.jpg) Cover of first edition hardcover | |
| Author | Arthur C. Clarke |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard M. Powers |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Publication date | 1953 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover andpaperback) |
| Pages | 214 |
| ISBN | 0-345-34795-1 |
| OCLC | 36566890 |
Childhood's End is a 1953science fiction novel by the British authorArthur C. Clarke. The story follows a peacefulalien invasion[1] of Earth by mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decades of apparentutopia underindirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.
Clarke's idea for the book began with his short story "Guardian Angel" (published inNew Worlds #8, winter 1950), 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, received good reviews and became Clarke's first successful novel. The book is often regarded by both readers and critics as Clarke's best novel[2] and is described as "a classic of alien literature".[3] Along withThe Songs of Distant Earth (1986), Clarke consideredChildhood's End to be one of his favourites of his own novels.[4] The novel was nominated for theRetro Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004.
Several attempts to adapt the novel into a film or miniseries have been made with varying levels of success. DirectorStanley Kubrick expressed interest in the 1960s, but collaborated with Clarke on2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) instead. The novel's theme of transcendent evolution also appears in Clarke'sSpace Odyssey series. In 1997, theBBC produced a two-hour radio dramatization ofChildhood's End that was adapted by Tony Mulholland. TheSyfy Channel produceda three-part, four-hour television miniseries ofChildhood's End, which was broadcast on 14–16 December 2015.
In the late 20th century, theUnited States and theSoviet Union are competing to launch the first spacecraft into orbit when alien spaceships suddenly position themselves above Earth's principal cities. After one week, the aliens announce they are assuming supervision of international affairs, to prevent humanity's extinction. They become known as the Overlords. In general, they let humans go on conducting their affairs in their own way, although some humans are suspicious of the Overlords' benign intent, as they never allow themselves to be seen.
The Overlord Karellen, the "Supervisor for Earth", periodically meets with Rikki Stormgren, theSecretary-General of the United Nations. Karellen tells Stormgren that the Overlords will reveal themselves in 50 years, when humanity will have become used to their presence. When the Overlords finally reveal their appearance, they resemble the traditional Christian folk images ofdemons, with cloven hooves, leathery wings, horns, and barbed tails. Humankind enters agolden age of prosperity at the expense of creativity.
The Overlords are interested inpsychic research, which humans suppose is part of their anthropological study. Rupert Boyce, a prolific book collector on the subject, allows one Overlord, Rashaverak, to study these books at his home. To impress his friends with Rashaverak's presence, Boyce holds a party, during which he makes use of aOuija board. Jan Rodricks, anastrophysicist and Rupert's brother-in-law, asks the identity of the Overlords' home star. The Ouija board reveals a number which Jan recognizes as a star-catalogue number and learns that it is consistent with the direction in which Overlord supply ships appear and disappear. Jan stows away on an Overlord supply ship and travels 40light years to their home planet.
Well over a century after the Overlords' arrival, human children, beginning with the Greggsons', begin to displayclairvoyance andtelekinetic powers. Karellen reveals the Overlords' purpose: they serve the Overmind, a vast cosmic intelligence, as a kind of "bridge species", fostering other races' eventual union with it.
As Rashaverak explains, the time of humanity as a race composed of single individuals with a concrete identity is coming to an end. The children's minds reach into each other and merge into a single vast group consciousness. For the transformed children's safety, they are segregated on a continent of their own. No more human children are born and many parents die or commit suicide.
When Jan Rodricks returns to Earth, he finds a profoundly altered planet. Humanity has effectively become extinct and he is now the last individual man alive. Some Overlords remain on Earth to study the children from a safe distance. When the evolved children mentally alter the Moon's rotation and make other planetary manipulations, it becomes too dangerous to remain. The departing Overlords offer to take Rodricks with them, but he chooses to stay to witness Earth's end and transmit a report of what he sees. His transmission ends with a view of a column of light stretching into the sky, the Earth becoming transparent, and a glow from within the core just before the Earth explodes, its energy siphoned by the departing children.
As his ship speeds away, Karellen somberly turns his back on a display of the sun.
