Arthur C. Clarke

On Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke has to be my next all time favourite author, after Isaac Asimov. A British-born writer, Clarke has gone on to wrote a relatively large number of science-fiction as well as non-fiction books in the space-sciences and on the sea.

Clarke's writing style is somewhat similar to Asimov's leading to occasional hilarious (to the authors) mixups where people attribute books written by one of them to the other. Personally, I don't quite understand why this mixup can happen. In reading numerous books by both authors, I can see that there are many distinct differences between them.

Clarke's style of writing is to emphasise on the scientific background of a story and to show how it can affect the characters. As such, his characterisation is usually faulted for being thin and uninteresting in a story filled with impressive descriptions of worlds and landscapes that sometimes defy the imagination.

I can remember being relatively unimpressed by Clarke in my early days (surprised?). The scientific descriptions in his early works were fascinating but nothing out of the ordinary. But all that changed when I read Childhood's End. Halfway through the book, I could fill a chill running through me as I read a masterful yet frightening tale of the future of humanity. "Yes," I though, "this is how good science fiction can be." From then on, Clarke was moved out of my list of 'okay' writers to my 'must read' list of authors.

In recent years, Clarke's books have been somewhat disappointing. Oh, they have beautiful descriptions of landscapes and situations which are a Clarke hallmark, but somehow, they don't move me as much as his earlier books. Even so, I know that when I read a Clarke book, I'm in for a fun time.

Among the Clarke books and stories which I consider the best and which I recommend are as follows:

Books:

2001: A Space Odyssey
Childhood's End
The Fountains of Paradise
Rendezvous With Rama
The City and the Stars

Short Stories:

"The Nine Billion Names of God"
"Against the Fall of Night"
"Transit of Earth"
"A Meeting with Medusa"
"The Wind from the Sun"

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