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From the world's most famous science fiction writer, a poignant and
vivid story of doomsday and beyond. The countdown to doomsday began
with the discovery in 1956 of the neutrino, a particle with no mass
and no charge. By the year 2001, the significance of this phantom
particle was understood: it was a harbinger. A cosmic event was
imminent, and would be close enough to touch. Soon the Sun would go
nova; the demolition of Earth was assured. And so it happened in
the year 3620. Over the centuries of knowing the end was at hand,
humanity pulled together to launch probes into space. Primitive
ships, at first, carrying embryos to distant systems, relying on
machines to incubate and rear the first people of a virgin land
beneath an alien sun. On Thalassa, after a journey of 200 years, a
colony blossomed, only to fall silent again. On Earth the Lords of
the Last Days lived with no need to care for the future of the
world; it was the wildest of times, and the saddest. Last to leave
was the Magellan carrying a million homeless; when cataclysm
struck, its voyagers witnessed through telescopes the death of
Earth and all its wonders, saw the Atlantic boil dry, the pyramids
disintegrate, the land of Antarctica briefly bare of ice before
fire consumed everything. Then the million slept. Five hundred
years later, the Magellan must make planetfall to repair its
quantum drive. Its sleepers awake to find themselves visitors to
Thalassa, where a cvilization has, in fact, survived. A clash of
cultures unlike any before brings danger, despair, and some very
tough decisions for two different peoples far from Earth - and its
distant songs.
The Leonov is beaten to Jupiter by a Chinese mission which lands on
Jupiter's moon, Europa, and falls victim to its unknown terrain.
The last astronaut to die on the alien surface broadcast a message
- there is life on Europa.
Earth has become a Utopia, guided by a strange unseen people from
outer space whose staggering powers have eradicated war, cruelty,
poverty and racial inequality. When the 'Overlords' finally reveal
themselves, their horrific form makes little impression. Then comes
the sign that the Overlords have been waiting for. A child begins
to dream strangely - and develops remarkable powers. Soon this
happens to every child - and the truth of the Overlords' mission is
finally revealed to the human race. . . A classic of the science
fiction genre, Childhood's End is an intelligent, beautifully
written exploration of what it means to be human from the
inimitable Arthur C. Clarke. Now adapted as a three-part miniseries
on Sky.
Now approaching the millennium, the light of Lucifer is
extinguished and for the second time in four million years, the
Monolith awakes. The limitless power of an alien technology has
decided what part humanity must play in the evolution of the
galaxy.
In the most exciting SF collaboration ever, Arthur C. Clarke and
his universally acknowledged heir Stephen Baxter pool talent,
fantastic ideas, unprecedented cosmic insights as well as
page-turning plotting skills and breathlessly good writing to
produce the most awesome novel of the future since 3001. 'Space is
what keeps everything from being in the same place. Right?' With
these words Hiram Patterson, head of the giant media corporation
OurWorld, launches the greatest communications revolution in
history. With OurWorld's development of wormhole technology, any
point in space can be connected to any other, faster than the speed
of light. Realtime television coverage is here: earthquakes and
wars, murders and disasters can be watched, exactly as they occur,
anywhere on the planet. Then WormCams are made to work across time
as well as space. Humanity encounters itself in the light of other
days. We witness the life of Jesus, go to the premiere of Hamlet,
solve the enigmas that have baffled generations. Blood spilled
centuries ago flows vividly once more - and no personal treachery
or shame can be concealed. But when the world and everything in it
becomes as transparent as glass and there are no more secrets,
people find new ways to gain vengeance and commit crime, and Hiram
Patterson finds new ways to keep his Machiavellian schemes secret.
The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city--intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began.
But at what cost? With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning?
Colonists from the entire solar system converge on the mother
planet for the 2276 celebrations. Among the influx of humanity is
Duncan Makenzie, scientist-administrator from the underground
colony of Titan, one of the outer moons of Saturn. Makenzie is not
just on Earth for the celebrations, though; he has a delicate
mission to perform - for his world, his family and himself . . .
The final work from the brightest star in science fiction's galaxy.
Arthur C Clarke, who predicted the advent of communication
satellites and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey completes a lifetime
career in science fiction with a masterwork. 30 light years away, a
race known simply as the One Point Fives are plotting a dangerous
invasion plan, one that will wipe humankind off the face of the
Earth... Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, a young astronomy student, Ranjit
Subramanian, becomes obsessed with a three-hundred-year-old theorem
that promises to unlock the secrets of the universe. While Ranjit
studies the problem, tensions grow between the nations of the world
and a UN taskforce headed up by China, America and Russia
code-named Silent Thunder begins bombing volatile regimes into
submission. On the eve of the invasion of Earth a space elevator is
completed, helped in part by Ranjit, which will herald a new type
of Olympics to be held on the Moon. But when alien forces arrive
Ranjit is forced to question his own actions, in a bid to save the
lives of not just his own family but of all of humankind.
Co-written with fellow grand master Frederik Pohl, The Last Theorem
not only provides a fitting end to the career one of the most
famous names in science fiction but also sets a new benchmark in
contemporary prescient science fiction. It tackles with ease epic
themes as diverse as third world poverty, the atrocities of modern
warfare in a post-nuclear age, space elevators, pure mathematics
and mankind's first contact with extra-terrestrials.
