The City and the Stars

Arthur C. Clarke

Nov 2012 · Rosetta Books

About this ebook

This grand space adventure explores the fate of humanity a billion years in the future— A visionary classic by one of science fiction’s greatest minds.
 
Far in the future, Earth’s oceans have evaporated and humanity has all but vanished. The inhabitants of Diaspar believe their domed city is all that remains of an empire that had once conquered the stars. Inside the dome, the citizens live in technological splendor, free from the distractions of aging and disease. Everything is controlled precisely, just as the city’s designers had intended.
 
But a boy named Alvin, unlike his fellow humans, shows an insatiable—and dangerous—curiosity about the world outside the dome. His questions will send him on a quest to discover the truth about the city and humanity’s history—as well as its future.
 
A masterful and awe-inspiring work of imagination, The City and the Stars is considered one of Arthur C. Clarke’s finest novels.

Ratings and reviews

The narrative contains some inaccuracies of fact and consistency, but ALL could be corrected while leaving the story--its plot, its meaning, its message--utterly unchanged. It is a Great Work. I first read this novel (and its precursor, "Against the Fall of Night") when I was about eight years old, and it is the reason I became, in the order listed, a soldier, computer scientist, pilot, mathematician, astrophysicist, cryptologist, and finally, cosmologist. I found it Greatly Inspiring.

Another masterpiece from a great mind.

Awesome

About the author

One of the most influential science fiction writers of the twentieth and twenty-first century, Arthur C. Clarke is the author of over one hundred novels, novellas, and short story collections that laid the groundwork for the science fiction genre. Combining scientific knowledge and visionary literary aptitude, Clarke's work explored the implications of major scientific discoveries in astonishingly inventive and mystical settings. Clarke's short stories and novels have won numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards, have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Several of his books, including 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey II, have been adapted into films that still stand as classic examples of the genre. Without a doubt, Arthur C. Clarke's is one of the most important voices in contemporary science fiction literature.