"Richter 10" (novel): Taming the earthquakes

First half of this book is outstanding; next quarter is good; last quarter is positively lousy, & completely unrelated to rest of the story.

The most irritating thing I find in all Clarkian novels - the tendency to spend a lot of time on threads totally unrelated to main story - is here in full glory. In spite of this, I have no hesitation in calling the first half the best among all Clarkian novels I have reviewed to date (current one is #17).

This story is actually not written by Clarke. It was written by late Mike McQuay to outline provided by Clarke - in a manner similar to Rama sequels.

Story summary (spoiler).

The story spans the lifetime of the main protagonist, Lewis Crane, beginning late 20th century.

There are three memorable scenes in the story, all in first half: a little boy rendered a cripple & an orphan by an earthquake in US; a callous administration letting an entire village die unnecessarily in Japan; & unscrupulous politicians & businessmen letting thousands die unnecessarily in big quake in US. Each of these scenes borders on horror, & yet there is a lot of optimism.

First scene introduces the hero, Lewis Crane. In a milder, but still very moving, variant of similar opener in Jean Auel's "The Clan of Cave Bear", the little boy loses use one arm, his parents, & his house in an earthquake in California.

Next we encounter Crane as an adult, world's foremost expert on earthquakes, a Nobel laureate, a top grade entrepreneur, & founder of the Foundation - his research organization. And now finally ready with his first big earthquake prediction months in advance - at a Japanese island called Sodo. The quake will destroy most of the island, & one entire inhabited village called Aikawa.

Only trouble is: no one believes Crane. Villagers & local government are unhappy because this prediction has ruined tourist traffic. Crane has collected world media for the event at a small spot on the island that will survive, & but a lot of media is covering the event from air.

And here we get the second big scene. Mayor arrives with cops to arrest Crane & deport him because they see him as scaremonger. That is when the quake hits. Everything is to prediction. When the dust settles, the village is a beach.

Crane is now a celebrity & harbinger of the evil. That is when he decides to raise funds for his bigger & super secret project: banish quakes by stopping all tectonic activity - by fusing together the plates comprising earth's crust at strategic places, about 50 locations in all. Using atomic bombs in a way that will direct their power towards earth's core, without any damage to surface.

Next major scene is a big quake prediction in some parts of the US bordering Mississippi river; in between, we have seen Crane directing rescue at a volcano (Pelee) affected island (Martinique) in the Mediterranean - but that was a minor thread. Only problem is: elections are soon due, & someone has figured a way to benefit from the quake. In a bizarre twist, field data of Foundation is intercepted & forged by the villain. Result is: Crane prediction is too soon by a few months. Crane loses credibility.

When Crane figures out the reason, & the fact that quack is still coming, there is a problem in communication - he needs to get credibility. Enter Harry Whetstone, his billionaire benefactor & friend. He convinces Harry to bet most of his $3b wealth on his prediction. And our friends go public with a wager: at 2:1 odds, our friends offer wagers of $50 each that quake will happen on new date. Wager is quickly lapped up.

Come D-day. Government is publicly denying any quake possibility. Public is against our friends, though there are sympathizers. In a relief camp set up at a safe location near to-be-worst-affected areas, Crane & his benefactor are arrested.

Of course, the quake hits as predicted. Our friends are on the scene directing relief. Crane emerges larger than life after the event. He has returned the $3b borrowed from friend, & now has enough money for his Foundation from the won wager that he no longer need depend on any external sources.

To kickstart his big project - the fusing of tectonic plates, Crane has some help from earth. About 20 years down, there will be a quake that will split much of California from rest of US, & make it a Pacific island. With widespread loss of life & property. And this event can be avoided - by putting the first "spot weld" joint somewhere in western US that will also substantially cut down the number of quakes worldwide.

He enlists political support, sets up a secure facility on the lines of US bomb making project in 1940s.

Rest of the story, about a quarter of the book, is bizarre - to say the least. And second rate, at least to me. And links with many tangent threads that have already been introduced into the story.

Falling apart of Crane with his main technical man Dan; Dan joining a muslim fundamentalist organization; terrorist attack on the secure facility that destroys the facility & kills Crane's wife & child; formation of an Islamic state within US. And introduction of more tangent threads - creation of a colony on moon, & their mining of water from permafrost on Mars rather than from Earth!

Among the other tangent threads in the story are: Middle East as a radioactive wasteland, a radioactive cloud that has been moving around earth for decades, ozone layer gone, Europe & US as Third World, & the world dominated by Africa & China. At one stage, we are told the world is 70% muslim, & US is mostly black & hispanic! These threads spread all through the book.

There is a stage where some sanity could have been introduced into the plot. Dan's key technical objection to Crane's fusion project are probably sound: there would not have been any life on earth if earth could not renew itself with tectonic activity; how do you know you are not banishing future life from earth? But this angle is never developed & quickly abandoned.

The book describes a lot of tech toys - brain implants, mood enhancing drugs, wrist-worn computers, projector-based televisions that normally use clouds & outside of public buildings as display surfaces, aural implants, flying cars, ... I wonder why just quake taming was not enough sf!

End of the book is the big quake in California. Crane & Dan have made peace, & will be committing suicide in the quake together!

Key characters.

1. Lewis Crane: Hero - the man who will banish the earthquakes.
2. Dan Newcombe aka Abu Talib: Close associate of Crane. The man who imparts mathematical rigor into Crane's predictions.
3. Lanie King: A computer simulation expert. Girlfriend of Dan, & later wife of Crane.
4. Harry Whetstone: Billionaire friend & benefactor of Crane. Plays a crucial role at one point in the plot.
5. Burt Hill: Kind of majordomo of Crane. The man of administration who ensures Crane can focus on important things, & not have to worry about details.
6. Sumi Chan: A Chinese woman in US who has faked her appearance, & hidden her sex from world for some weird & unfathomable reason. People think she is a he. Rises to be a US president in his male avatar, & later becomes second wife of Crane.
7. Kate Masters: A politician, & a friend of Lanie & Chan.
8. Mohammed Ishmael: A separatist & a terrorist. Prominent through the book, but is part of a tangent plot unrelated to main story.

Fact sheet.

Richter 10, novel, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke & (Late) Mike McQuay
First published: 1996
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: A

See also.

1. Jean Auel's "The Clan of Cave Bear": Opener where a child is the only survivor of an earthquake is very similar. Though Jean's story is more heartrending.
2. Robert Heinlein's first published story, "Life-Line" (1939). There is much similarity in plot - both stories involve predicting something that is well beyond our current capabilities, both see the main protagonist die at the end, & in both, the main protagonist plays a similar stunt to get recognition from public as a prophet rather than a charlatan - by betting a large sum of money with whoever prove the prophet wrong.
   
3. "The Ghost from the Grand Banks" has some very similar earthquake scenes. Also, volcano Pelee on islands named Martinique is involved.
   

About Arthur Clarke Fansite

Introducing this site, & yours truly - even if belatedly.

Yes, I look at it as a normal website - implemented as a blog, because it is the least hasslesome way to put together a website. It certainly won't pay to read it as a diary.

1. What is this site about?
This site is about Arthur Clarke's stories - both short & long. It is not about his photos, videos, biography, quotes, general links, or other stuff.

You will likely find the following questions answered to some level of satisfaction:

1. I want to read some Arthur Clarke novels. Can you please suggest a few good ones? Ans: Consider the entries highlighted near top of this novels listing by quality.
   
2. I have been reading a meme that lists best sf novels since 1950, but it sounds like a promotional from a book publisher's cartel. It has these two entries by Clarke; are these books worth buying? Ans: Search the individual book reviews, or look at their position in this listing of novels by quality.
   
