Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke

I don’t think it's particularly contentious to say that Arthur C. Clarke was a better theorist than a writer. His stories deal with grand concepts about our place in stars, which is clearly where his passion lies, and creating a compelling story/character often comes across as a bit of an afterthought. Not to imply that his writing is bad in any way (far from it), but you would be hard-pressed to name a single (human) character in any of his stories that stands out.

Childhoods End does feel like one of his best marriages between concept and character. More than likely because of how the narrative jumps ahead a few decades throughout each of the book's three sections. This means we don’t spend too much time in the company of each person introduced, as they only really serve to give us a view of the new shape of the world in that particular section.

It’s not hard to see how influential the imagery of the book has been on our idea of an ‘alien invasion’. The story opens with the arrival of a fleet of enormous spaceships that hover over many of the world’s major cities (Cape Town included). This imagery has so entrenched itself in our idea of what an invasion would look like that you can’t help to see its influence across sci-fi (Independence Day, District 9, the TV series V to name a few).

The leader of the new arrivals, Karellen, announces to the world that human affairs are now under the guidance (or control) of their race (who come to be known as the ‘Overlords) and that they are here specifically to usher humanity into a new ‘Golden age’. The story goes on to examine humanities various reactions to this new state, before jumping ahead to around fifty years, when the Overlords finally reveal themselves to the world (after enough time has passed for humanity to become used to their presence). We jump a few decades two or three times before the stories end, but to say much more would spoil some of the book’s big reveals.

One of my favourite aspects of the book is the depiction of the Overlords, who, despite their ominous arrival and appearance, are shown to view and treat humanity with a mixture of curiosity, benevolence and ultimately pity (Karellen himself is portrayed as a stern but good-natured headmaster).

This is one of those books I reread every few years. I have always found the culmination of the story to be quite moving and having it read it now as a parent, some moments leading up to it affected me much more than in previous reads. As always, the best science-fiction is about mankind’s ability to better ourselves by reaching out to the stars, and Childhoods End remains Arthur C. Clarkes most eloquent encapsulation of this theme.