Childhood's End

[Steve Jordan]

That's a shame. Many of his books are available as e-books... if you'd be willing to read them on a computer, handheld PC, or smartphone. I can recommend any of the earlier ones, but his more recent collaboration books aren't considered the best.

[Connavar]

It doesnt matter cause if like an author i go to my bookshop and buy his best books/short stories.

I am hoping this is good cause i havent read that much SF. I have read Assimov's Foundation series,Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy and Starship Troopers. Thats it cause i didnt read that much SF before but now i want more and i choosed ACC cause he is seen as one of the greatest.

[Eleniel]

I loved Childhood's End! It's one of the few Clarke books the library has, and definitely one of my favourites. Another Clarke I loved was Earthlight, especially the last-but-one chapter.

Sagan's Contact is also brilliant. Good characters, strong plot, brilliant ending... I couldn't put it down.

[j. d. worthington]

CoR: It's been quite a while, but yes, I think you'll like it. It is definitely one of the classics of the genre, and deservedly so...

[a-champ-production]

I found it ammusing that in "3001: Final Odyssey", the book's ending mirrored that of the film "Independence Day" and not to mention that the film took the beginning from Childhood's End.

[manephelien]

Oh, indeed. And especially that 3001 and Independence Day were released quite close together. In his afterword, Clarke lamented the fact that more people would probably accuse Clarke of plagiarizing ID than the other way around. 3001 was written before, but published after ID came out.

[Connavar]

Still you have to be a noob to think Clarke would sink that low that he would plagiarize a crappy Hollywood movie.

Its not like he is desperate to make money or get fame after how long he has been big in the genre,

[Didntisaywhen]

Well, Sooby and the rest, I am replying so that you can maybe help me out one day on suggesting that Arthur C. Clark's science fiction novel Childhood's End be brought to the movies as a cinematic masterpiece! I wonder who would be skilled enough to bring this project to fruition? I'm looking forward to any such film with great anticipation, movie ticket money from myself and my wife and a fully functioning DVD player!

[j. d. worthington]

Are you sure you want any of the hamfisted morons making movies these days coming anywhere near that book?

[Steve Jordan]

I only hope that, if Childhood's End is ever made into a movie, that it's not being spearheaded by anyone in Hollywood. The last time American producers tried to make Childhood's End, we ended up with V. (And I don't mean V for Vendetta!)

Well, okay, I suppose a few Hollywood types could do it, if they really set their mind to it. I liked Spielberg's War of the Worlds, for example, and he proved that he could be very faithful to the spirit of the original story (as opposed to the fifties movie, which was very different). The catch is, would Hollywood willingly bankroll a story that doesn't have space battles, Klingons with ray guns, and exploding planets?

Childhood's End has shockingly familiar aliens, awe-inspiring scale, exactly one failed kidnapping attempt, and an Earth that (well, why spoil it?)... more like 2001 than Star Wars. Sell that to Paramount.

[Shinya]

I've heard this book has been accused for its antichristianism in the US and European countries. Is it right?
In my country, Japan, Childhood's End has always been honored as the very best of science fictions. Of course I love it, too.

[Steve Jordan]

I'd never heard that, though I suppose it's entirely possible. There are a number of elements in the story that go against traditional Christian dogma (which I won't spoil here, in case anyone is interested in reading it fresh).

[j. d. worthington]

I certainly don't recall ever hearing of such a reaction where the novel is concerned, save from an occasional individual -- and those were generally against science fiction anyway... or science, for that matter... because of its largely rationalistic, secular view of the world....

[manephelien]

Indeed. The idea of familiarity, however, has been explored in an almost perpendicular fashion in Babylon 5. (Vorlons)

[Shinya]

Thanks for your replies and rationality. I'm relieved since I had misunderstood that Childhood' End should be something like a taboo even for SF fans.