Sir Arthur C Clarke

Arthur C Clarke's
Fiction

The following list covers all published novels and short story collections of Arthur C Clarke. It includes literary collaborations (with co-author names given). All are in the genre of science fiction, except for Glide Path (1963) which is based on Clarke’s wartime service with the Royal Air Force where he worked on a radar-based, ground-controlled approach aircraft landing system.

Most of these titles are still in print, some having run into multiple editions and reprints. Please check online or with book sellers for availability.

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2001: A Space Odyssey

From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn as man ventures to the outer rim of our solar system, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a journey unlike any other. This allegory about humanity’s exploration of the universe, and the universe’s reaction to humanity, was the basis for director Stanley Kubrick’s immortal film, and lives on as a hallmark achievement in storytelling.

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2010: Odyssey Two

When 2001: A Space Odyssey first shocked, amazed, and delighted millions in the late 1960s, the novel was quickly recognized as a classic. Since then, its fame has grown steadily among the multitudes who have read the novel or seen the film based on it.

Yet, along with almost universal acclaim, a host of questions has grown more insistent through the years:

  • Who or what transformed Dave Bowman into the Star Child? What purpose lay behind the transformation? What would become of the Star-Child?
  • What alien purpose lay behind the monoliths on the Moon and out in space?
  • What could drive HAL, a stable, intelligent computer, to kill the crew? Was HAL really insane? What happened to HAL and the spaceship Discovery after Dave Bowman disappeared?
  • Would there be a sequel?

Now all those questions and many more have been answered. In this stunning sequel to his international best seller, Clarke has written what will be truly one of the great books of the 80’s. Cosmic in sweep, eloquent in its depiction of Man’s place in the universe, and filled with the romance of space, this novel is a monumental achievement.

This is fiction in the grand tradition, beside it, even 2001: A Space Odyssey is mere prologue!

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2061: Odyssey Three

In 2061, when two Suns share the skies of Earth, Halley’s Comet returns to the inner Solar System. Soon the fates of two spacefaring expeditions are entwined by human necessity and the immutable laws of astrophysics. Centenarian Heywood Floyd must once again confront Dave Bowman, a newly independent HAL and the limitless power of an alien race that has decided humanity must play a part in the evolution of the galaxy - whether it wants to or not… 2061: Odyssey Three takes the century’s greatest story on to brilliant new dimensions of wonder and excitement. This is visionary storytelling at its compelling, mind-expanding best.

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3001: The Final Odyssey

The body of Frank Poole, lost for a thousand years since the computer HAL caused his death en route to Jupiter, is retrieved, revived - and enhanced. In the most eagerly awaited sequel of all time, the terrifying truth of the Monoliths’ mission is a mystery only Poole can resolve.

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A Fall of Moondust

Time is running out for the passengers and crew of the tourist cruiser Selene, incarcerated in a sea of choking lunar dust. On the surface, the rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the pitiless and unpredictable conditions of a totally alien environment. A brilliantly imagined story of human ingenuity and survival, A Fall of Moondust is a tour-de-force of psychological suspense and sustained dramatic tension.

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A Meeting with Medusa

The clock was counting backward: a hundred seconds to entry. For better or worse, he was committed. In a minute and a half, he would graze the Jovian atmosphere and would be caught irrevocably in the grip of the giant. The countdown was two seconds late - not at all bad, considering the unknowns involved. Beyond the walls of the capsule came a ghostly sighing that rose steadily to a high pitched screaming roar. The noise was quite different from that of a re-entry on Earth or Mars; in this thin atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, all sounds were transformed a couple of octaves higher. On Jupiter, even thunder would have falsetto overtones.

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Across the Sea of Stars

Across the Sea of Stars proves, if proof is necessary, that Arthur Clarke is exactly what Holiday has called him: “the colossus of science fiction.” This omnibus contains Clarke’s own selection of his best fiction since he entered the field in 1946. The eighteen short stories and two full length novels presented here show the tremendous scope and power of Clarke’s imagination and writing talent. They clearly reflect his reputation as a brilliant scientist. Those who already know Clarke will not want to miss this collection. Those who have not yet read Clarke have this exciting discovery ahead - a discovery that includes the fastest space ship in existence chasing a lone man around a Martian satellite; a phony death ray that turns out to be the real thing; an invasion, not from outer space, but from within the earth; and a war that was lost because the enemy’s science was inferior.

