The Beginning is the end

Arthur C. Clarke’s “Childhood’s End” tells the story of Earth’s occupation by the Overlords, an alien race that appeared out of nowhere in spaceships hovering over every major city in the world. The Overlords bring peace, prosperity, and a world government to Earth, not to mention the end of religion, mysticism, and many forms of science. Time brings progress nonetheless, however, and the Overlords leave Earth to its fate, bowing to superior intelligence.

“Childhood’s End” would have been mind-blowingly amazing if the dialogue hadn’t reminded me of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” As it was, it was a half-point shy of mind-blowingly amazing. Unlike “The Great Gatsby,” “Childhood’s End” had a sufficiently interesting plot that the dialogue was only minimally distracting.

Honestly, the character development isn’t anything worth writing home about, but the ideas Clarke presents and the plot twists in which he presents them make the story. I certainly don’t want to reveal the twists, but Clarke has some fascinating ideas on what purposes an invading alien race might have. He paints a picture of the universe beyond Earth that evokes that feeling of sublime desolation I feel when I look at certain images from the Hubble telescope. It’s beautiful, yet saddening.

Clarke seems to posit in the novel that the universe isn’t a fitting place for homo sapiens. This doesn’t sit well with me, as it seems to be a cop-out both in the novel and in real life. There are a few other occurrances and theories espoused later in the book that bother me, too, including some time-warping/transcending that seemed particularly implausible.

All in all, though, “Childhood’s End” is well worth the three to four hours it will take to read it. It’s one of the few “classic” pieces of science fiction literature I’ve read, despite my strong interest in more recent sci-fi works, but it’s one that is very thought-provoking.