Customer Reviews

The City and the Stars

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 Diasper, 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 Diasper 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 Diasper 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 Diasper 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.

This is the story of the human race as it exists about a billion years in the future. A more ambitious premise for a novel is almost impossible to imagine, but Clarke pulls it off brilliantly. This is an incredibly imaginative work, and before it is over it offers a sweeping vision of human destiny. And all the while it does so by telling a good story too! This is a novel, not a work of philosphy.

This is the story of Alvin, the first child to be born in over a million years in the great city of Diaspar, man's greatest and last city. But Alvin is different than his peers, because he alone in all of Diaspar is not pathologically afraid of the notion of leaving Diaspar, or of venturing into outer space. And thus Alvin's explorations, and the novel's story, begin. A great yarn with a startling and inspiring ending.

Many years ago when I was quite young (11 or 12 perhaps) I first read this novel's sister book, Against The Fall Of Night, on the recommendation of my mother. I loved it and soon moved on to The City And The Stars, which I enjoyed even more. Over the ensuing twenty years I have re-read it several times, and cannot think of any SF book that I have consistently enjoyed more.

This is not "gadget SF", where the plot turns on clever use of some little-known technical gizmo. Nor is it "hard SF" that delves deeply into the domain of hard chemistry or physics to drive the story. Instead, this is a "big picture" novel.

A million years pass. A billion years. What happens to the human race? What social impacts might occur after every question we know how to ask has been answered? How might people live when advanced science begins to resemble our conception of magic? This is speculative fiction at its finest, and my favorite Clarke novel.

Calling this "classic" science fiction seems like too droll of a description. This book will not let go of you once you've read the first sentence. The characters, the plot, the suspense and the reward are fantastic. It pulls you in so completely you won't even feel like you are reading -- as if you are traveling the moving ways through Diaspar itself, watching the Jester's tricks or struggling against the bonds of the City. I've picked up City and the Stars, flipped to a page in the middle and gotten instantly drawn into Alvin's story again and again and again. This is by far my favorite science fiction book ever. Buy two copies and put one in a sealed plastic bag for the time when your first, ratty and torn copy turns to dust!

This may have been the first sf I ever read. I am certain few others have ever topped it. [Note this is a 1956 expanded rewrite of the original version entitled "Against the Fall of Night" 1953]

Clarke forms a world in the very distant future whose inhabitants live for hundreds of years on a ravaged planet earth in the oasis of the city. The city is an incredibly advanced utopia but an island of machines and somewhat bored inhabitants.

The main protaganist is the youngest member of the community who ventures out into a voyage of discovery and onto another community which has also survived the ravages of time. The reuniting of the two tribes of mankind each a distinct culture at opposite ends of the spectrum is problem and goal of "Against the Fall of Night".

This is science fiction storytelling at its best. A great story and a must have for all fans of the genre.

The city has always symbolized of the pinnacle of human achievement. From Babylon to the Greek city-state to Ancient Rome to modern cities like Tokyo and New York, the city has epitomized progress and achievement. How subversive then to see this symbol extended to its highest utopian degree, then promptly inverted and stood on its head.

Clarke shows us once again why he is one of the grand masters of science fiction. Are all utopias also dystopias? Is immortality a truly desirable goal? Is security worth the sacrifice of curiosity? In achieving paradise, do we surrender our humanity?

These are large questions that this book answers provocatively and incompletely, itself a tribute to the author's good sense. Too complete an answer would not only be pedantic, it would deprive us of the pleasure of our own ruminations.

His detractors will cite his usual shortcomings: flat characters, slow plots, pedestrian imagery and merely adequate writing. While true, such complaints miss the point because Clarke has never pretended to great literature. His purpose is to provoke: with the facility of his intelligence, the depth of his creativity, the breadth of his imagination. Expecting depth of character from Clarke is just as misplaced as expecting alien planetary vistas from Shakespeare. Such expectations say more about the limitations of the reader than those of the author.