3. I have read this novel by Clarke that I really liked. But it is the first one in a series, & I feel an itch to finish the series. Are the sequels as good as the original I liked? Ans: Consult Rama or Space Odyssey series summaries, as appropriate.
   
4. I am an aspiring sf author, & would like to understand how a great Clarkian book came to be. What blunders & failures preceded the masterpiece? And some insight into Clarke's writing technique.
   
5. I am a book publisher, & would like to know how to make a customer pay more than once for the same plot, & sometimes the same identical story?
6. I am too impatient to finish reading a novel - even a good one. Can you suggest some shorter versions that are as good? Ans: See if the few stories highlighted near the top of this listing of short stories by quality makes sense.
   
7. I like plot variety for the sake of it. Do you have some reading suggestions? Ans: You find maximum plot variety in his short stories, though some novels also offer original plots. Try short stories for now; I will put together a combined document later.
   
8. I have a soft corner for humor. Is there any decent Clarkian material on the subject? Ans: Have a look at this. I know presentation of this list can be improved, but something is better than nothings!
   
9. I want to get into sf, but every time I try, I get lost in techno-babble. Are there stories in this genre suitable for the non-geek?
   

While I classify & list Clarke's stories on a variety of criteria, above would have been questions I would have found interesting about any author, genre or other listing.

Note: While answers to these questions already exist in the content of this site, they are not always explicit. Now that I have made the questions explicit, I will likely restructure (some day - ha ha!) so finding answers is also straight forward.

My rating scheme is intentionally simple. If you are into hard sf, you probably won't be disappointed with many stories rated A; don't bother with the rest.

I hope my story reviews are useful, but a google search on any story will often yield many reviews; mine are not really unique. I do often convey, early in the review, if the story is a worthy read.

In a period of about 2 months, I have read 17 novels & 41 short stories by Clarke, & posted their reviews here! I sometimes get a feeling I am becoming some kind of an expert on his stories! Some of the content you find here probably doesn't exist at many places on the web because of this self-styled "expert" business.

2. About me.
I am an engineer, with tastes that tend toward hard sf; if you prefer it soft, there likely will be many occasions where interesting for me can be uninteresting for you.

Here is a way to reach me.

Have fun.

Boring archival material.
This section is for my own use - a place to keep notes, etc; please ignore.

1. Old feed links (not interesting anymore; noting so I won't forget URLs): Feedburner, Atom, RSS.
   

Europa's medal

An admirer who wrote this comment emailed the medal displayed alongside. Since this is the first award for this site, I thought it deserves a post of its own. Wish me luck. And more awards.

"The Sands of Mars" (novel): Optimism galore, & very readable

This will easily qualify as among the best stories by Clarke - particularly the last third, or may be the last half. Be happy, & do the best you can - and gods will generally smile back! Sounds like Gita!

And by & large, it is a down to earth story, in spite of native Martian animals, technology to create a sun, & a few other exotics.

Story summary (spoiler).
Main story is about terrafarming Mars - by increasing oxygen content of local air to enable humans to live in the open.

There are three parts to the plot: a space voyage from Earth to Mars where new human colony is struggling to become self-sufficient; a skeptic's view of possibilities offered by the colony, & his conversion to their cause; & finally the terrafarming.

In between, there are sub-plots involving discovery of native Martian animals, Martian plants, a shorter version of "A Fall of Moondust", & a short romance.

I got a feeling that first third is partly autobiographical, though Clarke never says so.

Main protagonist, Martin Gibson, is a well known science fiction author. He is offered a free passage on the maiden run of Ares, a passenger liner between Earth & Mars. Expectation is to use his writing on the experiences as PR material by the firm running the ship.

There are detailed descriptions of by-rocket travel to space station in Earth's skies; transfer to liner; liner interiors & crew; an adventure mid way through; landing on one of the Martian moons; travel down by another rocket; & architectural details of the Martian city ("Port Lowell").

Gibson was not exactly a welcome visitor, but colonists accept the visit with grace. Middle third is about his conversion to someone who believes in the Martian story. If you have worked in half decent startup, you should have no difficulty associating with the process of conversion.

Last one third is about a mega-project ("Project Down", if I recall correctly) that is also super secret, except that the secret is revealed about midway through this mystery story - if you are paying attention. Though I had not guessed the exact form the new heat source will take.

Key characters.

1. Martin Gibson: Main protagonist.
2. Jimmy Spencer: Son of Gibson.
3. Warren Hadfield: Man in charge of "Port Lowell", one of the two cities on Mars. Most of action on Mars happens here. I forget the name of the other city.
4. Mayor Whittaker: Assistant to Warren.
5. Irene - Jimmy's girlfriend, & Warren's daughter

Fact sheet.
The Sands of Mars, novel, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1951
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: A

See also.

1. A small part of "Islands in the Sky", near end, suggests Islands is a sequel to Sands.
   
2. In "2010 Odyssey Two", aliens convert Jupiter into a sun - Lucifer - to terrafarm Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Here humans convert Phobos, a moon of Mars, into a sun to terrafarm Mars.
3. A sub-plot at about two thirds through the book involving a plane crash is almost a mini version of a "A Fall of Moondust". Robert Heinlein's "Searchlight" is also a similar shipwreck short story, but on moon.
   
4. "The Songs of Distant Earth" is the only other Clarkian novel I have read that shows this level optimism - though there is no doomsday scenario in this book.
5. First one third of the book appears to be autobiographical in the spirit of Hindi movies Aandhi & Guru - a highly fictionalized & dramatized account! The movies are in no way related to this book - except general tone. Note that Clarke never mentions of any autobiographical content - I am just guessing.

"Imperial Earth" (novel): Good book, notwithstanding the juvenile title

I kept postponing this book because of title. Sounds like one of those space empire stories. But the title is totally inappropriate. This is a story about very ordinary politics & diplomacy, in a rather exotic environment. And quite readable.

Story summary (spoiler).
There are three parts to the plot: a description of the life in a human colony on Titan (a moon of Saturn); a description of space voyage from Titan to Earth in a passenger liner; & the life on earth just a little before the year 3000 AD - time where the story is set.

Note that "3001 The Final Odyssey" is also set about the year 3000 AD. But I find Imperial Earth's descriptions far more realistic. In spite of rocket engines powered by man-made black holes, & people on earth living underground because it is much cheaper to melt the earth's crust than build over ground structures!

Duncan, the main protagonist, is a third generation clone & Titan resident. His grandfather clone made the colony viable by mining hydrogen far more cheaply there than on earth; & hydrogen is a popular jet propellent used in interplanetary ships. The family is very powerful among the Titan's ruling elite.

The voyage to earth is in a cylindrical (I think) ship with multiple levels (7 or 10 levels, I think). Aspects of voyage are described in painstaking detail, reminiscent of "Rendezvous with Rama" - though Rama was a very different kind of ship & story.

And this ship is powered with an engine that contains a tiny man-made black hole that sucks in large quantities of hydrogen, & releases energy that is then tapped!

Description of life on earth of about 3000 AD is fantastic (of course), but far less fantastic than in "3001 The Final Odyssey". We are also given a tour of Titanic, the ancient lost ship that has now been hauled from Atlantic bottom to New York & is a museum piece.

Among the many other wonders are a visit to a lagoon in Mediterranean with bio-engineered marine life that can mine gold from sea water (aka "The Man Who Ploghed the Sea"), & a design for supermassive antenna (comprising of linear elements) to search for extra-terrestrial life that will work on one of the outer moons of Saturn, but no closer to Sun, because of solar effects.

