To: epicure who wrote (180636 ) 1/29/2012 8:11:30 AM From: T L Comiskey Read Replies (2) | Respond to another book recommendsChildhood's End Arthur C. Clarke Childhood's End science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke . The story follows the peaceful alien invasion [1] of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens , but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their space ships , governing through indirect rule . Decades later, the Overlords eventually show themselves, and their impact on human culture leads to a Golden Age . However, the last generation of children on Earth begins to display powerful psychic abilities, heralding their evolution into a group mind , a transcendent form of life.short story "Guardian Angel" (1946), which he expanded into a novel in 1952, incorporating it as the first part of the book, "Earth and the Overlords". Completed and published in 1953, Childhood's End sold out its first printing and received good reviews, becoming Clarke's first successful novel of his career. The book is often regarded as Clarke's best novel by both readers and critics, [2] and is described as "a classic of alien literature". [3] Along with The Songs of Distant Earth (1986), Clarke considered Childhood's End one of his favourite novels. [4] Stanley Kubrick expressing interest in the 1960s, but collaborating with Clarke on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) instead. The novel's theme of transcendent evolution also appears in Clarke's Space Odyssey seriesOlaf Stapledon . In 1997, the BBC produced an original, two-hour radio dramatization of Childhood's End written by Tony Mulholland. Clarke's novel was nominated for the Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004.
