The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

This is a very good anthology. Classic stories of science-fiction from one of the best sci-fi writers of all time. Including "The Sentinel", the story in wich "2001:A Space Odissey" was based.

"Many and strange are the Universes that drift like bubbles in the foam upon the River of time. Some - a very few - move against or athwart its current; and fewer still are those that lie forever beyond its reach, knowing nothing of the future or the past. Shervane's tiny cosmos was not one of these; its strangeness was of a different order." Thus begins the "Wall of darkness" the 16th of the stories in this collection of 104 Science Fiction short stories written by Arthur C. Clarke. Briefly; the Wall of darkness is a story about a wealthy young man who lives on a world always turning the same face towards its star, the great sun of Trilorne. On this world there was a region too hot for life called the Fire lands, a narrow belt that was inhabitable, and also the cold shadow lands surrounding the equator. Located at the equator was "The wall of darkness" a gigantic tall black impenetrable wall. It was not known whether it was created by the maker of stars or by some ancient civilization, but Shervane set out to explore it. What he found was almost beyond comprehension and still it elegantly explained the time and space structure of our own Universe, and maybe the time and space structure of any possible material Universe. As is stated; "Shervane's world was the last and the strangest jest of the Maker of the Stars". I always found this short story to be the most fascinating short story I have ever read, and one of the best manifestations of the Genius of Arthur C. Clarke. This is a nearly complete collection of all of A. Clarke's short stories collected into one book. Naturally it contains some awesome gems like; The lion of Comarre, The Sentinel, The Wall of darkness, The Nine Billion Names of God, The Man Who Ploughed the Sea, The Songs of Distant Earth, A Meeting With Medusa, The Hammer of God, etc. Some of these stories were later turned into novels. There were some editorial mistakes in the book but they did not ruin my reading experiences. Unlike the typical run of the mill space ship, star trek, star wars, sort of Science Fiction stories, these stories cover a lot of ground. From Tibetan monks trying to find God's real name using computers, to the discovery of 2 billion years old machines, encounters with gigantic jellyfish/balloon like creatures in Jupiters atmosphere, to quirky and humor filled space walk accidents. What I like about Arthur C. Clarke is that he does not waste his great imagination on the impossible or highly implausible. For example, time travel stories (back in time) are as boring as they are implausible (or impossible). In the comment section I will list all the stories in this collection. Perhaps you will recognize your favorite.

Finally, at long last, we get a (very nearly) complete collection of Arthur C. Clarke's short works all in one volume. This collection is very convenient to the ACC collector, because his short works are scattered across numerous volumes (many of which are out of print) and several are uncollected. 104 stories, nearly 1,000 pages... all classic Clarke works. His first published story Travel By Wire! (1937) is here, as is his most recent Improving The Neighborhood (1999), his only collaboration The Wire Continium (with Stephen Baxter, 1998), and similar novelties. The stories range in length from 33 words to over 18,000. There is also a nice introduction from Clarke. Prefaced to each story are notes on when and where it was first published (very useful information to the Clarke collector), what ACC retrospectives it has since appeared in, and (most of the time) some brief notes on the story from Clarke. The stories collected here are widely varying, from absolute classics of the genre like The Star, The Nine Billion Names of God, The Lion of Comarre, The Wall of Darkness, All The Time In The World, Breaking Strain, etc.; to "seed" shorts like The Sentinel, Guardian Angel, Earthlight, The Songs of Distant Earth, The Hammer of God, etc.; to light-hearted, hilarous SF romps like the numerous "White Hart" tales, Trouble With the Natives, How We Got To Mars (previouly uncollected), and more. With all these extras in mind, along with the fact that it contains several previously uncollected stories, this book is essential not only to the Clarke newbie, but also to the hardcore admirer who already owns most everything he has ever written. This long-awaited omnibus is truly an absolute must-own for any science fiction fan. Period.

This book was a winner from start to finish. The first stories a charmingly terra-centric (if that's even a word), and the way we looked at ourselves in relation to the rest of the universe was a pleasant trip to gentler times. As the book progresses we see Arthur Clarke's voyage to a larger awareness of where we are in the universe. But above all, the book is a fun read. There are stories here for everyone and every taste.This is an unhesitating rating of "must buy." You will not be dissappointed.

This book is heavy and inconvenient to carry around. The spellings are all British. "The Curse" is inexplicably renamed as "Nightfall". "At The Mountains of Murkiness" is missing.--But none of these gripes matter at all. The fact is, this is a (nearly-)comprehensive collection of all the short fiction of one of the three greatest authors to write Science Fiction. It includes the stories that made the Science Fiction Hall of Fame ("The Nine Billion Names of God" and "The Star"), stories that grew to more famous works ("The Sentinel," which formed part of the basis for Clarke & Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_ [both the novel and film]; "Guardian Angel," which grew to become Clarke's best novel, _Childhood's End_; and "The Songs of Distant Earth" and "The Hammer of God," which grew to the novels of the same name), light-hearted works (including all the classic _Tales of the White Hart_ and the more recent "Steam-Powered Word Processor"), and serious works (such as "Breaking Strain" and the aforementioned "Star"). This is surely the greatest single volume of short Science Fiction ever published. Recommended unreservedly.