Key characters.

1. Duncan Mackenzie: Main protagonist, a third generation clone, & a member of the first family of human colony on Titan.
2. Karl: Minor role as a friend of Duncan; but their relationship is a love/hate mix.
3. Calindy: Common girlfriend of Duncan & Karl. Said to be a very smart woman.
4. George Washington: Guide of Duncan on earth.
5. Malcolm Mackenzie: Grandfather clone of Duncan, & a business & political hero on Titan.
6. Colin Mackenzie: Father clone of Duncan.
7. Aunt Ellen: Separated wife of Malcolm, & aunt to Duncan. Minor role.

Fact sheet.
Imperial Earth, novel, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1976
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: A

See also.

1. "The Man Who Ploghed the Sea": This novel includes a variant of this story. Rather than a mechanical device that can mine arbitrary metals from sea water, this novel has a story of genetically engineered marine life to mine gold from the sea water.
2. "3001 The Final Odyssey": This novel also describes the life around the year 3000 AD. But I find the Imperial Earth description more realistic.
3. "The Ghost from the Grand Banks" has a Titanic salvage operation that will eventually make it a museum piece in Florida in US. Imperial Earth not only has a chapter titled "The Ghost from the Grand Banks", it actually has salvaged Titanic as part of a museum in New York.
   

"Exile of the Eons" aka "Nemesis" (short story): Socrates meets Hitler!

This is one of the more imaginative stories of Clarke. And well told.

And this story could not have been possible if quartz watches were around when the story was written. That should tell something of the age of the story.

Story summary (spoiler).
First thread of the story, the one involving the war monger ("Master"), begins almost in our time. After bringing a lot of world to ruin, Master is facing definite defeat soon. He is currently hiding somewhere in the Himalayas with with his coterie.

That is when he takes extreme action. Kills his coteries by deceit by assembling them in a gas chamber, & activating it after own escape.

He has already prepared a hibernation chamber for self in a cavity deep inside a Himalayan mountain. Inaccessible with the only entries sealed under massive piles of rock. Explosives are planted to blast himself out after awakening.

Goes to hibernation for 100 years. Any earlier appearance will mean definite trial for war crimes; any later, & world would have changed so much that he won't really be able to dominate.

Only problem is: all the fancy hibernation gadgets depend on a rather rudimentary clock. It is a kind of light sensor outside the mountains. It counts days by watching the sun's rise & fall. While it is triplicated, all three sensors are destroyed by a falling bomb while the war is still in closing stages.

So the dictator sleeps not for 100 years, but through geological ages. His mountains have been under the seas, risen again, & now slowly eroding with winds, rains, & snow.

Second thread of the story begins at this stage. Humans have been occupying the far flung reaches of galaxy for untold eons. And we see a trial of a philosopher for hearsay. The trial is very similar in spirit to Plato's "Apology" (though Apology is a far more readable book).

Philosopher refuses to change his opinions. Three options are presented: kill him (unthinkable - capital punishment has been off bound for eons); modify his mind using a machine (unthinkable - he is one of about a dozen best brains galaxy wide); & send him via a time machine to a future where his opinions can no longer affect human affairs.

Third option is adopted. He is sent, with ample supplies (including a building & a flyer), to earth at a time when earth has become a dead planet. Sun is much colder, earth is mostly a desert, & a day on earth is much longer.

He explores the earth after arrival in new time - a small place in his flyer, almost the sole living being on the planet, though air is still breathable.

That is how he encounters the hibernating Master, & awakens him. Now the philosopher comes from a era where telepathy was common. As Master is awakening, the philosopher learns of his deeds & targedy by probing his mind.

And kills this bad sample of humanity, choosing to live alone on this desolate earth.

See also.

1. Robert Heinlein's "Successful Operation": Another story where a dictator meets an unwelcome end.
   

Fact sheet.
Exile of the Eons, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Rating: A

This story has also been published under the following titles.

1. "Nemesis"

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "Expedition to Earth"
2. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"

"Loophole" (short story): Government bureaucracy doing what it does best - push the papers!

This engrossing piece of satire is written in a somewhat unconventional style - as a series of memos between government officials & departments.

Story summary (spoiler).
Martians have had a technology civilization for a while, while humans are still at a rather primitive stage. With advent of radio on earth, Martian government have been monitoring the development of earthlings.

That is when they detect the three US nuclear explosions - an initial test, & the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. A little later, they detect rockets being tested by earthlings.

They decide to act. Several Martian spaceships reach earth, & issue a warning: stick to earth, or face the consequences. No rockets & space exploration allowed for such violent beings.

We are told of above proceedings in the form of memos moving around in Martian bureaucracy - usually with very comic contents.

In the final act, we see the Martian civilization decimated. It seems, the earthlings invented Star Trek style material transporters when rockets were barred! And used that for attack Martians.

End is again a bit of humor, as the victorious earth soldiers on Mars are not too keen on traveling at speed of light via the beam, but would rather prefer rocket travel, & want earth to develop it for their transport!

See also.

1. "Travel by Wire!" (1937) (A): This story about a Star Trek type device to beam people & things around has an ending that shares sentiments of returning soldiers in Loophole. One of the inventors of beaming machines who is also behind the big electronic transportation empire prefers traveling the old fashioned way!
   

Fact sheet.
Loophole, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1946
Genre: Humor
Rating: A

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "Expedition to Earth"
2. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"

"Second Down" (short story): Symbiosis of hominids & cattle, with cattle as masters!

In spirit, this story has something in common with the story of Moonface in "2001 A Space Odyssey". But the link is tenuous; this is generally a different story.

It concerns the transformation of an almost animal community into a technological civilization. And is well written, even with some rather incredulous assumptions.

There is another view I can take of this story - as an allegory in the tradition of "Animal Farm" of George Orwell. Kind of relationship between those in services business, & those who dirty their hands with material things - who contributes more? But I doubt that was the view taken by author when this story was written.

Story summary (spoiler).
Story is set on a world different from earth, & concerns two different species of local animals.

From the descriptions, this world appears to be very similar to earth, except that there are two suns - a bright one like our sun, other just gives some orange colored light but no heat.

One of the species is what we would call cattle; other are hominid. But details are different from familiar forms. Story is essentially of cattle; hominids are secondary, & used as tools by cattle.

These cattle are very smart - very good at abstract mathematics & philosophy, but with no control whatever over their environment. Constant fight for food. No tools. Nomadic gazers under open skies. They are also telepathic - at least when communicating among own species, though they can communicate with sounds, & also have own forms of music & dance.

Hominids live on a tiny island in the delta of a river. From the descriptions, they appear to be at about the level of development that humans were about 10,000 years back. There is agriculture, village life, tools made from natural materials. Metals are about to be discovered.

There is a bit of anomaly here. Animals at this level of development, & confined to a single island in a river? While the cattle are hunted by carnivores, they are left in peace by hominids! Note at this stage, not only were humans everywhere on earth - including Americas, but the first Polynesians were were crossing half the Pacific in their tenuous canoes to colonize Hawaii!

OK - let's get back to story.

This is the situation when one of the smarter cattle members discovers this hominid community. He quickly has them dancing to his tune, & is treated by them as a godman. And he figures a way of combining the use of his kind's cattle-brains to these hominids that can control their environment.

Story ends in the two species comfortable in a kind of symbiotic relationship where cattle are masters.

And we are also shown some magic. In less than a generation, the combined civilization moves from hominids at the level of humans of about 10,000 years ago, to that of around 1400 AD!

