Childhood’s End (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Arthur C. Clarke
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—evolutionary fantasy
- Time of Work: About 1985-2085
- Setting: Earth and NGS 549672, the planet of the Overlords
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Mythology or myths, Politics, Twentieth century, New York City, Extraterrestrial life, Future, Other worlds, Science or scientists, Twenty-first century, Religion, Islands, Science fiction, Government, End of the world, Evolution, Aliens, space
- Locales: New York, NY, Space, Islands, Earth, Fictional planets
The Plot
Childhood’s End is an account of the final one hundred years of human life on Earth, from the time of the Overlords’ arrival in their huge spaceship to the time of the dramatic, rapid evolution of all human children into a nonhuman form that achieves unity with the Overmind. A series of human characters—most notably George Greggson, Jean Morrel, and their two children—encounter the technologically advanced Overlords, whose Stardrive-based spaceships, truth-in-history machines, and panoramic viewers (which allow observation of every detail in an area many...
[The entire page is 1040 words long]
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