Review: Childhood’s End

Childhood’s End by Author C. Clarke

I give this book a 5.

This is a wonderful book I wish I’d read sooner. Everything I’ve always known and loved about alien invasion plots seems to have been influenced by this book in one way or another.

The book starts out by describing the harmless, but startling invasion of the Overlords. Within very little time, the soft-spoken, and at that point, never seen Overlords have rid the world of war and violence and made it subtly clear that they plan to stick around for a very long while. Of course people being people constantly wonder and question the motives of the Overlords, but since no lives are being taken, peace abounds around the land.

Generations go by before the Overlords present themselves to the public, for good reasons that are clearly explained in the book. After that the earth begins to reach its almost utopian pinnacle.  The one and only thing that really seems to be lacking in this new perfect world is the desire and or opportunity to explore new things. So of course there is one man who decides to tackle this deficiency, with unexpected results.

More and more generations come and go until such a time that man has begun to evolve. Finally the Overlords are ready to reveal their true purpose, but by that time, it doesn’t really matter anymore. There’s something more in store for the fate of the earth.

Wow, is the first thing that comes to mind each and every time I think of this book. The most riveting notion throughout this book is the sense of the unknown. Every time one thing is explained and all is well, there’s something else to keep you guessing. The story comes to a very clear and compelling end, but even then you are left wondering, and not because the author didn’t feel like filling the reader in. There are some things in this world that we just cannot understand. We can either accept them and move on with our lives, or we can let our desire to know destroy us.

While children and even some teens may not understand all the themes and scope of this story, I would recommend it to anyone. Sci-fi fans are sure to love this story, but anyone who’s ever been plagued by wanting to know more will appreciate this book.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try these links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble.

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