Fact sheet.
Second Down, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: A

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "Expedition to Earth"
2. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"

"The City and the Stars" (novel): Harry Potter style fantasy

Best thing about this book is readability - at least the first 80% of it. Most of the time, I found it difficult to put it down. And that is when fantasy is not really my genre!

Last 10 or 20% is garbage - where some ultimate answers are given. Something that should be best left to Hitchhiker's Guide.

If you like Harry Potter, this will probably be an interesting book; if Potter bores you, this will too. Very simple test to determine your compatibility.

As an additional bait for Potter fans, you have a character called Vanamonde. He is not the villain here, but doesn't the name rhyme with Voldemort?

This is principally an adventure story - a restless man bored with his comfortable life, & seeking something different. It also has a very liberal sprinkling of Hindu mythology during first one third, a hell lot of fantasy all through, & some science fiction.

Among the cool stuff, you find everything you can name for a book labeled Speculative Fiction! There are immortals, telepathy, materialization/dematerialization devices, machines that respond to thoughts, aliens, energy beings, hive intelligence, spaceships that move faster than light, anti-gravity, worm holes in space-time, alternate universes, genetic engineering marvels, artificially created suns & planets, a variant of reincarnation, robots that can put Issac Asimov's robots to shame, weapons that can pulverize moon, self-sufficient closed habitat, virtual reality, computer games, utopia, religious cult, creatures that look like plants that move around, ... you name it! It's a massive cocktail.

So put reason aside, & enjoy the fantasy ride.

Story Summary (spoiler).
The story is set more than a billion years in future. Earth has lost its seas, & is nearly all of it desert. Moon no longer exists; it was destroyed by humans when it threatened to crash into earth at a time now long forgotten.

There are only two human communities on earth (or elsewhere) - physically very close together, psychologically completely disconnected. A closed habitat called Diaspar, & a collection of countryside villages called Lys.

Amazingly, members of these communities still look essentially like humans of today. Remember, we are talking of geological time. In this time, humans were created from probably pre-fish life forms! But we already agreed to put reason aside.

Our hero, Alvin, is a 20 year old child in a community of immortals. These immortals live in Diaspar, the closed habitat of a billion humans of which only about a 100 million are alive at a time.

What does that mean? This habitat is run by a robot that can digitize all information needed to recreate a human being, plus all or any of his/her selected memories. New individuals are continuously being created - but this creation is essentially materializing them from stored digital data. They live may be a 1000 years; then get dematerialized again into digital data to be rematerialized after a random amount of time in future.

This means there are no real children. You come out of the House of Creation fully developed, but your old memories will not return till about 20 years of age. And you are treated as a immature till you are may be a couple of centuries old.

There is an essential difference between these immortals, & current humans. They have a severe inbuilt fear of open spaces. None of them can even stand the thought of going outside the closed habitat. This situation is very similar to earth-inhabiting humans in Asimov's three Spacer novels (Caves of Steel, & two that followed it).

But our hero is different. He is one of the only a dozen Uniques the House of Creation has produced in all these billion years. He doesn't fear outside, & is in fact itchy to go there.

The story is of his adventures - to close by Lys country side community, to far off steller systems, & of helping rid his people of their fear of open spaces.

Influences.
There are at least two later books of Clarke that borrow major plot elements from this book: bio-magic in "Rama Revealed", & a somewhat sensible religious/philosophical discourse in the middle of "3001 The Final Odyssey".

Creatures that are plant-like & move slowly are also found in Space Odyssey sequels.

"The Light of Other Days" shares general style with this book in that it also tries to squeeze in every theme known to sf into the story!

According to Clarke's introduction, this book is a major rewrite of an earlier book - "Against the Fall of Night"; about 25% text is common. But I have not read this earlier book.

Fact sheet.
The City & the Stars, novel, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Genre: Adventure, with a sprinkling of Hindu mythology, fantasy, & some science fiction
Rating: A

"siseneG": Genesis spelled backwards

This is actually a joke rather than a story - about God & Creation; dates from 1980s. You won't miss anything if you never read it, though I know someone who liked it.

Searching Google or some blog search engine might throw all of its 2 or 3 lines of text; I recall having seen more than one copies on the web. Here is one online copy (big DOC file that includes this story inline).

Fact sheet.
siseneG, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1984
Rating: C

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"
2. "More Than One Universe"

See also.

1. All stories with religion as a theme.

"The Fountains of Paradise" (novel): Extraordinary plot, ruined

This could have been among the best science fiction stories by anyone, but Clarke just keeps going on tangents rather than sticking to the main story. I felt a bit sad at the end; what a waste!

This also is among the most down to earth stories of Clarke, in company with "The Deep Range". Except for various diversions. Also, these two stories share a tenuous link via Thero, a kind of Dalai Lama of a fictional Buddhist sect based in Lanka; this was first introduced in Deep Range, & also gets substantial coverage in Fountains.

Story summary (spoiler).
Main story is about a concept called "space elevator". Depending on your perspective, it can be seen as an ordinary elevator of extraordinary size (some 40,000 km high), a space vehicle, or a subway.

Idea is to outdate the rockets that take off from earth, & make space travel affordable for ordinary people.

In a massive construction project, a space station will be connected to earth via a physical tower - a kind of very thick cable. All spacecraft will leave off the space station rather than earth - means much cheaper & environment friendly takeoff. You can buy a ticket for joy ride up the elevator, or for actual travel to moon, mars, or elsewhere.

It is the story of an entrepreneur civil engineer. Beginning with the concept, to getting funding, overcoming political opposition, handling displaced people, apart from the various technical aspects. Though handling displaced people has been treated as a joke here. I guess Mukesh Ambani might have done a more convincing job presenting this story, but Clarke does a good enough job - so long as he sticks to the main story. Main story is set sometime between 2100 AD & 2200 AD.

This main story is interwoven with several completely unrelated tangents: the story of a feudal empire in Lanka around 100 AD; story of an alien robotic spacecraft moving through our solar system aka "Rendezvous with Rama"; story of the Sun cooling down to turn earth into an icy wasteland aka first story in "History Lesson"; story of visit to earth of aliens that look like a more physical version of the Swarm in "The Possessed"; a rather juvenile story of our heroic boss of the whole enterprise rescuing some stranded explorers up in the tower during an accident. There might be more, but I can recollect these off hand.

It took me nearly 3 weeks to cover first 20% - story begins on one of the tangents. Around 20% mark, real story begins & for a while you cannot put the book down.

Then the alien robotic spacecraft visits. It is both similar to Rama & different. For one thing, it is very talkative - likes to converse with humans. It is cylindrical, but main craft has dimensions only in meters rather than kilometers. But it has a 500 km diameter antenna for communicating with its home world!

Then again the main story continues well for a while, amid reports of changes happening to the Sun.

Rescue drama begins when you are may be 60 or 70% through the book, & occupies most of the remaining pages. It is not only juvenile, but very filmy - everything that can go wrong does but one at a time, keeping you reading far longer than necessary.

Last 5% is set in about 4000 AD. We meet an alien who is a more physical version of the Swarm of "The Possessed". This is also where we have not only the original space elevator in working condition, but many more across earth, all linked together in space - forming a ring habitat; interior of this habitat will be detailed in the first one third of "3001 The Final Odyssey". You also see earth that is essentially uninhabited because it has now turned into an icy wasteland aka first story in "History Lesson"; humans live in ring habitat up in the sky, & also on Venus & Mercury which are now both habitable.

This is not a book worth skipping. But I had to skip a lot of pages on first reading; then came back to go through the fillers.