In the most exciting SF collaboration ever, Arthur C. Clarke and
his universally acknowledged heir Stephen Baxter pool talent,
fantastic ideas, unprecedented cosmic insights as well as
page-turning plotting skills and breathlessly good writing to
produce the most awesome novel of the future since 3001. 'Space is
what keeps everything from being in the same place. Right?' With
these words Hiram Patterson, head of the giant media corporation
OurWorld, launches the greatest communications revolution in
history. With OurWorld's development of wormhole technology, any
point in space can be connected to any other, faster than the speed
of light. Realtime television coverage is here: earthquakes and
wars, murders and disasters can be watched, exactly as they occur,
anywhere on the planet. Then WormCams are made to work across time
as well as space. Humanity encounters itself in the light of other
days. We witness the life of Jesus, go to the premiere of Hamlet,
solve the enigmas that have baffled generations. Blood spilled
centuries ago flows vividly once more - and no personal treachery
or shame can be concealed. But when the world and everything in it
becomes as transparent as glass and there are no more secrets,
people find new ways to gain vengeance and commit crime, and Hiram
Patterson finds new ways to keep his Machiavellian schemes secret.
Clarke's masterful evocation of the far future of humanity,
considered his finest novel Men had built cities before, but never
such a city as Diaspar. For millennia its protective dome shut out
the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held
powers that rule the stars. But then, as legend has it, the
invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one
man, a Unique, to break through Diaspar's stifling inertia, to
smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders.
Arthur C.Clarke's space saga contines in 2061, when an Earth vessel
landing on Halley's Comet marks the beginning of another
confrontation between Heywood Floyd and David Bowman - or whatever
Bowman has become - a newly independent HAL and the unseen alien
power that controls the destiny of Earth. Arthur C.Clarke, one of
most popular science fiction writers of the 20th century, has
written over 50 books including "The City and the Stars",
"Rendezvous with Rama", "Childhood's End", "2001: A Space Odyssey"
and "2010: Odyssey Two".
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Rendezvous With Rama
Arthur C. Clarke
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R342
R279
Discovery Miles 2 790
Save R63 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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The multi-award-winning SF masterpiece from one of the greatest SF
writers of all time Rama is a vast alien spacecraft that enters the
Solar System. A perfect cylinder some fifty kilometres long,
spinning rapidly, racing through space, Rama is a technological
marvel, a mysterious and deeply enigmatic alien artefact. It is
Mankind's first visitor from the stars and must be investigated ...
Winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1974 Winner of the NEBULA
AWARD for best novel, 1973 Winner of the JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for
best novel, 1974 Winner of the BSFA AWARD for best novel, 1973
Thalassa was a paradise above the earth. Its beauty and vast resources seduce its inhabitants into a feeling of perfection. But then the Magellan arrives, carrying with it one million refugees from the last mad days of earth. Paradise looks indeed lost....
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Earthlight (Paperback)
Arthur C. Clarke
1
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R279
R115
Discovery Miles 1 150
Save R164 (59%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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The time: 200 years after man's first landing on the Moon. There
are permanent populations established on the Moon, Venus and Mars.
Outer space inhabitants have formed a new political entity, the
Federation, and between the Federation and Earth a growing rivalry
has developed. EARTHLIGHT is the story of this emerging conflict.
Two centuries from now there may be men who do not owe allegiance
to any nation on Earth, or even to Earth itself. This brilliant
story tells of a time when man stands upon the moon and the
planets, tells of men now divided by the vast stretches of the
Solar System but once again torn by jealousy and fear. With
vaulting imagination Arthur C. Clarke describes life on the
strange, awe-inspiring surface of the moon, scene of a most
fantastic and exciting contest of arms.
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Rama II (Paperback)
Arthur C. Clarke
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R242
R210
Discovery Miles 2 100
Save R32 (13%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed -- or had existed -- elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth's best and brightest minds is assembled to rendezvous with the massive vessel. They are armed with everything we know about Raman technology and culture. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to encounter on board Rama II: cosmic secrets that are startling, sensational -- and perhaps even deadly.
In the year ten billion A.D., Diaspar is the last city on Earth.
Agelss and unchanging, the inhabitants see no reason to be curious
about the outside world. But one child, Alvin - only seventeen and
the last person to be born in Diaspar - finds that he is
increasingly drawn to what lies outside the city walls. Even though
he knows the Invaders, who devastated the world, may still be out
there... Later rewritten, expanded and republished as The City and
the Stars, this early novella by one of the greats of science
fiction remains a powerful and evocative depiction of the future of
humanity...
The best collection ever of Arthur C. Clarke's short fiction,
including the stories on which 2001: A Space Odyssey and
Childhood's End were based. The Sentinel is a magnificent
retrospective showcase of Arthur C. Clarke's finest shorter
fiction. Spanning four decades of writing, this book includes many
gems of a genius at the height of his powers. The title piece is
the story that inspired 2001. 'Guardian Angel' is a rarely
anthologised work that gave birth to Childhood's End, and 'The
Songs of Distant Earth' is the original version of Clarke's own
favourite novel. Along with other vaulting tales of imagination are
fascinating introductions telling the history of each story from
conception to completion. From one of the greatest science-fiction
writers of all time. The Sentinel is one of those all-too-few
collections that must be read, re-read, then treasured.
The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city—intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began.
But at what cost?
With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own.
As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning?
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