This link has been bookmarked by 17 people . It was first bookmarked on 31 Mar 2008, by nagareochiru.
-
28 Mar 14
-
02 Aug 12
-
Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion[1] of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens, but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their space ships, governing through indirect rule. Decades later, the Overlords eventually show themselves, and their impact on human culture leads to a Golden Age. However, the last generation of children on Earth begins to display powerful psychic abilities, heralding their evolution into a group mind, a transcendent form of life.
-
becoming Clarke's first successful novel of his career. The book is often regarded as Clarke's best novel by both readers and critics,[2] and is described as "a classic of alien literature
-
The novel's theme of transcendent evolution also appears in Clarke's Space Odyssey series, and is attributed to the influence of British author Olaf Stapledon.
-
humanity and the Overlords have peaceful relations, some believe human innovation is being suppressed and that culture is becoming stagnant. These groups establish "New Athens," an island colony devoted to creative art
-
vealed the seed of the coming transformation hidden within Jea
-
human children, including the Greggsons, begin to display telekinetic powers.
-
reveals the Overlords' purpose: They serve the Overmind, a vast cosmic intelligence, born of amalgamated ancient civilizations, and freed from matter's limits. Yet the Overlords themselves are strangely unable to join the Overmind, but serve it as a kind of bridge species, charged with fostering other races' eventual merger with it. Because of this, Karellen expresses envy of humanity. For the transformed children's safety, they are segregated on a continent of their own. As no more human children are born, many parents find their lives stripped of meaning, and die or commit suicide. New Athens is destroyed with a nuclear bomb by its members.
-
Humanity as he had known it has become extinct, and he is now the last man alive. Hundreds of millions of children – no longer fitting with what Jan defines as "human" – remain on the quarantined continent. Barely moving, with eyes closed and communicating by telepathy, they are the penultimate form of human evolution, having become a single group mind readying themselves to join the Overmind.
-
hen the evolved children mentally alter the Moon's rotation and make other planetary manipulations, it becomes too dangerous to remain.
-
The departing Overlords offer Jan the option of leaving with them, but he chooses to stay, witness Earth's end, and transmit a report of what he sees. The Overlords are eager to somehow escape from their own evolutionary dead-end by studying the Overmind, so Rodricks' information is potentially of great value to them.
-
describes a vast burning column ascending from the planet. As the column disappears, Rodricks experiences a sense of profound emptiness: they have gone. Then material objects and the Earth itself begin to dissolve into transparency. Jan reports no fear, but a powerful sense of fulfillment. In a flash of light the Earth evaporates
-
compared Clarke to Olaf Stapledon, C. S. Lewis, and H. G. Wells—a "very small group of writers who have used science fiction as the vehicle of philosophic ideas."[16]
-
-
19 May 11
-
24 Aug 10
-
31 Mar 08
-
The idea of humanity reaching an end point through transformation to a higher form of existence is the main idea behind the concept of the Omega Point and of the technological singularity.
-
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.