The City and the Stars was written years before the dark urban vistas of Dick and Gibson. If others have constructed more compelling visions of futuristic dystopias, it is because they have had the benefit of standing on Clarke's shoulders. But even in the venue of dystopias, Clarke's questions go beyond the merely dystopian. He isn't interested in obvious dystopias; he wants to explore the underpinnings of utopias that are not what they seem. In this respect, only Huxley comes to mind as someone who trod the same path, and Huxley was too cynical a writer to allow us much room for our own reflections.

While not in the same league as 2001, Childhood's End or Rama, this is a very worthwhile read from a uniquely inventive writer. The book is enjoyable and thought provoking and far better than the vast majority of science fiction from lesser authors.

Make no mistake, this book is perhaps the most prophetic and mind-bending book by my favorite Sci-Fi author. Clarke has created a manifestly plausible vision of the far future that is also less grim than most apocalyptic futures favored by many authors. I feel very strongly that this is one of the best works by Clarke. I would unhesitatingly rate this higher than 2001 or Rendezvous with Rama. Wonderful read.

Virtually everyone here seems to agree with me, so I don't think I need to repeat these sentiments, so I'll just say this. The first time I read it, I was almost home in L.A., flying back from Europe. I was young, and the mere ideas of flying and travelling was magical ones for me. We were just passing over Las Vegas in the darkness, which was much smaller in 1973 than it is today, and it was a solitary brilliant jewel on the breast of the desert. I had just read the part about Alvin's first trip to Lys, and how that isolated place reminded me of the gigantic underground switching station that he passed through, midway during the trip!

It has been some years since I last read this book. I have read it several times. As I recall it is one of the most compelling and moving stories in the genre of speculative fiction in relation to humanity. If you are a SF fan and a fan of ACC himself and have not read this story, you simply must! It is, beyond doubt, his finest work!

There is a reason Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008) is considered one of the greatest Science Fiction writers of all time. For so many other authors, a book like "The City and the Stars" would stand out as their greatest work, but with Clarke one has to consider novels like "Childhood's End", "2001: A Space Odyssey", and "Rendezvous with Rama" among others, and so this is merely one of his greatest works. Published in June of 1956, it is a rewrite of his novella "Against the Fall of Night" which was published in "Startling Stories" in November of 1948.

Set millions of years in the future, the story focuses on Alvin, a citizen of the city Diaspar who is unlike any other citizen at the time in that he has not lived before, though we do learn that there have been other "Uniques" (as they are called) in the past, they have all disappeared. As the others of his generation are coming of age and recovering the memories of their past lives, Alvin is left to pursue his own course. He, unlike any other citizen of Diaspar, wants to see what lies outside of the city.

Clarke's story is complex and layered and he builds a future which captures the reader's interest. The society of Diaspar is one based on fear, they have fear of "The Invaders" who at some time in the distant past forced humanity from the stars and back to Earth to live in the single city of Diaspar. Thus they also fear leaving the city, but at the same time, the Central Computer seems to be aiding Alvin in his attempts to leave the city, and he is also aided by Khedron, the Jester, who fulfills the role in society of stopping it from completely stagnating through his stunts or jests.

Needless to say that Alvin succeeds in his attempt to leave the city, but the story goes much further than that. He finds another human society, Lys, which is agrarian based and whose inhabitants want nothing to do with those in the city (who are unaware of Lys) and look down on them. Even though this other society is outside of Diaspar, many of the same traits which have stagnated humanity for all this time are the same between the two.

Clarke touches on numerous themes, such as the evolution of humanity, futuristic societies, the powers of the mind, and even the engineering of a new type of life. The story covers a lot of ground, and becomes something far more than what one would expect at the start. Though I would not rate this as highly as "Childhood's End", it is certainly an excellent novel and well worth reading for those who love science fiction and for fans of Arthur C. Clarke.

This novel tied for 22nd on the 1956 Astounding/Analog reader's All-Time poll for Science Fiction books and finished 7th on the same poll when it was retaken in 1966. It also was tied for 17th on the 1975 Locus All-Time poll for novels, 32nd on the 1987 Locus All-Time Poll for SF novels, and 34th on the 1998 Locus All-Time poll for novels written before 1990.