The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 23 March 2007
by Arthur C. Clarke
Welcome to 1974, when the United States and the Soviet Union are each on the brink of their first, nuclear-powered, manned rocket flights to the Moon. In 1953, Arthur Clarke envisioned this day, twenty years in his future, as the day on which the aliens, who have been watching us for centuries, make themselves known, arriving in gigantic ships that hover over the world's biggest cities. Within five years, the Overlords have begun to transform global society, bringing peace and prosperity to everyone on the planet. But, are their intentions ultimately noble? Several episodes of The Twilight Zone should make anyone skeptical. What transpires in the next two centuries is nothing less than the veritable extinction of the human race as we know it. But is it a good thing? Maybe. Through several novels, Clarke has made a literary theme of humankind's guided evolution. Benevolent or malignant aliens are here to help mankind along, or to wipe us out. These vastly advanced extraterrestrials are science-fiction's version of a God, and in this book, there certainly is no shortage of religious references, even though the Overlords have made religion superfluous by showing us just what happened at the origin of our mythology. The Overlords themselves, fit into that mythology. Clarke necessarily paints this picture with a very broad brush. No real characters can last throughout the story. Vast transformations of human society, some of them even prescient, are nevertheless described in precious few words, and with very little reference to man's contrary nature and penchant for conflict. Still, the book is a bit of a romp, one man's vision of a utopian finale to the human species. It is, of course, a classic of the genre. Many references to it reverberate through the literature and in movies. Worth a look at the original material.
Also by Clarke (with Stephen Baxter): [Time's Eye] [Sunstorm]