Reviews

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

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ladolcedana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

tylawrencium's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

getyourghosts's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

Nitpicking and analyzing the sci-fi and plot aspects of the book made it enjoyable, not the plot itself. The pacing was a bit slow for my taste and I found myself wondering why some of the scenes Clarke set up were important. I found the most enjoyable parts of the book to only be found in the last ~40 pages. I have to admit, the ending does make me want to read more about the Overlords as it’s left very open-ended.

Overall, I found some of the reactions of humans to the Overlords to be unrealistic. though at least Clarke was consistent if nothing else. I found it easy to forget that the majority of the book was set in the 21st century due to the writing style which is a product of its time. As are the racist sentences throughout

Content Warnings