A science-fiction novel about a city built inside a protective dome. Secured against the creeping decay outside, humanity has existed in the dome for millennia. One man sets out to investigate how humanity came to be stifled in the dome, and encounters the truth about ancient legend. From the author of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
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Book Description
Clarke¿s masterful evocation of the far future of humanity, considered his finest novel.
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SALES POINTS #39 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written. ¿Hauntingly effective . . . a beautifully conceived, unforgettable future world¿ Robert Silverberg ¿Probably his most perfect work¿ Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I never thought I'd find myself describing a book in such terms, but Arthur C Clarke's "The City and the Stars" is simply a beautiful work of breath-taking vision and insight. It's beauty resides in the gentleness with which he submerges the reader not only into the flow of the story but into a way of thinking that makes us understand profound issues which confront the human race as we head into the future.
In part, what is remarkable is the book itself - written in 1956, it anticipates many of the problems and conflicts which the rise of technology presents us with today: in particular, how human beings themselves interact with and then become shaped by the machines they create. But what is even more remarkable is that Clarke's style does this in a way which takes the reader back to the early days of almost childhood innocence when everything is strange and new; the reader becomes a child again, looking at the world with eyes filled with wonder and asking the simplest of questions all over again. This is Clarke's critique of the main city - Diaspar: in effect, he is saying that with the rise of technology we become at first reliant on and then indifferent to the world. Machines do it for us - and then what is left for us to do or think? Diaspar is the city of the future - along with the stagnating human beings who fill that world.
The plot itself is breath-taking;in 255 pages we are unbelievably taken across a barren world millions of years into the future, across a long forgotten galaxy - and then back to Earth again, all with amazing precision, speed - and above all, stylistic grace. At no point are we forced into assumptions or presuppositions. The story unfolds quite naturally and without haste. The grace of style accompanies the beauty of the perspective we are invited to share.
In the end, you put the book down and are happy to sit quietly for a long time just wondering - wondering about the future of humanity, wondering about what the future could bring, wondering whether we are already on a path it is too late to turn away from. This is simply a fantastic book, a tremendous story and a very rare opportunity to have our eyes lifted above the mundane and the normal to consider wider issues and to appreciate bigger pictures. At the end you really will look lovingly at this book - and, I suspect, anticipate with fondness the day when you will pick it up and read it again.
In part, what is remarkable is the book itself - written in 1956, it anticipates many of the problems and conflicts which the rise of technology presents us with today: in particular, how human beings themselves interact with and then become shaped by the machines they create. But what is even more remarkable is that Clarke's style does this in a way which takes the reader back to the early days of almost childhood innocence when everything is strange and new; the reader becomes a child again, looking at the world with eyes filled with wonder and asking the simplest of questions all over again. This is Clarke's critique of the main city - Diaspar: in effect, he is saying that with the rise of technology we become at first reliant on and then indifferent to the world. Machines do it for us - and then what is left for us to do or think? Diaspar is the city of the future - along with the stagnating human beings who fill that world.
The plot itself is breath-taking;in 255 pages we are unbelievably taken across a barren world millions of years into the future, across a long forgotten galaxy - and then back to Earth again, all with amazing precision, speed - and above all, stylistic grace. At no point are we forced into assumptions or presuppositions. The story unfolds quite naturally and without haste. The grace of style accompanies the beauty of the perspective we are invited to share.
In the end, you put the book down and are happy to sit quietly for a long time just wondering - wondering about the future of humanity, wondering about what the future could bring, wondering whether we are already on a path it is too late to turn away from. This is simply a fantastic book, a tremendous story and a very rare opportunity to have our eyes lifted above the mundane and the normal to consider wider issues and to appreciate bigger pictures. At the end you really will look lovingly at this book - and, I suspect, anticipate with fondness the day when you will pick it up and read it again.
39 of 42 people found the following review helpful
By Patrick Shepherd
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Grand ideas of great scope were the hallmark of 'The Golden Age of Science Fiction' and this book certainly fits that mold. Set in the very far future, so far that many main sequence stars have started to die, this is a story of two very different paths that two different groups of humans have taken to the puzzle of existence and life. In the city of Diaspar, we have a totally enclosed and static society, where people live for a thousand years, then store their memories for some later computer controlled reincarnation, where anything outside the city is not only totally ignored, its very existence is practically denied. At the other extreme is Lys, where man is just one part of the world of living, growing things, where bio-engineering has been raised to such an art it is buried in the background, and humans have developed telepathic talents. These are the last two areas of civilization on an Earth that has otherwise become a desert, where even the oceans have totally dried up.
