This grand space adventure explores the fate of humanity a billion years in the future— A visionary classic by one of science fiction’s greatest minds. Far in the future, Earth’s oceans have evaporated and humanity has all but vanished. The inhabitants of Diaspar believe their domed city is all that remains of an empire that had once conquered the stars. Inside the dome, the citizens live in … citizens live in technological splendor, free from the distractions of aging and disease. Everything is controlled precisely, just as the city’s designers had intended.
But a boy named Alvin, unlike his fellow humans, shows an insatiable—and dangerous—curiosity about the world outside the dome. His questions will send him on a quest to discover the truth about the city and humanity’s history—as well as its future.
A masterful and awe-inspiring work of imagination, The City and the Stars is considered one of Arthur C. Clarke’s finest novels.
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One of the best early speculative fiction works. Written in the early ’50s, but still speculating about a world with AI (think about that one!), hyper-tube transport, whole city automation, etc. This goes far beyond just normal story telling and exposes an insight into what could be possible.
Clarke wrote (or rewrote) “The City and the Stars” in 1955 and it was published in 1956. Interestingly, it’s a complete rewrite of his first novel, “Against the Fall of Night” which was rejected by John W. Campbell, Jr., editor of Astounding Science-Fiction. I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall, it was a wonderful read.
Let’s start with the positives. When I said it’s a wonderful read, I mean that literally, it’s full of wonder. The hallmark of the Golden Age of science fiction is the focus on the prediction of an imaginative future and that’s what make this book an important work of that age. The book begins with some sort of fully immersive video game. When the game ends, we find we are in a city a billion years in the future. The city is fully automated, matter can be materialized by thoughts. Humans are no longer born but are resurrected over and over again. People want of nothing and spend their time creating art, socializing, and exploring philosophy and scientific problems that will likely never be solved.
I think Clarke may have riffed on Huxley’s “Brave New World,” although the themes are quite different. What Clarke does well in this story is in creating questions in the reader. Yes, there is a continuous onslaught of future ideas and creations, but what really drives the story is the questions. Why is our main character, Alvin, the first to be born in over a million years? What’s beyond the city walls? Why did mankind abandon the star? What’s the purpose of this never-ending city named Diaspar? The combination of wonder and the intrigue that Clarke creates is masterful. I say this because the book has some significant shortfalls.
To begin with, the conflict is tame in this story. I never really felt concern for the characters. Alvin does embark on an interesting quest, but he is arrogant and often protected in his journey. In fact, I didn’t really like him for much of the story. I suppose part of Alvin’s issues were in place to show growth in the character, but in the end his brashness is rewarded, and he never really pays a price for his flaws. The biggest issue I had with the book, is that the ending is an ancient story. We don’t get to experience the climax. It’s relayed to us as historical record which held no excitement or emotional appeal for me. Based on these items, you think it’s a disappoint book, but back to my earlier point, there is so much wonder and intrigue that I found it an excellent read. In my opinion, it’s not Clarke’s best, but it’s an intriguing tale, especially considering it being a rewrite of his debut.
An inventive story of a city one billion years in the future, and one man’s quest to understand the past and future of humanity.
I think I have reread this a dozen times
This book is a great classic of early science fiction, but fanciful and improbable by today’s standards.
I am a fan of Arthur C Clark and wanted to read some of his earliest works. It was very good and you can see were he developed ideas that he used in 2001 and other later science fiction works
The book takes place billions of years i n the future, and earth is covered in sand with no oceans. Only two civilizations still exist, and Alvin lives in a domed city that no one ever leaves Alvin wants to ex plore outside the dome and travel to the stars. He has wonderful adventures ahead.
This author’s books never disappoint
I read it twice, as well as “Against the fall of night” which is similar as I recall, and that was a very long time ago. This may be the best book by Arthur C. Clarke, and it is definitely one of the books I loved most in all that I read in many many years. It is set in a very far future, pretty much disconnected from our current culture. It has both adventure and nostalgia. Maybe I will write a more cogent review after reading it again. Many SF books try to give a feeling for the infinity of space. This books gives a feeling of the infinity of time.
This is an expansion/rewrite of his short story Against the Fall of Night.
One of my top ten SciFi books of a long life. I have read it probably ten times over the years. A completely original view of the Earth’s future. If you like this genre you will not be able to put it down.