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.
Years after the first encounter with a mysterious alien spacecraft in Rendezvous With Rama, a second spaceship enters the solar system-and a team of Earth's most accomplished scientists and cosmonauts is sent to intercept it.
The human crew is no stranger to Raman culture and technology. But Rama II offers surprises not encountered on the first ship-surprises that could turn out to be deadly. Set against a backdrop of economic crisis that threatens all human settlements throughout the solar system, Rama II tells the story of an advanced scientific team dealing with the unexpected both on an enigmatic alien spacecraft and within their own psyches.
In 1968, Arthur C. Clarke's best-selling 2001: A Space Odyssey captivated the world-and was adapted into a now-classic film by Stanley Kubrick. Fans had to wait fourteen years for the sequel-but when it came out, it was an instant hit, winning the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983.
Nine years after the ill-fated Discovery One mission to Jupiter, a joint Soviet-American crew travels to the planet to investigate the mysterious monolith orbiting the planet, the cause of the earlier mission's failure-and the disappearance of David Bowman. The crew includes Heywood Floyd, the lone survivor from the previous mission, and Dr. Chandra, the creator of HAL.
What they find is no less than an unsettling alien conspiracy-surrounding the evolutionary fate of indigenous life forms on Jupiter's moon Europa, as well as that of the human species itself. A gripping continuation of the beloved Odyssey universe, 2010: Odyssey II is science-fiction storytelling at its best.
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.