Putting the height of space elevator in perspective.
It is easy to read numbers like 36 or 40 thousand kilometers tall. Yes, it sounds tall - but how tall?

This is about the size of the perimeter of earth. Or about 3 times the diameter of earth!

This is also 7% the distance to moon. 15 such structures, & you can drive to moon!

An ordinary commercial jetliner will make you sit for over 40 hours to travel this distance.

How realistic is the concept of space elevators?
There are actually a lot of documents on the subject. I include only a few "not boring" articles meant for general public.

1. "Space elevators"
2. LiftPort's space elevator projects' discussion at Slashdot.
   

Fact sheet.
The Fountains of Paradise, novel, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Genre: Science fiction, with a sprinkling of fantasy & ancient feudal history
First published: 1979
Rating: A
Hugo Award winner in novel category in 1980

See also.

1. This article includes illustrations of space elevator anchors at earth end & sky end (near the bottom of the article).
   
2. "The Ghost from the Grand Banks" also has an unrelated small subplot at the end where aliens investigate a now barren earth.
3. All Hugo Award stories.

"Moving Spirit" (short story): A man copes with sin taxes

This lovely little piece of humor is set in England around the time of war. I presume one of the world wars is meant. But it might as well have been set in India of 1970s or 80s; situation is very familiar.

Story summary (spoiler).
In a little town, you have alcohol shortages, governmental rationing, & a prohibition on brewing. Plus ordinary citizens have to pay several hundred percent sin tax on it. Of course, citizenry doesn't like it.

Our hero anyway brews at home - for own consumption, but he is still in violation of regulations. On one of these brewing occasions, there is a little accidental blast - no real damage, but a lot of noise. It was a coincidence that among the neighborhood that heard the noise & rushed to help was a tax inspector. Of course, there was smell of alcohol all over the place. Everyone understood, except the tax inspector.

Much of the story is a court room drama. Real meat of the story is the ingenious arguments of defense that get our man off the hook in a hurry. I really wonder why a lot of movies have not copied this defense. It's beautiful.

And then, there is a final twist - after the man is freed of charges. You know, one of those little incidents that make you smile in irony!

Fact sheet.
Moving Spirit, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Genre: Humor
Rating: A

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "Tales from the White Hart"
2. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"

"The Man Who Ploughed the Sea" (short story): Mine metals from the oceans!

Since the rivers ultimately drain all things from the lands of earth, the seas are full of all kinds of materials. Including fantastic quantities of metals. The only problem is: a single liter of sea water doesn't contain much of a specific metal like gold or uranium, though a cubic mile does.

Story summary (spoiler).
This is the story of a machine that can extract any specified metal from the waters of the seas without consuming awful amounts of energy & in large quantities. The machine is fitted at the bottom of ordinary sea going vessels. So one run across Atlantic can collect a lot of metal for owners of sea liners, e.g. Or a mining company could set the ships moving through the seas, & they can return to the docks when full.

And you save the environment: much lower energy costs in mining metals, & you don't spoil precious land. And there is enough in the seas to meet demand for as long as we can foresee.

End of the story is rather unnatural, but it is generally a readable story. Key part of the story is somewhat descriptive, & happens on board a boat off the Florida coast.

Fact sheet.
The Man Who Ploughed the Sea, short story, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: B

See also.

1. "Imperial Earth": A sub-plot in this novel involves genetically engineered marine life to mine gold from sea water.
   

The story appears in the following collections.

1. "Tales from the White Hart"
2. "The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke"

"The Wind from the Sun" (collection): Annotated table of contents

Here is the complete list of all 18 stories in this collection:

1. "The Food of the Gods" (B), Playboy, May 1964: Humor. A corporate FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) campaign.
2. "Maelstrom II" (A); Playboy, April 1962: Thriller. A man on board a flyer destined to crash has only one option to survive - jump!
   
3. "The Shining Ones"
4. [novelette] "The Wind from the Sun" (A); "First published in Boy's Life, March 1964, as 'Sunjammer'"; racing: Solar sail power interstellar vehicle!
5. "The Secret" aka "The Secret of the Men in the Moon" (B); "This Week", 11 August 1963: How to live 3 times longer?
6. "The Last Command" (C); Bizarre! Mystery Magazine, November 1965: A cold war nuclear holocaust story where US completely decimates USSR.
7. "Dial F for Frankenstein" (A); Playboy, January 1964: A monster of an AI is accidentally born!
8. "Reunion" (B); Infinity #2, 1971: Long lost cousins of humanity are coming to earth for a reunion.
9. [ss] "Playback" (A); Playboy, December, 1966: Reincarnation is not possible with a corrupt mind dump!
10. "The Light of Darkness"
11. "The Longest Science-Fiction Story Ever Told" aka “A Recursion in Metastories” (C): A recursive letter.
12. "Herbert George Morley Roberts Wells, Esq" (C); If, December 1967: Who was the real author of "The Anticipator"?
13. "Love That Universe" (B); Escapade, 1961: Humans in dire peril need to make first contact with aliens!
14. "Crusade" (A), The Farthest Reaches, ed Joseph Elder, 1968: On a lonely cold world, evolution has produced an AI. And it's out on a crusade to free other AIs from their non-mechanical overlords (like humans).
15. "The Cruel Sky"
16. "Neutron Tide" (B); Galaxy, May 1970: Educational story, about how strong gravity gradient of a neutron star affects material.
17. "Transit of Earth" (A), Playboy, January 1971: A man watches the transit of earth & moon on the disk of sun - from mars - during a rare alignment that happens once in 100 years. Tragic story - he is the sole man on mars, & about to die.
18. [novella] "A Meeting with Medusa" (A); Playboy, December 1971: Exploring the upper atmosphere of Jupiter in a manned vehicle.

Fact sheet.
Tales of Ten Worlds, collection, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1972

PS: I haven't personally seen this book; list of stories above was picked up from the net. I include this collection here so I know the stuff I have not yet read.

"Of Time and Stars" (collection): Annotated table of contents

Here is the complete list of all the 18 stories in this collection by Arthur C Clarke:

1. "The Nine Billion Names of God": A certain Buddhist sect believes that the ultimate purpose of life is to spell all the nine billion names of God.
2. "An Ape About The House" (B): A genetically modified female Chimpanzee, trained for house hold chores & babysitting, is purchased by a household. But she turns out to be more talented than the humans suspected.
3. "Green Fingers"
4. "Trouble with the Natives" (also called "Three Men in a Flying Saucer"): Humor. When aliens visited a little English village.
5. "Into the Comet"
6. "No Morning After"
7. "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth": All humans are dead after a nuclear war, & earth's surface is radio active. Only survivors are a small group of pioneers that were on moon at the time of the event. They must preserve the legend of earth.
8. "Who's There?"
9. "All the Time in the World"
10. "Hide and Seek": A sole man is on the run on Phoboes, a Martian moon. He is being hunted by a well armed military unit. Will he be able to outwit his pursuers?
11. "Robin Hood, FRS"
12. "The Fires Within": A man begins exploring interior of earth. And dooms humanity's future.
13. "The Forgotten Enemy": Coping with the next Ice Age.
14. "The Reluctant Orchid": A murder gone wrong, because the novel weapon used was untested.
15. "Encounter at Down": Aliens land on earths with intention to advance early humans technologically. But have to leave in a hurry, without helping.
16. "Security Check"
17. "Feathered Friend"
18. "The Sentinel" (also called "Sentinel of Eternity"): Aliens watching the development of intelligent life on earth have left a beacon on moon.

PS: I haven't personally seen this book; list of stories above was picked up from the net. I include this collection here because it contains many stories I have reviewed from other collections; so I can point to this collection also from specific stories.

