The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke Paperback Book

Description: The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke From the worlds most famous science fiction writer, a poignant and vivid story of doomsday and beyond. FORMAT Paperback CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From the worlds most famous science fiction writer, a poignant and vivid story of doomsday and beyond. The countdown to doomsday began with the discovery in 1956 of the neutrino, a particle with no mass and no charge. By the year 2001, the significance of this phantom particle was understood: it was a harbinger. A cosmic event was imminent, and would be close enough to touch. Soon the Sun would go nova; the demolition of Earth was assured. And so it happened in the year 3620.Over the centuries of knowing the end was at hand, humanity pulled together to launch probes into space. Primitive ships, at first, carrying embryos to distant systems, relying on machines to incubate and rear the first people of a virgin land beneath an alien sun. On Thalassa, after a journey of 200 years, a colony blossomed, only to fall silent again.On Earth the Lords of the Last Days lived with no need to care for the future of the world; it was the wildest of times, and the saddest. Last to leave was the Magellan carrying a million homeless; when cataclysm struck, its voyagers witnessed through telescopes the death of Earth and all its wonders, saw the Atlantic boil dry, the pyramids disintegrate, the land of Antarctica briefly bare of ice before fire consumed everything. Then the million slept.Five hundred years later, the Magellan must make planetfall to repair its quantum drive. Its sleepers awake to find themselves visitors to Thalassa, where a cvilization has, in fact, survived. A clash of cultures unlike any before brings danger, despair, and some very tough decisions for two different peoples far from Earth – and its distant songs. Notes Reissued with a new jacket. Author Biography Born in Somerset in 1917, Arthur C. Clarke has written over sixty books, among which are the science fiction classics 2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhoods End, The City and the Stars and Rendezvous With Rama. He has won all the most prestigious science fiction trophies, and shared an Oscar nomination with Stanley Kubrick for the screenplay of the film of 2001. He was knighted in 1998. He died in 2008 at his home in Sri Lanka. Review Clarkes simple, musical style never falters in this novel, which is a sobering yet far from bleak commentary on humanitys longing for the stars. Highly recommendedLibrary Journal Kirkus US Review A short story that first appeared in 1958, expanded and polished to a high gloss. A handful of islands in a planetary ocean, Thalassa is a colony derived from a robot seedship sent from Earth centuries ago, just before the sun went nova. With few environmental challenges, the Thalassans have developed a peaceful but stagnant culture. Then a ship arrives from Earth: the huge Magellan, powered by "quantum drive" (it derives energy from the quantum fluctuations of space itself); traveling at the speed of light, Magellan left Earth just before the final nova bearing a million colonists preserved in cold-sleep. Magellan has stopped off at Thalassa on its way to the distant planet Sagan Two in order to renew its shield. (Moving at the speed of light, the ship could be destroyed by the strike of a mere grain of dust, so it carries ahead of it a cone-shaped shield of ice to absorb such impacts.) The story of the interaction between the Thalassans and the crew of Magellan is often an absorbing one, set forth in a supple and pleasingly surefooted narrative, peopled with characters who are well developed but so-so nice even when theyre angry. What the book glaringly lacks, like 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), is conflict and drama; Clarkes efforts in that direction - a potential mutiny aboard Magellan, the hitherto undiscovered presense of maybe-intelligent "scorps" (sea scorpions) in Thalassas oceans - fall flat. Still, theres much to admire here - not least Clarkes dream of civilization without fossilized hatreds and violence - and his vast audience wont be disappointed. (Kirkus Reviews) Details ISBN0586066233 Author Arthur C. Clarke Pages 240 Publisher HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-10 0586066233 ISBN-13 9780586066232 Format Paperback Imprint Voyager Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 823.914 Birth 1917 Death 2008 Media Book UK Release Date 1998-11-02 Year 1998 Publication Date 1998-11-02 AU Release Date 1987-12-15 Alternative 9780007385249 Audience General NZ Release Date 1987-06-21 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:938933;

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