The novel first took shape in July 1946, when Clarke wrote "Guardian Angel", a short story that would eventually become Part I ofChildhood's End. Clarke's portrayal of the Overlords as devils was influenced byJohn W. Campbell's depiction of the devilish Teff-Hellani species inThe Mightiest Machine,[2] first serialized inAstounding Stories in 1934. After finishing "Guardian Angel", Clarke enrolled atKing's College London and served as the chairman of theBritish Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1953. He earned a first-class degree in mathematics and physics from King's in 1948, after which he worked as an assistant editor forScience Abstracts. "Guardian Angel" was submitted for publication but was rejected by several editors, including Campbell. At the request of Clarke's agent and unbeknown to Clarke, the story was edited byJames Blish, who rewrote the ending. Blish's version of the story was accepted for publication in April 1950 byFamous Fantastic Mysteries magazine.[6] Clarke's original version of "Guardian Angel" was later published in the Winter 1950 issue ofNew Worlds magazine.[7]
After Clarke's nonfiction science bookThe Exploration of Space (1951) was successfully received, he began to focus on his writing career. In February 1952, Clarke started working on the novelization of "Guardian Angel"; he completed a first draft of the novelChildhood's End in December, and a final revision in January 1953.[8] Clarke travelled to New York in April 1953 with the novel and several of his other works. Literary agentBernard Shir-Cliff convincedBallantine Books to buy everything Clarke had, includingChildhood's End, "Encounter in the Dawn" (1953), (which Ballantine retitledExpedition to Earth), andPrelude to Space (1951). However, Clarke had composed two different endings for the novel, and the last chapter ofChildhood's End was still not finished.[9] Clarke proceeded toTampa Bay, Florida, to go scuba diving with George Grisinger, and on his way there visited his friendFrederick C. Durant – President of theInternational Astronautical Federation from 1953 to 1956 – and his family in the Washington Metropolitan Area, whilst he continued working on the last chapter. He next traveled toAtlanta, Georgia, where he visited Ian Macauley, a friend who was active in thecivil rights movement. Clarke finished the final chapter in Atlanta while Clarke and Macauley discussed racial issues; these conversations may have influenced the development of the last chapter, particularly Clarke's choice to make the character of Jan Rodricks – the last surviving member of the human species – a black man.[10]
Clarke arrived in Florida at the end of April. The short story, "The Man Who Ploughed the Sea", included in theTales from the White Hart (1957) collection, was influenced by his time in Florida. While inKey Largo in late May, Clarke met Marilyn Mayfield, and after a romance lasting less than three weeks, they travelled to Manhattan and married atNew York City Hall. The couple spent their honeymoon in thePocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, where Clarke proofreadChildhood's End. In July, Clarke returned to England with Mayfield, but it quickly became clear that the marriage would not last as Clarke spent most of his time reading and writing, and talking about his work. Further, Clarke wanted to be a father, and Marilyn, who had a son from a previous marriage, informed Clarke after their marriage that she could no longer have children. WhenChildhood's End was published the following month, it appeared with a dedication: "To Marilyn, For letting me read the proofs on our honeymoon." The couple separated after a few months together, but remained married for the next decade.[11]
Ballantine wanted to publishChildhood's End beforeExpedition to Earth andPrelude to Space, but Clarke wanted to wait. He felt that it was a difficult book to release. He had written two different endings for the novel and was unsure of which to use. According to biographer Neil McAleer, Clarke's uncertainty may have been because of its thematic focus on the paranormal and transcendence with the alien Overmind. While the theme was used effectively by Clarke in the novel, McAleer wrote that "it was not science fiction based on science, which he came to advocate and represent". When he wroteChildhood's End, Clarke was interested in the paranormal, and did not become a sceptic until much later in his life.[12] Ballantine persuaded Clarke to let them publishChildhood's End first, and it was published in August 1953, with a cover designed by American science fiction illustratorRichard M. Powers.[13]Childhood's End first appeared in paperback and hardcover editions, with the paperback as the primary edition, an unusual approach for the 1950s. For the first time in his career, Clarke became known as a novelist.[12]
Decades later, Clarke was preparing a new edition ofChildhood's End after the story had become dated. The initial chapter of the 1953 novel correctly foresees a race between the US and Soviet Union to first land men on the Moon (and the prominence of German rocket scientists in both space programmes), but sets it later than it would actually happen (post-1975; the exact year is not given in the text, but 1945 is said to be more than thirty years ago). After the book was first published, theApollo missions landed humans on the Moon in 1969, and in 1989 US PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush announced theSpace Exploration Initiative (SEI), calling for astronauts to eventually explore Mars. In 1990, Clarke added a new foreword and rewrote the first chapter, placing it in the early 21st century, changing the goal from the Moon to Mars, and implying a joint effort rather than a race.[8] Editions since have appeared with the original opening or have included both versions. "Guardian Angel" has also appeared in two short story collections:The Sentinel (1983), andThe Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001).
