Classic Science Fiction: Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke

I first read Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End in the early 80s; at the time I was reading about a book a day so I ran through the book very quickly and didn't really take the time to appreciate the skill of Clarke and the visionary that he was.

I picked up the book again recently and as I read it I had a profound sense of awe that a book written in the 1950s could still be so relevant today. There were a few 'antiquities' that don't quite translate to today's world, but overall Clarke managed to foresee a world that is strangely familiar to our own.

I feel this is one of Arthur C Clarke's best novels and for me it is relevant, well written and enjoyable - it remains one of my favorite books of all time and is one I will re-read many more times in the next few years!

Childhood's End is essentially a book of three parts. It begins with 'Earth and the Overlords' that tell the story of Earth's first encounter with a mysterious all powerful alien race. Their appearance in the skies of the world coincides with heightened tensions around the world that threaten to throw mankind into a nuclear holocaust – the benevolence of the aliens saves mankind.

This is perhaps my favorite part of the book as it slowly introduces you to the character of the alien, and with a surprising twist adds quite a bit of humor to the story. While man is saved by the alien intervention, it's interesting to see an underlying feeling of 'slavery' that slowly builds over the years despite the fact that humanity has never had so much peace and prosperity.

As we move into 'The Golden Age' we are confronted by man's desire to progress and its inane curiosity that could destroy the peaceful society it has. Clarke comments that while Utopia is what man is striving for and ultimately will achieve, it needs more than that to grow and survive – man's exploring nature and need for more knowledge essentially makes utopia less appealing as we achieve it.

I have read reviews that complain that Clarke was over-optimistic with this part of the book and they do have some valid points, however, Clarke's premise is that War would not be possible with 'Overlords' controlling the world and due to this man simply would eventually come together and form a peaceful union that leads to utopia. It's a flawed argument, but does work well in the book.

Finally we are presented with 'The Last Generation'. Clarke, more famous for his 2001 series, has always had a fascination with the evolution of man; as children begin to have telekinetic powers we begin to find out more about the Overlord's underlying intentions – throughout the book you get a feeling of an 'evil intent' especially when you find out what the aliens look like – however, while the ending of the book is sinister in its representation of what happens to mankind, it can be viewed as a simple and obvious evolutionary step than mankind may end up doing on their own anyway.

What is interesting is that today's society seemingly is paralleling Clarke's visions as Indigo and Crystal children are appearing across the world – there are many arguments on whether these are in fact 'special' children but maybe Clarke had it right after all.

While the ending is not a pleasant one for mankind, it is a logical one and rounds off the books well – overall this is probably Clarke's best book even though he gets far more publicity for his Odyssey series.