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Against the Fall of Night

A billion years in the future is the setting of Mr. Clarke’s latest novel. Once, man’s empire encompassed the entire universe, but now the last vestige of his vanished glory is a solitary city lost in the shifting sands of an age-worn Earth. In the glittering city of Diaspar legend told the mysterious Invaders who drove man from his starry kingdom back to the planet of his birth which he must never attempt to leave. To the immortal dwellers in the city nothing lay beyond the walls but endless horizons of sand, senseless, and perhaps dangerous, to explore. The untroubled existence of the city went on until Alvin of Loronei, the only child to be born there in seven thousand years, began to question the age old “truths” of his elders. The burning curiosity of the boy, so different from the others’ timidity and fear of change, drives him beyond the city walls to discover another city that ancient records said was deserted. One after another Alvin goes through astonishing adventures that change him from an immature boy to an inspired young man whose destiny it is to lead frightened mankind back to the millions of sparkling suns in the universe that is his birthright. The same skill to combine prophetic fact with exciting fiction that Mr. Clarke displayed so outstandingly in Sands of Mars is evident in Against the Fall of Night, but with an impressive difference. Against the Fall of Night rises to almost poetic heights, in its descriptions of man’s destiny in time and space, that reveal the author to be an artist of the first rank.

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Childhood Ends

The initial publication from a new press often stirs excitement. And this release, the first from The Portentous Press, is no exception. Imagine if you will a varied collection of stories, essays and plays, along with a host of other things literary, from an established writer of international renown which virtually no one has ever seen before. Picture the first efforts of a writer who not only frequently stretches our boundaries of awe and wonder, but has informed, inspired and often lead the way to our understanding and conquest of the environments around us. What first thoughts might he have composed thus marking the debut of a grand and most enviable writing career which has now spanned nearly 60 years. The answer of course lies just in your hands. Here you will discover the author’s earliest notions about space travel, his romance of the film, homages to Shakespeare and Wells, pastiches of Arthur Conan Doyle and others as well as fond memories of things long past, many laced throughout with the author’s own abiding sense of humor. What a treat this book is to all those who welcome a study of literary evolution. So get ready and prepare yourself to garner a fresh look at the incomparable mind of Arthur C. Clarke.

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Childhood’s End

The Last Generation of Mankind on Earth: Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. They are manned by the Overlords… mysterious creatures from an alien race who soon take over control of the world. Within fifty years, these brilliant masters have all but eliminated ignorance, disease, poverty and fear. Then suddenly this golden age ends… and the end of Mankind begins!

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Cradle (with Gentry Lee)

Whales lie inexplicably stranded on a beach in the Florida Keys. Overnight a dozen whales, wandering far from their normal migratory route, have appeared from nowhere and beached themselves. More of the creatures are floundering in dangerously shallow water, while a contingent of local citizens and fishermen try to steer them back to the open sea. Local photojournalist Carol Dawson is sent to cover the story, and after some research identifies a small area of the ocean where, she believes, something must be causing the whales to panic and wander from their normal route. She hires a boat, and together with its owner Nick Williams goes out to investigate. At first their dive reveals nothing but a perfectly normal looking undersea trench running between two coral reefs, but then they spot more whales, moving aimlessly and sluggishly as if drugged; and when they go closer to investigate they see what looks like a large hole, with metallic-looking ‘lips’ in the ocean floor; and emanating from the opening, a set of marks that look like tank tracks… Carol Dawson and Nick Williams are about to experience the most momentous encounter in the history of the human race. Once again Arthur C. Clarke, the world’s bestselling science fiction writer, has produced a novel in which surprises and marvels are unveiled with mastery skill; if anything, his collaboration with top American space scientist and writer Gentry Lee has given Clarke’s work another dimension. Combining the tension of an outstanding thriller with ideas and revelations matching anything Arthur C. Clarke has ever written, Cradle is a masterwork of soaring visionary imagination, bound to prove as popular as such Clarke classics as Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey.