Arthur C. Clarke books

[Beirut]

After several years hiatus, I've gotten back into my Arthur C. Clarke books. I've read them all before, some several times, now I'm at it again. I have about fifteen of his books. Had twice that before, but many were water damaged beyond readability.

Just finished The Fountains of Paradise last night. An excellent book. Great story, good characters, and Clarke's wonderful gift for keeping it human. Also, perhaps most of all, he's easy to read. It's very rare you struggle through anything he writes. He's able to write technically, and with stunning imagination, yet doesn't lose clarity. There's always a picture in front of your eyes when you read him.

I read Earthlight and The Sands of Mars last week, along with dozens of his short stories. Might jump into Childhood's End today. Haven't read that book in decades. Another nice thing about many of his books is that they are short or only of medium length. 150 to 300 pages. You get a great story you can finish in a day or three. Nothing wrong with a 1000 page book, but nothing wrong with a 150 page book either. Keeps you literarily hungry. Must... read... more...

His best books, for me, were the Rama series. (I hope the movie they're making of it doesn't suck.) I only have the first book of the series. Two of the others were destroyed, and one, a hardcover, I cut in half and mailed to a buddy in Costa Rica who couldn't find it there. (It cost much less to send two halves then the whole thing at once. Go figure.)

This looks very tasty. Hope to order soon.
http://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Stori...021102&sr=8-22

That's it. I'm a Clarke fanatic. If I ever meet the man, I swear I'm going to hug him.

[Gregoshi]

You've got me thinking that it is time to stroll through my Clarke library again. I read Rendezvous with Rama a couple of years ago, but never followed through on its two sequels. I'm in a re-reading mode at the moment, so it may be time to move Mr. Clarke towards the top of the list.

Earthlight is my favourite novel of his I think. It has been many years since I've read it, but I still remember how vividly and realistically Clarke described the first space battle of mankind. His description was so well constructed, the images in my head were as if I was seeing it for real. I can't recall any other book so blurring the line between images of fiction and reality before or since.

His short stories are quite fascinating too. Superiority is a great tale of military technological advancement which seems to have some application to the state of our rapid advance of technology we are experiencing today. Hide and Seek is a surprising twist on cat and mouse. The end of The Nine Billion Names of God invoked a sense of almost terrifying awe while the end of The Star was a thought-provoking slug to the gut. As I recall, The Star was adapted for the new version of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits in the 80s though they changed the ending to be more uplifting rather than a downer.

Good stuff Beirut. Thanks for the trip down memory lane and the kick in the pants to re-read the works of Clarke.

[Beirut]

Hey Gregoshi, thanks for the reply. This was looking like a mighty lonely thread. (I though the Asimov guys were out to get me. )

The Rama series is well worth the effort. I can't remember if it was book three or four, but there was one part that had my jaw on the floor. And that hasn't happened often. The only other (part of a) book that ever floored me like that was Caillancourt's account of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.

I'm going to re-read all of Rama as well, but not until I get books 2,3, & 4 from Amazon. I want them waiting for me, not the other way around. I might look for a full hardcover set. That would be nice.

I'm a few pages into Childhood's End right now. Should be done very fast. Nice small book.

Dinner! Back at'cha...

[Papewaio]

I though the Asimov guys were out to get me.

I don't worry about the Asimov guys as much as the Mother Cupboard er L. Ron Hubbard ones... now they can be scary.

[Puzz3D]

I read The City and the Stars back in high school and it's stayed with me all these years. It's a rewrite of his first novel, Against the Fall of Night.

[Martok]

I read the Rama series too (I even owned the books at one point), but for some reason I just wasn't that impressed. Perhaps I should read a different book and/or series by Clarke instead -- any suggestions?

(I though the Asimov guys were out to get me. )

All in good time, mate. We'll strike when you least expect it.

[Beirut]

I read the Rama series too (I even owned the books at one point), but for some reason I just wasn't that impressed. Perhaps I should read a different book and/or series by Clarke instead -- any suggestions?

The 2001 series (2001; 2010; 2061; 3001) is good, but I liked the Rama series better.

The Fountains of Paradise and Imperial Earth are both good books. Other books, such as The Mands of Mars, A Fall of Moondust, and Islands in the Sky are good fun, short, and easilly digested. Glide Path is a bit of an oddity as it's not sci-fi, but a WWII story about a radar operation base in England. Also a nice story and not a big book.

All in good time, mate. We'll strike when you least expect it.

In one of Clarke's books, he makes mention of the ongoing dual with Asimov. He said they agreed to a truce; one could be called the best science-fiction writer and the other could be called the best science writer.

[Lemur]

Haven't read Clarke in ages and ages. For professional reasons, I've been plowing through every Hugo nominee since Y2K. To relax, I gifted myself with the complete Aubrey/Maturin series.

This thread has me thinking I should go back and re-read the Rama series.

[Gregoshi]

Another nice thing about many of his books is that they are short or only of medium length. 150 to 300 pages. You get a great story you can finish in a day or three. Nothing wrong with a 1000 page book, but nothing wrong with a 150 page book either. Keeps you literarily hungry. Must... read... more...

Beirut, I agree with you 100% about the 150-300 novels. It is a lost art nowadays. 700-1000 can be good, but sometimes they feel bloated.

I didn't know there was a fourth Rama book. Must check that out and then read the whole set.

BTW Beirut, you'd better give Arthur that hug soon. I'm afraid he won't be with us too much longer...though I'm surprised he's lived as long as he has considering his health. He just turned 90 ond December 16th.

[Beirut]

Beirut, I agree with you 100% about the 150-300 novels. It is a lost art nowadays. 700-1000 can be good, but sometimes they feel bloated.

In defence of short books:

"Were I called upon, however, to designate that class of compostion which should best fulfill the demands and serve the purposes of ambitious genious, should offer it the most advantageous field of exertion, and afford it the fairest opportunity of display, I should speak at once of the brief prose tale.

As the novel itself cannot be read at one sitting, it cannot avail itself of the immense benefit of totality. Wordly interests, intervening during the pauses of perusal, modify, counteract and annul the impressions intended."

In the brieft tale, however, the authour is able to carry out his ful design without interuption. During the hour of perusal, the soul of the reader is at the writer's control."

Edgar Allan Poe

(Ain't he just the greatest?)

I didn't know there was a fourth Rama book. Must check that out and then read the whole set.

You won't regret it. Some wonderful flights of fancy in that series. I read the 2001 series, but it does not compare in scope and imgination to the Rama story.

BTW Beirut, you'd better give Arthur that hug soon. I'm afraid he won't be with us too much longer...though I'm surprised he's lived as long as he has considering his health. He just turned 90 ond December 16th.

I make for Sri Lanka at dawn!

[InsaneApache]

Clarke is good, very good. Although I find Azimov and Heinlein just as good and in the case of Isaac, better.

[Ramses II CP]

I have to step in here and say that Hubbard wrote some very fun books before he fell into his own trap. Final Blackout is a must read for any military history buff.

Clarke's great gift, IMHO, was the careful construction of his tales and how precisely and logically they followed from the premises he layed out. I can't say I ever found him inspiring, but neither do his books ever disappoint.