One of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th and 21st century, Arthur C. Clarke is the author of over 100 novels, novellas, and short story collections that laid the groundwork for the science fiction genre. Combining scientific knowledge and visionary literary aptitude, Clarke's work explored the implications of major scientific discoveries in astonishingly inventive and mystical settings.
Clarke's short stories and novels have won numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards, have been translated into more than 30 languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Several of his books, including 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey II, have been adapted into films that still stand as classic examples of the genre. Without a doubt, Arthur C. Clarke's is one of the most important voices in contemporary science fiction literature.
More than two thousand years in the future, a small human colony thrives on the ocean paradise of Thalassa-sent there centuries ago to continue the human race before the Earth's destruction.
Thalassa's resources are vast-and the human colony has lived a bucolic life there. But their existence is threatened when the spaceship Magellan arrives on their world-carrying one million refugees from Earth, fleeing the dying planet.
Reputed to be Arthur C. Clarke's favorite novel, Songs of Distant Earth addresses several fascinating scientific questions unresolved in their time-including the question of why so few neutrinos from the sun have been measured on Earth. In addition, Clarke presents an inventive depiction of the use of vacuum energy to power spacecraft-and the technical logistics of space travel near the speed of light.
Two years before the centennial anniversary of the Titanic's demise, two powerful corporations are competing to raise the two halves of the famous ship. But what they find deep beneath the ocean's surface is more than they bargained for: six perfectly preserved bodies, including one of a beautiful woman who was not listed among the ship's original passengers. Who was she-and what was her secret? The mission to find out becomes all-consuming-and, for some, deadly.
This fast-paced tale combines a centuries-old mystery with thoroughly modern suspense-and Clarke's unmatched vision of future technologies.
This collection of Clarke's work was originally published in 1953, when it was selected as one of the best Science Fiction books of the year by Boucher and McComas. It contains many short stories that would later become classics, including "The Sentinel"-the basis for the later classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
These stories present a brilliant showcase of Clarke's many-layered approach to the moral dilemmas of scientific advancement-from the thrilling and brutal "Breaking Strain" to the more poetic and thoughtful "Second Dawn." This collection represents a tour-de-force of Science Fiction storytelling sure to delight fans of Clarke's work and the SF genre.
