Childhood's End

…Childhood’s End is generally considered to be one of Clarke’s best novels. I have not read enough of his work to say anything sensible about that but it was certainly an interesting read. As with many of his novels, this book is essentially an expanded short story. I wonder if I should try some of Clarke’s short fiction next. In his novels it is blatantly obvious that in terms of prose and characterization Clarke is not, in technical terms, a great writer. His stories are supported by ideas, he tries to dazzle the reader with a clever concept. Perhaps his way of writing is better suited to the short form. If you are interested in golden age science fiction you could certainly do worse than Childhood’s End but this novel is not quite good enough to replace Rendezvous with Rama as my favourite.

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