Imperial Earth [IMPORT] (Paperback)

by Arthur C. Clarke (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz; New Ed edition (February 20, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575601582
• ISBN-13: 978-0575601581
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,323,637 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but Meandering, July 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Imperial Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

If you want to start reading the works of Arthur C. Clarke, one of the 20th century's great visionairies, you can do worse than this one, but you could also do better. This work is basically the Earth of 2276 as seen through the eyes of an outsider. A lot of what he sees is remarkable and quite plausible, and the cast of characters is generally likeable. Like many Clarke novels, there is little in the way of conflict here - Clarke is not one for hero vs. villain - but unlike Childhood's End or 2001 or Rendevous with Rama, there is no sense of grandeur either. There are just a lot of incidents that just barely add up to something more.

Still, Clarke's unusual approach to writing - he is the only novelist who writes in stle of an essayist - and his appealing vision of a mature secular utopian Earth still works after seeing it often. Fans of dystopias are best advised to stay home. Fans of a happy tomorrow, where everyone is well-fed and sexually liberated and needs nothing more than a nice vacation, are invited in.

If you care for this, I recommend you move onto to his somewhat more action-oriented Rama and then to his masterowrk, Childhood's End.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read !!, March 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Imperial Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

Like many of Clarke's other books, Imperial Earth was a very enjoyable read and you don't have to be a sci-fi fan to relate to the subject matter. It tells the story of the central character's journey to Earth from one of the space colonies in the solar system. In doing so, we come across several recurring themes of cultural and economic differences between colonialists and mother Earth, as well as political intrigue and unrequited love. What I found quite absorbing was Clarke's narration of the relationships between each of the characters, and this sets the book apart from other 'shoot 'em up' sci-fi publications. I had no problem purchasing this book (in fact it was a 1997 copy, published by Vista).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. Poor effort. Why was this book written?, January 17, 2006

By	Clarke Asimov "HOMES" (Dudley, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imperial Earth (Hardcover)

Imperial Earth seems like a book written to fulfill a contractual obligation. As I read this book I kept getting the feeling that Clarke had collected various notes he had written for ideas and tried to make a book out of them without much further effort. This is a very shallow book. Characters were poorly developed, and the story meandered with no purpose. At the end of the book I wondered why Clarke had introduced many (most?) of the characters and settings.

Imperial Earth includes descriptions of Titan, where people live mostly underground but can go on the surface with oxygen and a thin thermosuit. The trip to Earth wasn't especially interesting. Descriptions of future Earth were given little historical background. Cultural changes were simply stated rather than explained.

Way too many blanks were left for the reader to fill in. You might as well write your own book instead.