Soon to be a Syfy miniseries event Childhood's End is one of the defining legacies of Arthur C. Clarke, the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other groundbreaking works. Since its publication in 1953, this prescient novel about first contact gone wrong has come to be regarded not only as a science fiction classic but as a literary thriller of the highest order. Space ships have suddenly appeared in the skies above every city on the planet. Inside is an intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior alien race known as the Overlords. At first, their demands seem benevolent: unify Earth, eliminate poverty, end war. But at what cost? To those who resist, it's clear that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. Has their arrival marked the end of humankind... or the beginning? Praise for Childhood's End A first-rate tour de force. The New York Times Frighteningly logical, believable, and grimly prophetic... Clarke is a master. Los Angeles Times There has been nothing like it for years; partly for the actual invention, but partly because here we meet a modern author who understands that there may be things that have a higher claim on humanity than its own survival. C. S. Lewis As a science fiction writer, Clarke has all the essentials.

Earth has become a Utopia, guided by a strange unseen people from outer space whose staggering powers have eradicated war, cruelty, poverty and racial inequality. When the 'Overlords' finally reveal themselves, their horrific form makes little impression. Then comes the sign that the Overlords have been waiting for. A child begins to dream strangely — and develops remarkable powers. Soon this happens to every child — and the truth of the Overlords' mission is finally revealed to the human race...

The final work from the brightest star in science fiction's galaxy. Arthur C Clarke, who predicted the advent of communication satellites and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey completes a lifetime career in science fiction with a masterwork. 30 light years away, a race known simply as the One Point Fives are plotting a dangerous invasion plan, one that will wipe humankind off the face of the Earth... Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, a young astronomy student, Ranjit Subramanian, becomes obsessed with a three-hundred-year-old theorem that promises to unlock the secrets of the universe. While Ranjit studies the problem, tensions grow between the nations of the world and a UN taskforce headed up by China, America and Russia code-named Silent Thunder begins bombing volatile regimes into submission. On the eve of the invasion of Earth a space elevator is completed, helped in part by Ranjit, which will herald a new type of Olympics to be held on the Moon. But when alien forces arrive Ranjit is forced to question his own actions, in a bid to save the lives of not just his own family but of all of humankind. Co-written with fellow grand master Frederik Pohl, The Last Theorem not only provides a fitting end to the career one of the most famous names in science fiction but also sets a new benchmark in contemporary prescient science fiction. It tackles with ease epic themes as diverse as third world poverty, the atrocities of modern warfare in a post-nuclear age, space elevators, pure mathematics and mankind's first contact with extra-terrestrials.

A Space Odyssey a great film and a famous novel. An object is found on the Moon. Who made it? Men travel into space to find out a billion kilometres to the rings of Saturn. Something is waiting for them.

'High above them, Lora and Clyde heard a sound their world had not heard for centuries — the thin scream of a starship coming in from outer space, leaving a long white tail like smoke across the clear blue sky. They looked at each other in wonder. After three hundred years of silence, Earth had reached out once more to touch Thalassa ...' And with the starship comes knowledge, and love, and pain. In these five science-fiction stories Arthur C. Clarke takes us travelling through the universe into the unknown, but always possible future.

Selon la légende, les hommes auraient jadis conquis les étoiles. Jadis, d'immenses villes auraient fleuri à la surface de la Terre. Puis les Envahisseurs sont venus, laissant l'Humanité exsangue, confinée sur sa planète natale. Pendant des millénaires, la cité de Diaspar a servi de refuge aux rares rescapés. Une prison dorée, close sur elle-même, sagement gérée par un ordinateur omnipotent. Dix millions d'habitants y naissent et y renaissent artificiellement, sans jamais vraiment mourir... Jusqu'à l'apparition d'un être unique, Alvin, qui refuse cette existence pétrifiée et sans but. Bravant les lois de Diaspar, il va entamer un fantastique voyage parmi les mondes morts, qui le mènera aux confins de la galaxie. Un space opera flamboyant, empreint de poésie et d'aventure. Une œuvre inoubliable par l'auteur des Enfants d'Icare et de Rendez-vous avec Rama.

At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredible, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence. It will kindle their wildest dreams... and fan their darkest fears. For no one knows who the Ramans are or why they have come. And now the moment of rendezvous awaits — just behind a Raman airlock door.

Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends — and then the age of Mankind begins....