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Expedition to Earth Arthur C Clarke 9780345276988 Books

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Expedition to Earth Arthur C Clarke 9780345276988 Books

This was Arthur C. Clarke's first collection of short stories, originally published in 1953; the 11 stories (10 shorts and one novelette) were published in various magazines between 1946 and 1951.

The quality of the collection is uneven; some of these stories are rather slight and some have dated, but a few are excellent and at least one, "The Sentinel," is sublime. (Clarke's most famous short stories, "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God," were still a few years in the future).

The best stories in this volume are very good indeed. "The Sentinel" was the seed for Clarke's screenplay and novelization of Kubrick's film 2001 (1969). The story only hints at the complexities of the film and novel, but it already perfectly captures the awe of humanity's first discovery of alien intelligence. "Second Dawn" is a remarkable piece of speculation, containing no human characters. "History Lesson" wonders what aliens will make of human culture when they try to read the last shards of our civilization, and comes to a very funny answer. "Exiled to the Eons" is a bitter, sardonic story of a Hitler-like dictator seeking refuge in the future when his attempted conquest of the Earth fails.

Other stories didn't work as well for me. "Superiority," a satire on military bureaucracy, and "Hide and Seek," a science puzzle story, were both lacking in characterization. "'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth...'" and "Expedition to Earth" have surprise endings that probably worked well in the 1940s but are predictable today. (Not Clarke's fault, of course, that his innovations have been often imitated.)

Overall, though, this is a worthwhile anthology; even at his weakest, Clarke was always literate, humane, erudite and sardonic, and at his best, he was one of the giants of science fiction.


Tags : Expedition to Earth [Arthur C. Clarke] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Ballantine Del Rey paperback, stated sixteenth printing, 1978. This is the first collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke,Arthur C. Clarke,Expedition to Earth,Del Rey,0345276981,1001-WS0801-A03010-0345276981,Non-Classifiable,Nonfiction - General

Expedition to Earth Arthur C Clarke 9780345276988 Books Reviews

I owned the paperback of this for many years and glad to have it on my . It is a great collection of Arthur C. Clarke short stories, including "The Sentinel," the short story which was the inspiration for 2001 A Space Odyssey.
This is a nice classic, excellent companionship on travels from the author of 2001, the sentinel and many others
The stories in this collection are wildly uneven, as one would expect from the early works of even a writer of Clarke's stature. A few of the stories are standouts, of course, that went on to be classics, and one is the seed for 2001.

Approach it with an open mind, and you'll enjoy a peek into the early development of a great writer.
Felt funny to read, these many years later, I mean the internet ... who could of thank it.
Recommended to anyone who's a fan of Science Fiction. Yes, these stories don't match up to Clarke's great novels like "Rendezvous with Rama". But they are really interesting stories that can be loosely adapted to Sci Fi TV or a feature film. Any of those shorts would make an excellent episode of the outer limits.
It has been some time since I read this, but the rating was given when I finished it.
Arther. C. Clarke.
What more need be said?
I enjoyed going back and re-reading stories that I originally read as a teenage sci-fi fan. These are not the very best of Clarke's work but it is still an enjoyable collection of some of the master's early short stories.
This was Arthur C. Clarke's first collection of short stories, originally published in 1953; the 11 stories (10 shorts and one novelette) were published in various magazines between 1946 and 1951.

The quality of the collection is uneven; some of these stories are rather slight and some have dated, but a few are excellent and at least one, "The Sentinel," is sublime. (Clarke's most famous short stories, "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God," were still a few years in the future).

The best stories in this volume are very good indeed. "The Sentinel" was the seed for Clarke's screenplay and novelization of Kubrick's film 2001 (1969). The story only hints at the complexities of the film and novel, but it already perfectly captures the awe of humanity's first discovery of alien intelligence. "Second Dawn" is a remarkable piece of speculation, containing no human characters. "History Lesson" wonders what aliens will make of human culture when they try to read the last shards of our civilization, and comes to a very funny answer. "Exiled to the Eons" is a bitter, sardonic story of a Hitler-like dictator seeking refuge in the future when his attempted conquest of the Earth fails.

Other stories didn't work as well for me. "Superiority," a satire on military bureaucracy, and "Hide and Seek," a science puzzle story, were both lacking in characterization. "'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth...'" and "Expedition to Earth" have surprise endings that probably worked well in the 1940s but are predictable today. (Not Clarke's fault, of course, that his innovations have been often imitated.)

Overall, though, this is a worthwhile anthology; even at his weakest, Clarke was always literate, humane, erudite and sardonic, and at his best, he was one of the giants of science fiction.