On October 28, 2008,Audible released a 7-hour 47 minute unabridgedaudiobook version ofChildhood's End, narrated by Eric Michael Summerer, under its Audible Frontiers imprint. AnAudioFile review commended Summerer's narration as "smoothly presented and fully credible".[14] An audio introduction and commentary is provided by Canadian science fiction authorRobert J. Sawyer.[15]
The novel was well received by most readers and critics.[16] Two months after publication, all 210,000 copies of the first printing had been sold.[17]The New York Times published two positive reviews of the book:Basil Davenport compared Clarke toOlaf Stapledon,C. S. Lewis, andH. G. Wells, a "very small group of writers who have used science fiction as the vehicle of philosophic ideas".[18]William DuBois called the book "a first rate tour de force that is well worth the attention of every thoughtful citizen in this age of anxiety".[19] Don Guzman of theLos Angeles Times admired the novel for its suspense, wisdom, and beauty. He compared Clarke's role as a writer to that of an artist, "a master of sonorous language, a painter of pictures in futuristic colors, aChesley Bonestell with words".[20]Galaxy reviewerGroff Conklin called the novel "a formidably impressive job ... a continuous kaleidoscope of the unexpected".[21]While acknowledging "inexpressible unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings after reading it", Japanese authorYukio Mishima declared, "I'm not afraid to call it a masterpiece."[22]
Anthony Boucher andJ. Francis McComas were more sceptical, and faulted the novel's "curious imbalance between its large-scale history and a number of episodic small-scale stories". While praising Clarke's work as "Stapledonian [for] its historic concepts and also for the quality of its prose and thinking", they concluded thatChildhood's End was "an awkward and imperfect book".[23]P. Schuyler Miller said the novel was "all imagination and poetry", but concluded it was "not up to some of Clarke's other writing" due to weakness in its "episodic structure".[24]
Brian W. Aldiss andDavid Wingrove wrote thatChildhood's End rested on "a rather banal philosophical idea...expressed in simple but aspiring language that vaguely recalls thePsalms combined with a dramatized sense of loss [for] undeniable effect".[25]
In 2004Childhood's End was nominated for aretrospective Hugo Award for Best Novel for 1954.[26] In 2021, the novel was one of six classic science fiction novels by British authors selected byRoyal Mail to feature on aseries of UK postage stamps.[27]
In the 1960s, director Stanley Kubrick was interested in making a film adaptation of the novel, butblacklisted directorAbraham Polonsky had already optioned it. Instead, Kubrick collaborated with Clarke on adapting the short story "The Sentinel" into what eventually became2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).[28] Months before his performance at Woodstock in 1969, folk singer and guitaristRichie Havens toldEbony magazine about his appreciation of Clarke's story and expressed his interest in working on a future film adaptation ofChildhood's End.[29] Screenplays by Polonsky andHoward Koch were never made into films.[30]
David Elgood first proposed a radio adaptation of the novel in 1974, but nothing came of it in that decade.[citation needed]
Philip DeGuere, whose credits include the TV seriesAlias Smith and Jones, developed a script in the late 1970s for Universal, who planned to film it initially as a six-hour mini-series for CBS Television, and later as a two- or three-hourtelemovie for ABC. However, Universal discovered that its contracts with Arthur C. Clarke – some of which dated back to 1957 – were out of date. These contractual difficulties were resolved in 1979 and DeGuere worked with comic book artistNeal Adams on preproduction drawings and other material. The project had Clarke's approval. However Universal decided that the budget required would be nearly $40 million and they were only prepared to spend $10 million, so the movie was not made.[31]
Director Brian Lighthill revisited the radio adaptation proposal and obtained the rights in 1995. After Lighthill received a go-ahead fromBBC Radio in 1996, he commissioned a script from Tony Mulholland, resulting in a new, two-part adaptation. The BBC produced the two-hour radio dramatization of the novel, and broadcast it onBBC Radio 4 in November 1997. The recording was released on cassette by BBC Audiobooks in 1998 and on CD in 2007.[32]
As of 2002[update], film rights to the novel were held byUniversal Pictures, with directorKimberly Peirce attached to a project.[33]
On April 10, 2013, theSyfy Channel announced its plans to developaChildhood's End TV miniseries.[34][full citation needed] The three-episode, four-hour production premiered December 14, 2015.Charles Dance portrays the Supervisor Karellen.
An illustration of an Overlord as depicted by artistWayne Barlowe was published inBarlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials.[35]
Childhood's End has inspired the work of many contemporary musicians and artists. These includePink Floyd ("Childhood's End"),[36][37]Van der Graaf Generator ("Childlike Faith in Childhood's End"),[38][37]David Bowie ("Oh! You Pretty Things"),[39] andGenesis ("Watcher of the Skies").[40][37] The novel also inspired theHipgnosis cover art forLed Zeppelin'sHouses of the Holy.[41][42]
Childhood's End was a major influence on the 1998Square gameXenogears, namely with the game's antagonist being named after Karellen.[43]
The sixth episode of the 2023Netflix seriesGamera Rebirth was titled "Childhood’s end" as an homage toArthur C. Clarke.[44]
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