Childhood's End

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke is a classic science fiction book from 1953. It is a first contact and an alien invasion story and introduced the ominous floating spaceship trope. If you don't know what the ominous floating spaceship trope is think about the giant spaceships floating above major world cities and landmarks like in the movie Independence Day. 

This is a story where man never made it to space. Right when mankind finally discovered the right rocket technology and were about to send the first spaceship into space, the earth was invaded by spaceships from outer space that floated mysteriously above the cities. Humans called them the Overlords because they did not reveal who they were and where they came from. Humans weren't allowed to see what they looked like for 50 years. 

The Overlords ended all poverty and all wars. Humanity lived in a peaceful, post scarcity future. They still wanted to know the Overlords intentions. Were they there for good or evil? Will mankind ever go into space? We follow different humans as they try to uncover the mystery. 

There isn't a major protagonists as the tale is told through the generations. We follow different characters in different chapters as the decades go by. Each discovers something new about the Overlords. In the last few chapters we follow a husband and wife and their two children. It was confusing at first because what I thought was a main character was just the main character of that chapter. It wasn't until the end that I learned that the Overlords were the most important characters and that it was about their role in the universe. 

The book is about the fear of the unknown and the fear of losing control. The humans struggle to trust the Overlords. Why would a invader bring peace and prosperity to the world without asking for anything in return? Who is the Overlords' master? The characters share their suspicions combined with wonder of the aliens. The fear and feelings of dread and mistrust are passed on to me, the reader, and keeps me in the story. 

The book goes into what life in a post-scarcity society would be like. Humans would no longer have to worry about mundane things and could live and create the paradise that they want. They can explore different hobbies and travel whereever they want. However, with the lack of competition, interest in science and exploring space begins to less important. People want to be entertained but the quality of entertainment is lower. I thought it was funny how one of the characters was upset that humans were watching three hours of trash television a day!! Humans were less creative. They no longer have to struggle. How can you know what is good, if you never experience anything bad?

The big idea of the book is future human evolution and transcendence. This was something explored a lot in classic science fiction, even in shows like Star Trek. It gives us one idea of how humanity will evolve with the guidance of the Overlords. Clarke uses a mix of science and mysticism to explain how the will be accomplished. Are we moving into a new era of humanity where we will be like god?  An interesting idea is how the Overlords became pushed backwards in time through our genetic memories and became symbols or evil in our myths and legends, a harbinger. 

Clarke creates this mysterious dreadful atmosphere from the haunting floating spaceships, to the threatening look of the Overlords, and the unease of the characters. The prose is clear and precise and easy to follow. The concentration is not on character development but on humanity's development. The story is more epic with a grand ending. 

It takes place on our world, but on a world that never made it to space. The Soviet Union still exists at the beginning of the book, still trying to win the Space Race. As time moves on, the differences between countries and even races begins to weaken and people are more united. One of the main characters is a half black and white man who still dreams of going into space despite that desire being lost in mankind. There are still some cultural references like the fact that despite the peaceful world, Buckingham Palace still has the changing of the guard!

I thought the book was dry and dull at first. I struggled to care about the story and found some of it dated. The mystery of why the Overlords were there kept me interested. I felt like I was on a long journey of discovery as small pieces of truth were revealed as I explored the post-scarcity world. The book quickly moves to a climax as all of the mysteries are solved. I was so impressed that I quickly gave it five stars in Goodreads. 

However, the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt about the ending. Now I wonder if the ending was a nightmare rather than a promise of something great. 

It has been a couple of weeks and I still think about the ideas from Childhood's End. Whether or not the ending was good or bad, it still made an impression on me and I think it deserves its classic status.

Based on the tier system, (S,A,B,C,D,E, DNF) I give it an A for excellence.