"Tales of Ten Worlds" (collection): Annotated table of contents

Here is the complete list of all the 15 stories in this collection:

1. "I Remember Babylon" (C); Playboy, March 1960: Dated cold war story - Soviets have got a new propaganda medium.
2. "Summertime on Icarus" aka "The Hottest Piece of Real Estate in the Solar System" (A); Vogue, June 1960: Shipwreck & rescue on an asteroid currently rather close to Sun.
3. "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting"
4. "Who's There?"
5. "Hate" (B); If, November 1961, as "At the End of Orbit": When a Russian moon capsule crashed in the Pacific when returning, a Russia-hating Hungarian rescue worker made sure the astronaut died during "rescue".
6. "Into the Comet"
7. "An Ape About The House" (B): A genetically modified female Chimpanzee, trained for house hold chores & babysitting, is purchased by a household. But she turns out to be more talented than the humans suspected.
8. "Saturn Rising"
9. "Let There Be Light"
10. "Death and the Senator"
11. "Trouble with Time"; "First published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1960, as 'Crime on Mars'": Attempt at an ordinary theft in a museum is foiled due to an unusual confusion.
12. "Before Eden"
13. "A Slight Case of Sunstroke" (A); "First published in Galaxy, September 1958, as 'The Stroke of the Sun'": Humor. Description of a football match in South America.
14. "Do Star"
15. "The Road to the Sea"

Fact sheet.
Tales of Ten Worlds, collection, review
Author: Arthur C Clarke
First published: 1962

PS: I haven't personally seen this book; list of stories above was picked up from the net. I include this collection here so I know the stuff I have not yet read.

"Expedition to Earth" (collection): Annotated table of contents

This is generally a good collection - many really good stories here.

Here is the complete list of all the 11 stories in this collection by Arthur C Clarke:

1. "Second Down": The making of a symbiotic culture of cattle & hominids on an alien world, with cattle as masters.
   
2. "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth": All humans are dead after a nuclear war, & earth's surface is radio active. Only survivors are a small group of pioneers that were on moon at the time of the event. They must preserve the legend of earth.
3. "Breaking Strain": Only one of the two men can live. Who should? Who will? This story has also been published under the title "Thirty Seconds Thirty Days".
4. "Expedition to Earth": This is not a new story. Depending on publication, it is either "History Lesson" or "Encounter at Down". To make things even more confusing, "Encounter at Down" is also sometimes published as "Encounter in the Down".
   
5. "Superiority": Humor. How not to deploy new technology.
6. "Exile of the Eons" (also called "Nemesis"): Socrates meets Hitler in a far off time!
   
7. "Hide and Seek": A sole man is on the run on Phoboes, a Martian moon. He is being hunted by a well armed military unit. Will he be able to outwit his pursuers?
8. "Encounter at Down" (also known as "Encounter in the Down"): Aliens land on earths with intention to advance early humans technologically. But have to leave in a hurry, without helping.
   
9. "Loophole": Humor. Aliens bar earthlings from developing rockets, & get the surprised!
10. "Inheritance": Two accidents during lift off - involving manned rocket launches.
11. "The Sentinel" (also called "Sentinel of Eternity"): Aliens watching the development of intelligent life on earth have left a beacon on moon.

PS: I haven't personally seen this book; list of stories above was picked up from the net. I include this collection here because it contains many stories I have reviewed from other collections; so I can point to this collection also from specific stories.

"The Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke" (collection): Annotated table of contents, & review

If there is only one Clarke book you will ever buy, this is it. 109 stories, 966 large pages (in my paperback edition), including shorter versions of several novels:

1. "Guardian Angel" whose expanded version is "Childhood's End".
2. "Rescue Party" & "The Star" whose expanded version is "The Songs of Distant Earth" - in basic plot elements, though the collection also features a shorter version titled "Songs of Distant Earth" (I haven't read this shorter version).
3. "The Lion of Comarre", the entire novella. And a precursor to a rather popular theme in modern cyberpunk.
4. "Earthlight" that will later be expanded into a novel of the same name.
5. "Jupiter Five" that, at some level, appears to be a shorter version of "Rendezvous with Rama".
6. "The Hammer of God" that later was expanded to a novel of the same name.
7. "The Deep Range", apparently the shorter version of novel of the same title. I haven't read the shorter version.
   

While the collection has its share of duds, it also includes some of the best science fiction stories ever told. Also included is a generous dose of Clarke's humorous stories.

On annotated table of contents below.

Sometimes, a story is published under multiple titles. I list the title in my copy of paperback edition (ISBN 0-312-87860-5) as the main title; other titles are mentioned in accompanying commentary where I am aware of the alternates. Link that takes you to my review of the story may appear on one of these alternate titles rather than the main one; in that case, I had originally posted the review based on reading of alternate title story - from another source.

Some stories contain my quality rating too - in brackets, following title: ABC (A means time well spent, C mean dud). Some entries also carry an icon signifying this rating. The icon & rating are not used for all stories because this page evolved in a haphazard fashion. Hopefully, I will put them for all stories some day.

Some of the review links take you to pages on Variety SF. These are relatively recent posts. I was finding it difficult to maintain two sites. Now-a-days, I post main articles only to Variety SF, updating the links here as necessary.

Table of contents.

1. "Travel by Wire!" (A); download; Amateur Science Fiction Stories, December 1937. There is some confusion between whether this is the first published story of Clarke, or is it "Rescue Party". See note near the end of my review of "Rescue Party": Humor. Description of Star Trek style transporter - read the information describing the thing or person being transported by splitting it into particles, move this information to destination electronically, & reassemble there! A subsidiary application is weight loss!
   
2. "How We Went to Mars" (B); download (need to scroll down the page); Amateur Science Fiction Stories, March 1938: Humor. Light hearted adventure of a group of young boys' accident - their fun rocket took them to Mars! They meet English speaking native! Spend a while, are refueled by aliens, & return home happy & safe.
   
3. "Retreat from Earth" (B), Amateur Science Fiction Stories, March 1938: Unknown alien protectors force Martian colonists to leave earth to humans.
   
4. "Reverie"; New Worlds, Autumn 1939: An essay rather than a story - with sf authors as audience.
   
5. "The Awakening": Man shall not inherit the earth! Originally published in Zenith, February 1942. A significantly revised version was later published in Future, January 1952. I am not clear which version I have reviewed!
   
6. "Whacky" (C); The Fantast, July 1942: The single worst story by Clarke I've read yet - among the 100 odd by now. Could not make out the head or tail of it. Some conversation among characters that obviously are not real - may be they are in heaven, may be in a computer simulation, ... something.
   
7. "Loophole"; Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1946: Humor. Aliens bar earthlings from developing rockets, & get the surprised!
8. "Rescue Party"; download (link via SF Signal); Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1946: Clarke's first published story; also see note on "first published" near the end of my review article. And a smaller version of "The Songs of Distant Earth" (novel); but Songs (novel) itself comes from Songs (short story)! I haven't read the Songs (short story).
   
9. "Technical Error", Fantasy, December 1946: An accidental electric short circuit opens fearsome new vistas.
10. "Castaway" (A): Fantasy, April 1947, under the pen name "Charles Willis": How do you recognize an alien when you meet one? Forget recognizing it as alien or sentient, even recognizing it as alive can be tough. And just by looking at it, you might kill it!
    
