The City and the Stars

De: Arthur C. Clarke

Narrado por: Geoffrey T. Williams

A journey of discovery that will shake the foundations of everything the people of Earth have ever believed...

Diaspar is Earth's last city - surrounded by deserts, on a world where the oceans have long since dried up. It is a domed, isolated, technological marvel run by the Central Computer. Diaspar has conquered death. People are called forth from the Hall of Creation; they live for 1,000 years and then are recalled, stored in the Central Computer's memory, to be born thousands of years later, over and over again, with memories of earlier lives intact.

No one has entered or left Diaspar since anyone can remember. Its people have an unreasoning dread of the unknown, of the world outside the city. And no child has been born for at least 10 million years.

Until Alvin. He is unique. He has no past lives, no past memories. He also has no fear of the outside world. In fact he has an overwhelming curiosity, a drive to explore, to see what lies beyond the sterile boundaries of the city.

When he finally escapes, he discovers a place he could hardly have imagined: a country called Lys. Its people are telepathic. They know life and death. In Lys, Alvin finds friendship and love. And he begins his fateful journey to the stars and back. On his return he brings with him something so strange, so alien and powerful, that it will change the world forever. But for better or worse, not even Alvin can guess.

©1956 Arthur C. Clarke/Scovil Chichak Galen (P)2009 Geoffrey T.Williams

Thanks Mom!

My beloved mother devoured Clarke and Asimov, but never did successfully spark my hyperactive imagination while she was alive. Now that I can listen to the titles she recommended, I too can devour them! Thanks Mom!

Peace

Scifi look into the future, were you live almost forever,via a computer, where mankind has abandoned space exploration and living on the land.

A Classic

The Science Fiction Book Club pick this as one of there favorite books written in the 50's. When I read it years ago I loved it and so when it went on sale I bought it. I must mention here that this audio club has the greatest sales.

This is so much different then most of what Clarke writes. Fantasy readers would not recognize it as fantasy, but in comparison to most of Clarke's hard Sci-Fi this could be a fantasy. One reason for that is that it takes place billions of years in the future and unlike what most writers do, he does not knock man back into cave man days.

The main character is unique and does not fit into the society he lives in. He does not give into peer pressure and he stays unique. This will appeal to anyone who has ever felt different. Though some see this as a depressing novel, I feel that the spot light on unique people who are willing to challenge the system as very uplifting.

Isolationism and not wanting to leave our comfort zone is a big part of the book.

Parts of the book sound like something Robert Reed would write about today, the Grand View and great lengths of time involved.

This has several narrators and music, which I thought at first would lead to a great experience. I think that they would have done better with one talented narrator instead of several not so talented narrators and though the music did not detract, I do not felt it added anything.

Other really good AC books are: Rendezvous with Rama, 2001: Space Odyssey, 2010 Odyssey II, and any short story collections.

An Unusual Presentation

This version City and the Stars is more on the order of a radio drama than a typical Audible book. I thought this presentation was effective, but as a story it's not one of Clarke's best works, which range from hard science to near fantasy. This one is toward the fantasy end of the spectrum.

Distracting sound effects

This is one of my favorite books from childhood. The background music and sound effects are so distracting it almost isn’t bearable to listen to the book. Save your money!