About this title: A group of alien "Overlords" appears on Earth. Their disturbing appearance causes people to fear them, but when they turn Earth into a technological wonderland, the aliens prove to be friends rather than foes. A nightmare for Luddites, but a joyride for everyone else.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, NY
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780345249371ISBN:0345249372
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. 1976 Ballantine paperback. NOT EX LIB! Clean, lightly toned pages with light reading wear, barely creased spine, light edgewear, mild cover scuffing. 218 p. Glued binding. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780345249371ISBN:0345249372
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. 222 p. 18 cm. Ballentine Books science fiction; 02750-7.. "thirty-third printing, March 1976. " read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780345297303ISBN:034529730X
Description: Fernades, Stanislaw (cover art) Good. No Jacket. Heavt page tanning from age. Light edge wear to soft cover. One light fold line to spine. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780345347954ISBN:0345347951
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. date written bottom outer pages. owner inscribed. moderate shelf wear. light crease in spine. Good+ Book. read more
Edition: 24th printing March 1973.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1953
ISBN-13:9780345027504ISBN:0345027507
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover shows spaceship over city. Lightly read-cover shows wear at corners and head of spine, text pages tanned but unmarked. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780345284655ISBN:0345284658
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has some wear with scratches and very small fading on spine corners; tanned pages are unmarked. Paperback cover mounted on hardcover binding read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780345249371ISBN:0345249372
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book is very solid with browned pages. The cover has minor shelf & edge wear except for creases at top front & bottom back corners. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Del Rey Books, New York
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780345315588ISBN:0345315588
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book is very solid with unmarked pages. A number is written in black marker on the upper edge of the pages. The cover has moderate shelf & edge wear. The spine has a few creases. read more
Description: Very Good. 0345347951 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Good. No Jacket. Covers Soiled, Binding Loose, Some Title/Copyright Page Missing, Corners/Edges Worn, Spine Creased, Sm. Tears On Spine, Good Reading Copy. read more
"His name was C. and he was the main reason I took Science Fiction Film my sophomore year of college. I liked film and I liked science fiction well enough, but hadn't seriously considered taking a film class, let alone a Science Fiction Film class. I walked into it expecting to be surrounded by a bunch of stereotypical male nerds and to my pleasant surprise, I was.
I was late to the first screening, which was conveniently held in a room meant for showing films-- each row of seats was further back than the previous ones. I think we might have had assigned seats at first, until the professor, who told us to call him "Rich", recognized our faces. It was the second class we've had and I tried to sneak into the class and sit somewhere close to the door but far back enough that I could see the screen.
It was after I had set my backpack down that I made the mistake of misgauging where the seat was, and ended up kicking my shoe on the seat's leg.
"Whoooaa..." "Dude, did you SEE that?!" "That is so awesome."
My shoes were generic L.A. Lights-- remember those? With the light in the heel? Only mine were blue and red, like sirens. Needless to say, I had made my mark.
That Science Fiction Film class was the best class of my undergraduate career (all five years). The professor, now retired, is one of my heroes. The class changed my thinking, as a fan of science fiction and as a feminist.
We didn't read Childhood's End in the class: C. gave it to me after I told him I hadn't read any Clarke. He was the first person to ever let me borrow a book, and I gave it back to him after I was finished, unlike the people who I've let borrow my books. The story line kinda traumatized me at the time; the last few scenes are forever embedded into my nightmares, probably more so than anything I've seen image-wise. It takes a certain kind of talent to represent such an odd scene so vividly that it overrides say, the film art of 2001: A Space Odyssey. To this day, there are certain songs that immediately make me think of the ending of this book, and it is a movie I would love to see made, although I'm sure there are a LOT of people it would enrage.
In an ending perhaps fit for the book, I was utterly in love with C. and everything he stood for-- imagination, intelligence, wonder. He was a fifth-year senior when I was a sophomore and I can imagine thinking of me as a "baby" but hey, don't underestimate children! He's long gone now, on the path he was meant to take, but to me he will always be the figure in the red coat, trudging through the snow, diminishing with each step, until finally, in a short, soundless blip, he disappears.
A truly good book is not good objectively, but also personally, and this book will forever remind me of my first, unexpected steps into the direction of science fiction, and of love."
"A friend of mine insisted I read this book, so here I am! I've never read Arthur C. Clarke, although I've always wanted to. I'd always planned to start with this 2001 series, but started with Childhood's End, and I'm happy that I did. This book was fantastic, and it's hard to believe it was written in the 1950s. Clarke was always ahead of his time (the man invented the communication satellite, for crying out loud - no, seriously, he did!). This book was, no doubt, the inspiration for many sci-fi classics, among them "V". I loved how Clarke was able to seamlessly flash forward through a lot of time, and yet one never felt lost or confused. The aliens, called "Overlords" by humans, show up, they bring peace and prosperity to Earth, and then reveal their true intentions, all within a roughly 200 year time frame. I loved the mystery behind their coming to Earth - throughout the whole book, one can sense that they have the best of intentions, and yet they also clearly have another agenda, and one that doesn't bode well for the human race. What that is, you'll just have to read and find out, but all I'll say is it certainly threw me for a loop, but in a good way. This book was definitely a great introduction to the works of one of sci-fi's greatest writers."
"BRILLIANT! READ IT! This is one of those books that really just makes me feel. There are a whole lot of words and things I feel that are important to say about a book of this caliber, but the reality is that it's an experience you need to have. I firmly believe this to be the reason why there is sci-fi and the reason that it is necessary to explore the human psyche before our battle immediately becomes alien ass-kicking stories for entertainment value. There were a few moments when I felt the chapters should've dissolved and left me the heck alone, but there were other chapters (the last few) which gave me a feeling indescribably beautiful...although not necessarily the happiest. I love this book and I hope there are more on this same level.
For people who see the human mind as a space limitless, but presently clouded with (un)necessary evils."
"This is the original book on which the movie "2001" was later based, with one major difference. Rather than faceless obelisks, the initiators of humankind's evolutionary advances in consciousness are proposed to be the "Overlords," a race of aliens with a shocking resemblance to traditional depictions of demons. The suggestion is that, in the racial memory of humanity, the coming into consciousness was so traumatic that it has been associated with "evil" at a primal level. Those which made it possible for us to think for ourselves robbed us of our innocent animal-natures and cast us out of Eden. Now they have returned to continue our progress toward true Godhood. The interesting irony is that they, the Overlords themselves, are incapable of such evolutionary change, and must serve as catalysts for other species through all time.
It should be obvious that this is no trashy space-opera, but it retains an engaging plot and a sense of suspense throughout. Clark was a brilliant writer and better informed about real science than most sci fi authors, which always makes his books a pleasure to read. His speculation, in this case as well as others, was not limited to simple "gosh-wow" responses to technical advancement, but carried over into the fundamental metaphysical reflections of human existence. Whether one likes his premise or not, it is fascinating to see how he plays it out to the end."
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