The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke [Hardcover]

Arthur C. Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2001

Author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End, The City and the Stars, and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke is the most celebrated science fiction author alive. He is—with H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein—one of the writers who define science fiction in our time. Now Clarke has cooperated in the preparation of a massive, definitive edition of his collected shorter works. From early work like "Rescue Party" and "The Lion of Comarre," through classics like "The Star," "Earthlight," "The Nine Billion Names of God," and "The Sentinel" (kernel of the later novel, and movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey), all the way to later work like "A Meeting with Medusa" and "The Hammer of God," this immense volume encapsulates one of the great SF careers of all time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ancient Rome had its famed Five Good Emperors--Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, for those keeping track. And while science fiction might not have Edward Gibbons around to dole out similar, agreed-upon honors, everyone pretty much accepts the canonization of a few founding fathers: Asimov, Heinlein, Wells, and Bradbury all make the short list, as does--always--the venerable and venerated Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master and the winner of just about every SF award you care to mention.

So whether you're already familiar with his works or not (most notably Childhood's End and the Rama series), you certainly can't go wrong picking up this veritable brick of a collection--912 pages in all--as either primer or essential reference. Within you'll find virtually every short piece of fiction that Clarke has ever published, from 1937's endearingly twee (in retrospect) "Travel by Wire" to 1999's "Improving the Neighbourhood," the first sci-fi Nature ever published.

The Collected Stories is all short works (as short as 31 words in one case) and includes some of Clarke's best stories, including the lighthearted "Tales of the White Hart" and the momentous "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God." --Paul Hughes

From Library Journal

Bringing together more than six decades of sf short stories that have helped to mold the genre, this collection of short fiction by Grandmaster Clarke serves as a definitive example of sf at its best. From such classic tales as "The Nine Billion Names of God" and "The Hammer of God" to lesser-known early tales and everything in between, this collection displays the author's fertile imagination and irrepressible enthusiasm for both good storytelling and impeccable science. With over 100 stories and nearly 1000 pages, this volume by the award-winning author of 2001: A Space Odyssey makes a fine addition to any library's short story or sf collection.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 912 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (February 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312878214
• ISBN-13: 978-0312878214
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE (1917-2008) wrote the novel and co-authored the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and he is the only science-fiction writer to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His fiction and nonfiction have sold more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

144 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Much-needed collection, but..., March 15, 2001

By 

W. Leipold (Wilmington, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (Hardcover)

It was about time somebody collected all of Clarke's short stories into one volume. I looked forward eagerly to re-reading them (I wore out my '50s and '60s paperbacks of Clarke's stories long ago). Sadly, the poor copyediting ruined this book for me. Tor must have hired some minimum-wage illiterate to keypunch the stories, then neglected to proofread any of them. There are mispellings on every page ("BEWARD OF LIONS"), and whole lines (or worse) are completely missing from many of the stories! (A whole *series* of paragraphs was missing from one of my favorite stories, "Superiority".)

I'm almost sorry I bought this book. You can buy it for its historical significance, but expect to be disappointed by its quality.

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (almost) Comprehensive Collection of an SF Grand Master, January 22, 2001

By 

Raja Thiagarajan (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (Hardcover)

This book is heavy and inconvenient to carry around. The spellings are all British. "The Curse" is inexplicably renamed as "Nightfall". "At The Mountains of Murkiness" is missing.--But none of these gripes matter at all. The fact is, this is a (nearly-)comprehensive collection of all the short fiction of one of the three greatest authors to write Science Fiction. It includes the stories that made the Science Fiction Hall of Fame ("The Nine Billion Names of God" and "The Star"), stories that grew to more famous works ("The Sentinel," which formed part of the basis for Clarke & Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_ [both the novel and film]; "Guardian Angel," which grew to become Clarke's best novel, _Childhood's End_; and "The Songs of Distant Earth" and "The Hammer of God," which grew to the novels of the same name), light-hearted works (including all the classic _Tales of the White Hart_ and the more recent "Steam-Powered Word Processor"), and serious works (such as "Breaking Strain" and the aforementioned "Star"). This is surely the greatest single volume of short Science Fiction ever published. Recommended unreservedly.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many and strange are the Universes that drift like bubbles in the foam upon the River of time, April 22, 2008

By 

Thomas Wikman "Texas Swede" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (Paperback)

"Many and strange are the Universes that drift like bubbles in the foam upon the River of time. Some - a very few - move against or athwart its current; and fewer still are those that lie forever beyond its reach, knowing nothing of the future or the past. Shervane's tiny cosmos was not one of these; its strangeness was of a different order." Thus begins the "Wall of darkness" the 16th of the stories in this collection of 104 Science Fiction short stories written by Arthur C. Clarke.

Briefly; the Wall of darkness is a story about a wealthy young man who lives on a world always turning the same face towards its star, the great sun of Trilorne. On this world there was a region too hot for life called the Fire lands, a narrow belt that was inhabitable, and also the cold shadow lands surrounding the equator. Located at the equator was "The wall of darkness" a gigantic tall black impenetrable wall. It was not known whether it was created by the maker of stars or by some ancient civilization, but Shervane set out to explore it. What he found was almost beyond comprehension and still it elegantly explained the time and space structure of our own Universe, and maybe the time and space structure of any possible material Universe. As is stated; "Shervane's world was the last and the strangest jest of the Maker of the Stars". I always found this short story to be the most fascinating short story I have ever read, and one of the best manifestations of the Genius of Arthur C. Clarke.

This is a nearly complete collection of all of A. Clarke's short stories collected into one book. Naturally it contains some awesome gems like; The lion of Comarre, The Sentinel, The Wall of darkness, The Nine Billion Names of God, The Man Who Ploughed the Sea, The Songs of Distant Earth, A Meeting With Medusa, The Hammer of God, etc. Some of these stories were later turned into novels. There were some editorial mistakes in the book but they did not ruin my reading experiences.

Unlike the typical run of the mill space ship, star trek, star wars, sort of Science Fiction stories, these stories cover a lot of ground. From Tibetan monks trying to find God's real name using computers, to the discovery of 2 billion years old machines, encounters with gigantic jellyfish/balloon like creatures in Jupiters atmosphere, to quirky and humor filled space walk accidents.

What I like about Arthur C. Clarke is that he does not waste his great imagination on the impossible or highly implausible. For example, time travel stories (back in time) are as boring as they are implausible (or impossible). In the comment section I will list all the stories in this collection. Perhaps you will recognize your favorite.