, Jun 1961 Tales of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool space sf story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "Big Game Hunt" (also as "The Reckless Ones") (White Hart series) © Adventure, Oct 1956 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 "The Call Of The Stars" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Oct 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story "Castaway" (as by Charles Willis) © Fantasy, Apr 1947 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "Childhood's End" (nv) (Exp. from "Guardian Angel") © New Worlds, Win 1950 novel: Ballantine, 1953 --all time novel : 1975 Locus /2 --all time sf novel : 1987 Locus /3 --sf novel (before 1990) : 1998 Locus /8 --book : 1956 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /9 (tie) --book : 1966 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /6 --/ fourth place sf novel --/ wonder award ---------------------------------------------- "The City and the Stars" (nv) (exp. of "Against the Fall of Night") (Against the Fall of Night) © 1956, Ballantine Books --all time novel : 1975 Locus /17 (tie) --all time sf novel : 1987 Locus /32 --sf novel : 1998 Locus /34 --book : 1956 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /22 (tie) --book : 1966 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /7 --/ second place sf novel --/ idea award --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ awesome scale "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again." - quote from the book. Here is more: "Like a glowing jewel, the city lay upon the breast of the desert. Once it had known change and alteration, but now Time passed it by. Night and day fled across the desert's face, but in the streets of Diaspar it was always afternoon, and darkness never came." Or this is the blurb from Amazon: "Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar; for millennia its protective dome shut out the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rules the stars. But then, as legend had it, the invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man. A Unique to break through Diaspar's stifling inertia, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders." Somewhere in the future there is a director, who will make a movie out of this book, but he will fail miserably. You can not render the images that sweep the reader's mind. This novel could perhaps benefit from more fluid style of writing and more polished prose - but it remains the splendid canvas on which your imagination can fly, short, of course, of some Stapledon, Dante, or Tolkien's world-building. Solid second place for Classic SF. review: 12-Jul-06 (read in 1984) ---------------------------------------------- "Crime On Mars" (also as "Trouble With Time") © F&SF, Jun 1961 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "The Cruel Sky" © Boy's Life, Jul 1968 The Wind From The Sun, 1972 --/ cool sf story "Crusade" © The Farthest Reaches, ed. J. Elder, 1968 The Wind From The Sun, 1972 "Death and the Senator" © Analog, May 1961 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "The Deep Range" (nv) © Star Science Fiction # 3, 1954 novel: Harcourt Brace, 1957 --/ fourth place sf novel --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "Dial "F" for Frankenstein" © Playboy, Jan 1965 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 "Dog Star" (also as "Moondog") © Galaxy, Apr 1962 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Dolphin Island" (nv) © 1963, Gollancz --/ cool sf novel "Earthlight" (nv) © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Aug 1951 novel: Ballantine, 1955 --/ third place space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "Encounter at Dawn" (also as "Encounter in the Dawn") (exp. into "Expedition to Earth") © Startling Stories, May 1949 © Amazing, Jun 1953 novel: Expedition to Earth, 1954 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "Exile of the Eons" © Super Science Stories, Mar 1950 Expedition to Earth, 1953 --/ cool sf story "Expedition to Earth" (nv) (also as "Encounter in the Dawn") (part - "History Lesson") © Startling Stories, May 1949 © Amazing, Jun 1953 novel: Expedition to Earth, 1954 --/ cool sf novel "A Fall of Moondust" (nv) © Harcourt Brace & World, 1961 --novel : 1963 Hugo --/ third place space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "Feathered Friend" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Sep 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story "The Fires Within" (as by E. G. O'Brien) © Fantasy, Aug 1947 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --/ cool sf story "The Food of the Gods" © Playboy, May 1964 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "The Fountains of Paradise" (nv) © 1979, Gollancz / Ballantine --novel : 1980 Hugo W --novel : 1980 Nebula W --sf novel : 1980 Locus /3 --novel : 1980 British SF --/ cool sf novel --/ idea award "Freedom Of Space" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Oct 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story "Guardian Angel" (Exp. into "Childhood's End") © New Worlds, Win 1950 --/ fourth place sf novella --/ wonder award "The Hammer of God" (nv) © 1992, Time Magazine novel : Bantam Books, 1994 --sf novel : 1994 Locus /11 --short story : 1993 Locus /11 --/ cool sf novel "Hate" (also as "At the End of the Orbit") © IF, Nov 1961 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool sf story "The Haunted Spacesuit" (also as "Who's There?") © New Worlds, Nov 1958 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool space sf story "Herbert George Roberts Wells, Esq" © IF, Dec 1967 