213 pages (Hardcover) Fiction
I have been a fan of Clarke since I was teenager and first got into reading science fiction. This blog actually came into being because of Clarke in its own way. He has written over 50 books some fiction and some non-fiction. Many of them have similar names. I started writing brief reviews of each book I had read so when I was looking for a new one I could make sure I hadn't read it before. This is one of the curses of buying all your books in used book stores. Anyway, Clarke has entertained me repeatedly through the years and I was happy to find one that I hadn't read. This is actually two stories in one book. The Lion of Comarre is a short story and Against the Fall of Night is more like a novella.
The Lion of Commare follows a ingenious young man, Peyton, who attempts to find Commare, an almost mythical city made far in the past that was supposed to be a Utopian place to live. Many others had searched for it and either failed or never returned. Peyton concludes that the hidden city must reside in a wildlife preserve and flies there in an attempt to locate it. He parks outside the preserve and walks in. On his journey he ignores numerous warning signs and eventually meets a lion. It is docile and quickly becomes a traveling companion. Peyton find the city of Commarre, which seems to be a self sufficient enclosed building. Once inside he realizes why those that came before them never left and only with the help of his new found friend is he able to keep the city defenses at bay.
Against the Fall of Night seemed very familiar to me. I realized later that the idea of the novella was later expanded into a whole book called The City and the Stars which I had already read. It was a bit confusing, because some things seem very familiar: a huge isolated city with people that never age. A young person one of the first people born in ages, a city park the was the center of the the living quarters. There were differences as well and once I figured out that I had read a similar story it made sense.
Alvin is the first person born in thousands of years. His society has learned how to extend life indefinitely and people are only produced when people have died of accidents. Alvin finds himself in a stagnant society that doesn't explore or invent anymore. He has a creative drive that has no partner. He explores the back areas of the city and wants to find a way out. On one of his adventures he find a note seemingly left there thousands of years in the past. It says: THERE IS A BETTER WAY. GIVE MY REGARDS TO THE KEEPER OF RECORDS. Alvin contacts Rorden, the Keeper of Records. With his help they start to find the path way that was blocked and eventually leads out of the city. From there the real adventure begins.
One of the things I find most appealing about Clarke is that he makes things seem real. Everything that is portrayed in his books, although fantastic, are based in reality. His novels focus on the future, but from my perspective, they are from the past. This book was written before we even landed on the moon yet many of the things described such as personal airplanes and cell phones are now a part of our every day life.
3 Intellectual/Emotional - I find the ideas of the future intellectually entertaining, but I found little emotional substance.
4 Style/Readability - Clarke is always easy to read. The ideas can be complex, but it is always presented in an easily digested way. I never struggle to understand what is happening, but never feel like it is simplified.
2 Long Term Impact - Clarke is a monolith in science fiction and has had an enormous impact on sci fi writing. This is a lesser known book, but still worth while.
9 out of 13. I enjoyed it, but think many other books by Clarke would be a better place to start.
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