SciFi Review: Childhood's End

     In case you didn't know this about me, though I don't know how you could not know this about me, I'm a little bit of a massive nerd. I love science fiction, especially classic SciFi novels. There are enough reasons behind this obsession to fill an entire post but I suppose the main thing is my love of science and how it affects every aspect of our lives. From the computer I type this on to the fingers with which I type, science is there. Science is in art, in business, even in religion. There is literally nowhere we can go and nothing we can do which isn't in some way concerned with science. I love that notion and so do SciFi writers.

     The great thing about science fiction is how philosophical it can be. Many of the best works of SciFi are structured upon astute concepts of life and death, the scope of the universe, the capabilities of the human mind, and so forth. Other genres certainly do this too but the thing that draws me to science fiction is that creative spark melded with actual science. So often it has been the case that a SciFi author in the 50's dreamt up a futuristic gadget or idea based upon some new or rudimentary science and any number of years later another appreciator of science reads this work and realizes that with modern technology such a thing can be made (an entire series on the Science Channel called Prophets of Science Fiction speaks to this fact)! Let's face it, there will never be Harry Potter type witches and wizards who can cast wondrous spells with a magical stick (and even if there were it would be based upon science at some level) but there may just be stardrives powering interstellar space travel in our future. I guess at the core of it, what I love most about science fiction is its ability to be almost unbelievably fantastic yet always based upon some shred of truth which leaves you wondering.

     With that said let me tell you about my latest SciFi read. If you're into this kind of thing and find this review helpful I could not be more pleased but if you don't care in the slightest and have already clicked away from this nerd fest that is fine too as I feel that writing about literature helps the mind to process and absorb it... so, yeah, I guess you could say I am doing this for my health.

Childhood's End

by Arthur C. Clarke

Cool Science Moment: "He was peeping through a microscope into what looked like a small bomb. Presumably it was a pressure-capsule containing some specimen of deep-sea life, still swimming happily around under its normal tons-to-the-square-centimeter conditions."

Cool Fiction Moment (still a bit science-y): "Miss Morrel's mind was the channel that, if only for a moment, let through knowledge which no one at that time could possess. It could only have come from another mind immediately linked to hers. The fact that it was a mind not yet born was of no consequence, for Time is very much stranger than you think."

     Arthur C. Clarke is most definitely one of the greats of classic SciFi. His stories tend to be very philosophical and often deal with religion at least obliquely. His short story The Nine Billion Names of God is one of my all time favorite pieces of science fiction. It essentially discusses using science/technology to prove the existence of God and the consequences that may come of this proof.

     Childhood's End also looks at the role of religion in human society but only in brief snippets relating to the larger story of mankind's possible future. The story not so much follows as touches on then moves away from various characters' lives as they deal with the arrival of an alien race dubbed the Overlords on Earth. When the Overlords reveal themselves to man they make it known that they are in charge, all powerful, and will be guiding mankind to some distant but specific future. Though man never knows what this future is a few individuals find the courage to seek it, this is their story perhaps more than it is the Overlords'. Under the reign of the Overlords, Earth becomes a utopia which opens the narrative up to the contemplation of what constitutes a utopia (a world where every person has the necessities of life and the freedom and education to pursue only their own interests?) as well as the price at which such a utopia would come (namely boredom). Erring more on the side of fiction than of science this is at once a very beautiful and extremely sad story of the end of mankind.

     Though there are many interesting characters in this story few are well established and seem to blink out of existence just as their role gains momentum. This can make the beginning sections of the book a bit hard to get through but it is worth it. What the book may lack in dramatic story telling or adventurous plot it more than makes up for in beautiful passages that broach concepts such as what it means to be human and man's place in the universe with incredible force delivered with equally incredible delicacy. The ending of the book, and indeed of man, is absolutely beautiful though there are many preceding passages which earned a folded corner for reasons of scientific and literary greatness.

     To the established SciFi fan I whole heartedly recommend this book with the warning that it is more the thoughtful type than the adventurous type. For those just setting foot in the SciFi realm I would caution the story's somewhat disjointed nature and slower passages which may or may not be made up for by its more artistic and thought evoking passages. Certainly have a go at it but don't swear off SciFi if it's not your cup of tea!

     Now promise me this; if you do read it or have read it, let me know what you thought!