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "History Lesson" (part of "Expedition to Earth") © Amazing, Jun 1953 novel: Expedition to Earth, 1954 "I Remember Babylon" © Playboy, May 1960 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Imperial Earth" (nv) © 1975, Gollancz / Ballantine --novel : 1976 Locus /6 --novel : 1977 Locus /7 --hall of fame : 2001 Spectrum W --/ cool sf novel "Inheritance" (as by Charles Willis) © New Worlds, Mar 1947 Astounding, Sep 1948 Expedition to Earth, 1953 --/ cool sf story "Inside the Comet" (also as "Into the Comet") © F&SF, Oct 1960 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool space sf story "Into the Comet" (also as "Inside the Comet") © F&SF, Oct 1960 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool space sf story "The Invention" (also as "Patent Pending") (White Hart) © Argosy, Nov 1954 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 "Jupiter Five" © IF, May 1953 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --/ cool space sf story --/ wonder award "The Last Command" © Bizarre! Mystery Magazine, Nov 1965 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 "Let There Be Light" © Dundee Sunday Telegraph, Sep 1957 also - Playboy, Feb 1958 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "The Light of Darkness" © Playboy, Jun 1966 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 "The Lion of Comarre" (nv) © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Aug 1949 Lion of Comarre & Against the Fall of Night, 1968 --/ third place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "The Longest SF Story Ever Told" (also as "A Recursion in Metastories" - see) "Loophole" © Astounding, Apr 1946 Expedition to Earth, 1953 (russ. as "Perevertysh") --/ cool sf story "The Lost Worlds Of 2001" (coll) (Space Odyssey) © Signet Books, 1972 --/ third place space sf collection --/ wonder award --/ awesome scale "Love That Universe" © Escapade, 1967 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 "Maelstrom II" © Playboy, Apr 1965 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 --/ cool sf story --/ adventure award "A Meeting with Medusa" © Playboy, Dec 1971 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 --novella : 1972 Hugo --short fiction : 1972 Locus /2 (tie) --novella : 1973 Nebula W --foreign short story : 1974 Seiun W --/ second place space sf novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ idea award --/ style award "The Men in the Flying Saucer" (also as "Trouble with the Natives") © Lilliput, Feb 1951 "Moondog" (also as "Dog Star") © Galaxy, Apr 1962 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Moving Spirit" (White Heart) © 1957, Tales from the White Heart "The Neutron Tide" © Galaxy, May 1970 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 "Next: The Planets!" (nf) © 1969, America Report On Planet Three, 1972 "Nine Billion Names Of God" © Star Science Fiction # 1, 1953 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --short fiction : 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /7 (tie) --short story : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /8 (tie) --/ cool sf story --/ idea award --/ humour award ---------------------------------------------- "No Morning After" © Time to Come, ed. A. Derleth, 1954 also in - F&SF, Jul 1956 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --/ fourth place sf story --/ humour award Quite a funny story, actually. It has the sun going nova in a week and powerful aliens who discovered that they can only contact one person on Earth -- and he is drunk. review: 10-Jul-06 (read in 1983) ---------------------------------------------- "The Other Side Of The Sky" (coll) © Harcourt Brace, 1958 --/ cool sf collection "The Other Side Of The Sky" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Sep 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 "The Other Tiger" © Fantastic Universe, Jun 1953 --/ fourth place sf story --/ idea award --/ rare find "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting" © Dude, Mar 1959 Tales of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Out of the Sun" © IF, Feb 1958 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "The Pacifist" (White Hart Tales) © Fantastic Universe, Oct 1956 Tales From The White Hart, 1957 "Passer-by" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Oct 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 "Patent Pending" (also as "The Invention") (White Hart) © Argosy, Nov 1954 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 "Playback" © Playboy, Dec 1966 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "The Possessed" © Dynamic Science Fiction, Mar 1953 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 "Profiles Of The Future" (nf) © 1963, Bantam Books "Quarantine" © IASFM, Spr 1977 The Wind From The Sun, 1987 edition "The Reckless Ones" (also as "Big Game Hunt") (White Hart series) © Adventure, Oct 1956 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 ---------------------------------------------- "A Recursion in Metastories" (also as "The Longest SF Story Ever Told") © Galaxy, Oct 1966 A Wind From The Sun, 1972 --/ cool sf story Short-short about recursion in fiction. Great idea. It's a pity that spammers already applied it to some blogs. They take one post and unleash their robots, which make it curl up on itself, endlessly re-iterate and never die. Endless (Nigerian) recursion seems to end up in my email account, too. ---------------------------------------------- "Refugee" (also as "This Earth of Majesty") © F&SF, Jul 1955 "Rendezvous with Rama" (nv) (Rama series) © New Writings in SF # 22, 1973 novel : Gollancz, 1973 --novel : 1974 Hugo W --novel : 1974 Nebula W --winner : 1974 Campbell Memorial W --novel : 1974 Locus W --1974 British SF W --novel : 1974 Jupiter W --all time novel : 1975 Locus /20 (tie) --foreign novel : 1980 Seiun W --all time sf novel : 1987 Locus /25 --sf novel : 1998 Locus /36 --/ third place space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ adventure award "Report On Planet Three" (nf) © 1972, Bantam Books "Rescue Party" © Astounding, May 1946 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --short fiction : 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /9 (tie) --/ cool sf story "Reunion" © Infinity # 2, ed. R. Hoskins, 1971 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "The Reversed Man" (also as "Technical Error" - see) © 1950, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Jun "The Road To The Sea" (also as "Seeker of the Sphinx") © Two Complete Science-Adventure Books, Spr 1951 Tales of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ fourth place sf novella "The Sands of Mars" (nv) © Sidgwick & Jackson, 1951 --/ cool space sf novel --/ adventure award "Saturn Rising" © F&SF, Mar 1961 Tales of Ten Worlds, 1962 "The Secret" (also as "The Secret of the Men in the Moon") © This Week, Aug 1963 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "Security Check" © F&SF, Jun 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 russ. as "Iz Kontrazvedki" "Seeker of the Sphinx" (also as "The Road to the Sea") © Two Complete Science-Adventure Books, Spr 1951 Tales of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ fourth place sf novella "The Sentinel" (also as "Sentinel of Eternity") © Ten Story Fantasy, Spr 1951 Expedition to Earth, 1953 --short fiction : 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /17 (tie) --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "The Shining Ones" © Playboy, Aug 1964 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 russ. as "Svechenie" "Silence, Please!" (as by Charles Willis) (White Hart series) © Science Fantasy, 1950 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 "A Slight Case of Sunstroke" (also as "The Stroke of the Sun") © Galaxy, Sep 1958 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "The Songs of Distant Earth" © IF, Jun 1958 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story "Special Delivery" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Sep 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 "The Star" © Infinity Science Fiction, Nov 1955 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --short story : 1956 Hugo W --short fiction : 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll /2 (tie) --short story : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /3 --/ cool sf story "The Steam-Powered Word Processor" © Analog, Sep 1986 "The Stroke of the Sun" (also as "A Slight Case of Sunstroke") © Galaxy, Sep 1958 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Summertime on Icarus" (also as "The Hottest Piece of Real Estate in the Solar System") © Vogue, Sep 1960 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool sf story "Sunjammer" (also as "The Wind from the Sun") © Boys Life, Mar 1964 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award "Superiority" © F&SF, Aug 1951 Expedition to Earth, 1953 "Take A Deep Breath" (The Other Side Of The Sky series) © Infinity, Sep 1957 The Other Side Of The Sky, 1958 "Tales Of Ten Worlds" (coll) © 1962, Harcourt Brace ---------------------------------------------- "Technical Error" (also as "The Reversed Man") © Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1949 also in - F&SF, Dec 1946 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --/ cool sf story The idea that a person who had been "flipped" left to right might have trouble surviving because of the peculiar attributes of organic molecules. A huge "supercooled superconducting" generator is accidentally given a surge of current. An engineer at the center of its field somehow flipped about his central left-right plane. review: 04-Jul-06 (read in 1984) ---------------------------------------------- "This Earth of Majesty" (also as "Refugee") © F&SF, Jul 1955 "Time's Arrow" © Science Fantasy, 1950 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 Across the Sea of Stars, 1959 "Transit of Earth" © Playboy, Jan 1971 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 "Trouble with the Natives" (also as "The Men in the Flying Saucer") © Marvel Science Stories, May 1951 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 "Trouble With Time" (also as "Crime On Mars") © F&SF, Jun 1961 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 "Ultimate Melody" (White Hart) © IF, Feb 1957 Tales from the White Hart, 1957 "Venture To The Moon: Green Fingers" (russ. as "Zelenye Puli") © F&SF, Jan 1957 "Venture To The Moon: Question Of Residence" (russ. as "Obezyana V Dome") © F&SF, Feb 1956 "Walk in the Dark" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Aug 1950 Reach for Tomorrow, 1956 --/ fourth place space sf story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ idea award --/ shock value "The Wall of Darkness" © Super Science Stories, Jul 1949 The Other Side of the Sky, 1958 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award "Who's There?" (also as "The Haunted Spacesuit") © New Worlds, Nov 1958 Tales Of Ten Worlds, 1962 --/ cool space sf story "The Wind from the Sun" (also as "Sunjammer") © Boys Life, Mar 1964 The Wind from the Sun, 1972 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --------------------------------------------

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