11. "The Fires Within", Fantasy, August 1947, under the pen name "E G O'Brien": A man begins exploring interior of earth. And dooms humanity's future.
12. "Inheritance", New Worlds, no 3, 1947, under the pen name "Charles Willis": Two accidents during lift off - involving manned rocket launches.
13. "Nightfall", King's College Review, 1947: This is the same story as "The Curse", published under a different title for some reason.
    
14. "History Lesson", Startling Stories, May 1949; also sometimes published under the title "Expedition to Earth": Sun has cooled turning earth into an icy wasteland, & Venus into a habitable world.
15. "Transience", Startling Stories, July 1949: Sun has moved close to galactic center & is about to be swallowed by a Nebula. Humans must vacate solar system, & find home elsewhere.
16. "The Wall of Darkness" (B), Super Science Stories, July 1949: Description of life in a strange alternate universe where a single sun shines on a single planet of sentient beings, & where time behaves in a weird way. I didn't find it unreadable, but the core technical concept of the story escaped me.
    
17. "The Lion of Comarre" (B); Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1949: A man resists the temptation to get addicted by a bizarre device that gives much pleasure, & gets a boon that will hopefully help change the future of humanity.
    
18. "The Forgotten Enemy"; download MP3; New Worlds, #5, 1949: Coping with the next Ice Age.
19. "Hide-and-Seek", Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1949: A sole man is on the run on Phoboes, a Martian moon. He is being hunted by a well armed military unit. Will he be able to outwit his pursuers?
20. "Breaking Strain", Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1949; originally published under the title "Thirty Seconds - Thirty -Days": Only one of the two men can live. Who should? Who will? This story was one of the inspirations for the well known novel "2001 A Space Odyssey"; see remarks with my review of "Breaking Strain".
21. "Nemesis": Originally published in Super Science Stories, March 1950, under the title "Exile of the Eons": Socrates meets Hitler in a far off time!
22. With James Blish: "Guardian Angel" (B), Famous Fantastic Mysteries, April 1950. According to story introduction, it was originally written by Clarke alone in 1946, but was rejected by Astounding. James Blish later rewrote this story, adding a new ending; this edited version was sold to Famous Fantastic Mysteries, & is presumably included in this collection. An expanded version of this story became the first part of the much better known novel, "Childhood's End".
    
23. "Time's Arrow", Science-Fantasy, Summer 1950: A visit to Jurassic Park, reversed!
24. "A Walk in the Dark"; download MP3; Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1950: Circumstances force a man to face the primeval fear of darkness.
25. "Silence Please"; Originally published under the slightly different title "Silence Please!" in Science-Fantasy, Winter 1950, under the pen name "Charles Willis": Humor. A man invents the ultimate silencer.
26. "Trouble with the Natives"; Originally published in Lilliput, February 1951, under the title "Three Men in a Flying Saucer": Humor. When aliens visited a little English village.
27. "The Road to the Sea" (B); First published in Two Complete Science-Adventure Books, Spring 1951, under the title "Seeker of the Sphinx": One of the more muddled stories by Clarke, with many threads that are only loosely linked. A prosperous future where humans are divided by those who wish to live on earth, & those who seek out the stars.
    
28. "The Sentinel"; download MP3; Written "over Christmas 1948 for a BBC competition", & originally published in 10 Story Fantasy, spring 1951, under the title "Sentinel of Eternity": Aliens watching the development of intelligent life on earth have left a beacon on moon. "This is the starting point of 2001: A Space Odyssey", according to Clarke's introduction to the story.
    
29. "Holiday on the Moon" (A); originally published as a four part serial in Heiress magazine during January to April 1951, under the pen name of Charles Willis: Among the most accessible moon travel stories by Clarke for non-technical audience. Seasoned science fiction readers will find the fare familiar. Told from the perspective of an 18 year old girl generally disinterested in technical stuff.
    
30. "Earthlight" (A); Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1951: Earth fights a war with the Federation of human colonies of Outer Planets over energy resources. Both sides use super weapons. Great descriptions of life on moon. In 1955, this story was expanded to novel length under the same title; I have not read the novel.
    
31. "Second Down", Science Fiction Quarterly, August 1951: The making of a symbiotic culture of cattle & hominids on an alien world, with cattle as masters.
32. "Superiority" (A); read online (only in some countries);The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, August 1951: Humor. How not to deploy new technology.
33. "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth ..."; originally "written at Christmas 1950", & published in Future, September 1951: All humans are dead after a nuclear war, & earth's surface is radio active. Only survivors are a small group of pioneers that were on moon at the time of the event. They must preserve the legend of earth.
34. "All the Time in the World", Startling Stores, 1951.
    
35. "The Nine Billion Names of God"; download text (link via Best Science Fiction Stories) or MP3; Star Science Fiction Stories 1, ed Frederik Pohl, 1953: A certain Buddhist sect believes that the ultimate purpose of life is to spell all the nine billion names of God.
36. "The Possessed", Dynamic Science Fiction, March 1953: Intellect in the abstract!
37. "The Parasite", The Avon SF & F Reader, 1953: Men from distant future play telepathic games across time. According to Clarke's introduction, this story "may have been the subconscious basis for the novel The Light of Other Days".
    
38. "Jupiter Five", If, May 1953: A shorter version of "Rendezvous with Rama". A huge alien spacecraft is found parked in the Jupiter system; it belongs to long extinct aliens.
    
39. "Encounter in the Down" aka "Encounter at Down"; Amazing, June/July 1953: When well meaning humanoid aliens visited prehistoric earthmen.
    
40. "The Other Tiger"; Fantastic Universe, June/July 1953; "Originally entitled 'Refutation', this story was retitled by Sam Merwin, editor of Fantastic Universe, as a nod to Frank Stockton's classic but now forgotten 'The Lady or the Tiger'".
    
41. "Publicity Campaign" (A), London Evening News, 1953: Humor. Scared humans turn benevolent aliens into malevolent ones!
    
42. "Armaments Race"; Adventure, 1954; "This story was inspired by a visit to George Pal in Hollywood, while he was working on the special effects for The War of the Worlds.": A harmless toy that wasn't so harmless!
43. "The Deep Range": This short story, first published in Argosy (UK) in April 1954, was expanded into a novel of the same name in 1957. I haven't read the short story; link takes you to my review of the novel.
    
44. "No Morning After"; Time to Come, ed August Derleth, 1954.
    
45. "Big Game Hunt"; Originally published in Adventure, October 1956, under the title "The Reckless Ones": A man discovers a way to make arbitrary animals dance to his tune.
46. "Patent Pending"; Originally published in Adventure, 1954, under the title “The Invention”: A man invents the ultimate porn distribution machine.
47. "Refugee"; "First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1955, as '?'" "'Refugee' was originally published by Anthony Boucher as '?' because he didn't like the title, after which he ran a competition to find a better one, choosing 'This Earth of Majesty'. Meanwhile, in New Worlds Ted Carnell called it 'Royal Prerogative', adding to confusion."
    
48. "The Star"; download text (link via Best Science Fiction Stories) or MP3; Infinity Science Fiction, November 1955; "received a Hugo award in 1956": Star of an alien world explodes, killing local intelligent beings. But something survives.
49. "What Goes Up"; originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1956, under a slightly different title "What Goes Up ...": An industrial accident creates an anti-gravity force field.
50. "Venture to the Moon"; "originally written as six independent but linked stories for the London Evening Standard, in 1956."
    
51. "The Pacifist", Fantastic Universe, October 1956: Humor. Tale of a naughty computer.
    
