Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke is an interesting book. If you read it recently, you’ll start wondering if about people stealing the idea for other media. One of the interesting things about the book is that Clarke made changes to the first chapter after the fall of the Soviet Union. And while some of the details might be out of date now, the story itself is timeless.

Out of nowhere, spaceships appear above Earth cities. For a week, people are worried and scared about what it all means. Finally the Overlords announce from their ships that they will be overseeing humanity to erase some of our more negative attributes (war, hatred, violence). The Overlords then use their power to tear down barriers (physical and emotional) between people and lead Earth into a Golden Age. But some people worry that humanity has lost it’s…well humanity. An island enclave called New Athens is formed to foster arts and creativity that the people feel is now missing from their lives.

Here Clarke does a neat trick. To show the changes in Earth after a few generations, he sends a lone Earthman on the 40 light year trip back to the Overlord’s planet. While there he learns more of the Overlords purpose and why they came to Earth. He heads back to Earth, but it is not the Earth he left and the final task of the Overlords is accomplished.

Clarke has always been interested in humanity’s growth and change (as evidenced in other stories) and this is a wonderful version. The book is short by today’s standards, but it has a lot of ideas and story backing it up. The superficial similarities to V are striking, but Clarke chooses a different path of resistance than the TV series did. And ultimately it is a thought-provoking story that is one of Clarke’s best. Highly recommended.