Against this background we find Alvin, the first truly new citizen in Diaspar in seven thousand years, born without any memories of prior existences, to whom, without any preset thought biases, all things are open to question. When he starts to question the origin of Diaspar and ask what exists outside the city, he is met with rebuff and ostracism. Persisting in his questions, he eventually finds a way to leave Diaspar and travel to Lys. The things he learns there and the additional questions provoked by this knowledge eventually lead to things far beyond the Earth and a complete revision of 'known' history, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance.
While Alvin and the other characters are reasonably portrayed, this is not the strong suit of this book, nor will you find a great amount of 'hard' science gadgets and plot devices. This is rather a book that will make you think about the long term purpose of man and his place in the universe. There is a painted picture here of just what the ultimate end point is of pure technological development and the stifling effects such an environment has on people, strongly contrasted with an alternative development line focusing on human mental capabilities and its negatives. Both thematic sides are held up beneath the strong lights of hope, pride, and ambition.
There is a feeling of near poetry, a total 'sense of wonder', that pervades this book, a feeling that will captivate and invigorate the reader, that will take him far outside the everyday concerns of today. In certain areas, the great weight of not just millennia, but billions of years of history will press upon you, where the discovery of ages old items will be as much of an adventure as watching our first manned lunar mission.
This book was a near total rewrite of "Against the Fall of Night". While the basic scenario is the same between the two books, the endings are dramatically different, and actually present a different outlook on man’s purpose and his part in the grander scheme of things. I have never been able to decide which of the two versions is better – but that just means you should read both, as they are both fully deserving of your time and attention.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Shishya
Format:Paperback
There are very few books you read, and go wow. And go back and read again. And say wow again.
The book is about a boy stuck in a city- a perfect city, where there is no disease, people are immortal(sort of), you can have anything you want just by thinking about it. But there is one problem- you can never leave the city, even thinking about leaving gives most citizens cold fear.
The hero is someone who doesnt have this fear and wants to leave- but cant, as the city is closed. Why is it? Whats the secret of the city? What happened all those years ago that scared the people of the city so much they decided never to leave again?
This book has many layers of suspense- you keep reading, and you keep going, "Aha!", all to the very end, when the final secret is revealed.
Brilliant. One the best books Ever.
The book is about a boy stuck in a city- a perfect city, where there is no disease, people are immortal(sort of), you can have anything you want just by thinking about it. But there is one problem- you can never leave the city, even thinking about leaving gives most citizens cold fear.
The hero is someone who doesnt have this fear and wants to leave- but cant, as the city is closed. Why is it? Whats the secret of the city? What happened all those years ago that scared the people of the city so much they decided never to leave again?
This book has many layers of suspense- you keep reading, and you keep going, "Aha!", all to the very end, when the final secret is revealed.
Brilliant. One the best books Ever.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Takes some getting into...
But once in you do become immersed in this distopian saga. The discovery of the underground transport to the city of Lys is just the sort of thing you'd hope to find as an... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Delzx7r
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless and beautifully written
Though the story starts off at a gentle pace, but before long you are swept along in events that are epic and intimate in equal measure. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Greg
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real Star of a book
A book I remember reading and liking as a lad (1950's) - I didn't know the name of the Author until I googled it recently - A good read, wish I had kept the original book.
Published 1 month ago by Andrew King
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book
First read this book many years ago and it was one of the novels that started my love with si-fi. having re-read it i can remember why. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R J Sandall
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best
There are very few books that you read, put away, and then come back to read. This is one of those.
The story is an old fashioned adventure, the type that made AC Clarke... Read more
The story is an old fashioned adventure, the type that made AC Clarke... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Shantnu Tiwari
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Return to Childhood
My late sister first bought me this book nearly thirty years ago. It was part of set of four other novels all in one cover; I still have the book somewhere in the house I think. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. David Wright
4.0 out of 5 stars
Both a vision and visionary
Four words describe this book;
"This'll blow your mind!"
Clarke does it again. In "The City & The Stars", he paints a vivid picture of humanity in the far future... Read more
"This'll blow your mind!"
Clarke does it again. In "The City & The Stars", he paints a vivid picture of humanity in the far future... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Adil-smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
book order
The book was in perfect conditions and it arrived in a short time,
There is nothing more to say.
greetings,
There is nothing more to say.
greetings,
Published 2 months ago by franco pavone
3.0 out of 5 stars
Old classic
I read this first when I was a teenager,now it reads as rather dated.The characters are hardly likeable but Clarke as always made up for this with his descriptive skill.
Published 3 months ago by Melanie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The City and The Stars
I last read this book 47 years ago , and was thrilled by it then. I am so glad that now those years later, it retains all its freshness to the reader.
Published 4 months ago by Reedman
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