52. "The Reluctant Orchid", Satellite, December 1956: A murder gone wrong, because the novel weapon used was untested.
53. "Moving Spirit", originally published in "Tales from the White Hart": Humor. A man's ingenuity against governmental sin taxes.
54. "The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch", originally published in "Tales from the White Hart": Humor. If your spouse speaks too much, help is on the way!
55. "The Ultimate Melody", If, February 1957: Why do you like some music but not other? Are these but crude approximations to an ultimate melody that everyone will like?
56. "The Next Tenants", Satellite, February 1957: In the general gloom following World War II, a man places hope in species other than humans. And decides to play god.
57. "Cold War", Satellite, April 1957: Humor. Californian businessmen want some of the tourist traffic from Florida. So they contrive a plan to dilute the brand image of the Sunshine State.
58. "Sleeping Beauty", Infinity Science Fiction, April 1957: Humor. A man invents a cure for your snoring disorders.
59. "Security Check", Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1957.
    
60. "The Man Who Ploughed the Sea"; "written in Miami, in 1954... First published in Satellite, June 1957": A device to mine metals from the oceanic waters.
61. "Critical Mass", "First published in Space Science Fiction Magazine, August 1957, revised from Lilliput, March 1949": A stampede is averted, in the aftermath of nuclear disaster that wasn't.
62. "Special Delivery" (B); Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, September 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": An accident has thrown an unmanned supply rocket to a geosynchronous space station into a long period orbit about Sun.
63. "Feathered Friend"; Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, September 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": Not read.
64. "Take a Deep Breath"; Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, September 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": Not read.
65. "Freedom of Space"; Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, October 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": Not read.
66. "Passer-by"; Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, October 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": Not read.
67. "The Call of the Stars"; Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, October 1957; included in chapter titled "The Other Side of the Sky": Not read.
68. "Let There Be Light", Dundee Sunday Telegraph, 5th September 1957.
    
69. "Out of the Sun", If, February 1958.
    
70. "Cosmic Casanova" (A); Venture, May 1958: Humor. A playboy meets his match.
    
71. "The Songs of Distant Earth": This short story, first published in "If" in June 1958, was expanded into a novel of the same name in 1986. I haven't read the short story; link takes you to my review of the novel.
72. "A Slight Case of Sunstroke" (A); "First published in Galaxy, September 1958, as 'The Stroke of the Sun'": Humor. Description of a football match in South America.
    
73. "Who's There" aka "The Haunted Spacesuit"; New Worlds, November 1958. SF Signal & Free SF Reader give this link to an online MP3 version of the story.
    
74. "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting ...", Dude, March 1959.
    
75. "I Remember Babylon" (C); Playboy, March 1960: Dated cold war story - Soviets have got a new propaganda medium.
    
76. "Trouble with Time"; "First published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1960, as 'Crime on Mars'": Attempt at an ordinary theft in a museum is foiled due to an unusual confusion.
    
77. "Into the Comet", "First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1960, as 'Inside the Comet'".
    
78. "Summertime on Icarus"; download MP3, or play BBC radio dramatization; "First published in Vogue, June 1960, as 'The Hottest Piece of Real Estate in the Solar System'": Shipwreck & rescue on an asteroid currently rather close to Sun.
79. "Saturn Rising", The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1961.
    
80. "Death and The Senator" (A); read online (no download, many clicks are required before text shows up); Analog, May 1961: Certain heart ailments may be best treated in a space hospital.
    
81. "Before Eden" (A); play BBC radio dramatization; Amazing, June 1961: Inadvertent introduction of earth bacterial into an inhabitable zone of Venus is threatening to wipe of primitive local life.
    
82. "Hate" (B); If, November 1961, as "At the End of Orbit": When a Russian moon capsule crashed in the Pacific when returning, a Russia-hating Hungarian rescue worker made sure the astronaut died during "rescue".
    
83. "Love That Universe" (B); Escapade, 1961: Humans in dire peril need to make first contact with aliens!
    
84. "Dog Star" (B); "First published in Galaxy, April 1962, as 'Moondog'": A man feels sad after preferring own career over his dog.
85. "Maelstrom II" (A); Playboy, April 1962: Thriller. A man on board a flyer destined to crash has only one option to survive - jump!
    
86. "An Ape About The House" (B), Dude, May 1962: A genetically modified female Chimpanzee, trained for house hold chores & babysitting, is purchased by a household. But she turns out to be more talented than the humans suspected.
87. "The Shining Ones", Playboy, August 1962.
    
88. "The Secret" (B); "First published in This Week, 11 August, 1963, as 'The Secret of the Men in the Moon'": How to live 3 times longer?
89. "Dial F for Frankenstein" (A); Playboy, January 1964: A monster of an AI is accidentally born!
    
90. [novelette] "The Wind from the Sun" (A); "First published in Boy's Life, March 1964, as 'Sunjammer'"; racing: Solar sail power interstellar vehicle!
    
91. "The Food of the Gods" (B), Playboy, May 1964: Humor. A corporate FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) campaign.
92. "The Last Command" (C); Bizarre! Mystery Magazine, November 1965: A cold war nuclear holocaust story where US completely decimates USSR.
    
93. "Light of Darkness", Playboy, June 1966.
    
94. "The Longest Science Fiction Story Ever Told" (C); "First published in Galaxy, October 1966, as 'A Recursion in Metastories'": A recursive letter.
95. [ss] "Playback" (A); Playboy, December, 1966: Reincarnation is not possible with a corrupt mind dump!
    
96. "The Cruel Sky", Boy's Life, July 1967.
    
97. "Herbert George Morley Roberts Wells, Esq" (C); If, December 1967: Who was the real author of "The Anticipator"?
98. "Crusade" (A), The Farthest Reaches, ed Joseph Elder, 1968: On a lonely cold world, evolution has produced an AI. And it's out on a crusade to free other AIs from their non-mechanical overlords (like humans).
    
99. "Neutron Tide" (B); Galaxy, May 1970: Educational story, about how strong gravity gradient of a neutron star affects material.
100. "Reunion" (B); Infinity #2, 1971: Long lost cousins of humanity are coming to earth for a reunion.
101. "Transit of Earth" (A), Playboy, January 1971: A man watches the transit of earth & moon on the disk of sun - from mars - during a rare alignment that happens once in 100 years. Tragic story - he is the sole man on mars, & about to die.
     
102. [novella] "A Meeting with Medusa" (A); Playboy, December 1971: Exploring the upper atmosphere of Jupiter in a manned vehicle.
     
103. "Quarantine" (A); download; Issac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Spring 1977: Humor. Alien robots destroy earth because they were getting infected with a funny virus.
104. "siseneG", Analog, May 1984: A joke rather than a story.
     
105. "The Steam Powered Word Processor" (B); Analog, January 1986: Humor. A spin on the life story of Charles Babbage. And the project to build a device that will automatically write sermons for the priest!
     
106. "On Golden Seas", "First published in Newsletter, Pentagon Defense Science Board, August 1986.
     
107. "The Hammer of God" (B); Time magazine, 28 September 1992: An asteroid on an impact course with earth is deflected with heroic effort & much loss of life.This short story became the basis of the novel of the same name, "a few years later".
108. With Stephen Baxter: "The Wire Continuum"; "Martian Times, December 1997 ... First published in Playboy, January 1998 by Stephen Baxtor and Arthur C Clarke ... I contributed little more than one of the basic ideas": I am not clear from text if original was first published in 1997, & then an edited version with Baxter in 1998, or there is something else there.
109. "Improving the Neighborhood" (B); Nature, 4th November 1999; "The first science fiction Nature ever published.": Earth & moon explode, taking humans & everything else here with them - probably due to an industrial accident. A race of alien robots learns of it, & cries good riddance!

Fact sheet.

First published: 2000
Buy at Amazon.com.