Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar; for millennia its protective dome shutout the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rules the stars. But then, as legend had it, The invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man, A Unique to break through Diaspar¿s stifling inertia, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders.
Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar; for millennia its protective dome shutout the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rules the stars. But then, as legend had it, The invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man, A Unique to break through Diaspar¿s stifling inertia, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders.
Add to your library to track progress and write reviews
Add to your library to track progress and write reviews
Find The City and the Stars Arthur C. Clarke in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find The City and the Stars Arthur C. Clarke in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
9 books in catalog
Pioneering hard science fiction and foreseeing real-world satellite communications defined the expansive body of work associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Arthur C. Clarke established himself as a British science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host whose speculative stories grounded visionary technological concepts in rigorous scientific principles.
Born in Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1917, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS grew up with a passion for astronomy and speculatively minded science. Lacking the financial resources for immediate university study, he joined the British Interplanetary Society in 1934 as a teenager and served in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946 as a radar instructor and technician during World War II. In 1945, he published his landmark technical proposal detailing how geostationary orbits could host a global satellite communication system. Following the war, he earned a degree in physics and mathematics from King's College London between 1946 and 1948, served as assistant editor for Physics Abstracts, and held the position of chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1953. Along with Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, he became known as one of the 'Big Three' authors of science fiction.
In 1956, Clarke emigrated from England to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) to pursue his passion for scuba diving and underwater photography. That same year in 1956, while exploring off Trincomalee, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple. He continued living in Sri Lanka for the rest of his life, writing dozens of non-fiction books and magazine essays on space travel that earned him UNESCO's Kalinga Prize in 1961 and the informal moniker 'Prophet of the Space Age'. In 1968, he co-wrote the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, expanding his reach into world media. During the 1980s, he hosted popular television shows including Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. His contributions earned him appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989, a knighthood in 1998, and Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005 before his death in 2008.
Clarke's writing style is characterized by scientific precision, intellectual clarity, and a profound sense of cosmic wonder. His narrative approach blends technical realism with philosophical inquiry, frequently examining humanity's first encounters with advanced extraterrestrial intelligences, the mechanical challenges of lunar and planetary survival, and the long-term evolution of human consciousness. Rather than focusing on military conflicts or melodramatic space opera, his works emphasize problem-solving, scientific exploration, and optimism about technological progress. His acclaimed novels received numerous Hugo and Nebula awards, solidifying his role as an influential advocate for space exploration and scientific literacy.
9 books in catalog
Pioneering hard science fiction and foreseeing real-world satellite communications defined the expansive body of work associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Arthur C. Clarke established himself as a British science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host whose speculative stories grounded visionary technological concepts in rigorous scientific principles.
Born in Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1917, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS grew up with a passion for astronomy and speculatively minded science. Lacking the financial resources for immediate university study, he joined the British Interplanetary Society in 1934 as a teenager and served in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946 as a radar instructor and technician during World War II. In 1945, he published his landmark technical proposal detailing how geostationary orbits could host a global satellite communication system. Following the war, he earned a degree in physics and mathematics from King's College London between 1946 and 1948, served as assistant editor for Physics Abstracts, and held the position of chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1953. Along with Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, he became known as one of the 'Big Three' authors of science fiction.
In 1956, Clarke emigrated from England to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) to pursue his passion for scuba diving and underwater photography. That same year in 1956, while exploring off Trincomalee, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple. He continued living in Sri Lanka for the rest of his life, writing dozens of non-fiction books and magazine essays on space travel that earned him UNESCO's Kalinga Prize in 1961 and the informal moniker 'Prophet of the Space Age'. In 1968, he co-wrote the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, expanding his reach into world media. During the 1980s, he hosted popular television shows including Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. His contributions earned him appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989, a knighthood in 1998, and Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005 before his death in 2008.
Clarke's writing style is characterized by scientific precision, intellectual clarity, and a profound sense of cosmic wonder. His narrative approach blends technical realism with philosophical inquiry, frequently examining humanity's first encounters with advanced extraterrestrial intelligences, the mechanical challenges of lunar and planetary survival, and the long-term evolution of human consciousness. Rather than focusing on military conflicts or melodramatic space opera, his works emphasize problem-solving, scientific exploration, and optimism about technological progress. His acclaimed novels received numerous Hugo and Nebula awards, solidifying his role as an influential advocate for space exploration and scientific literacy.
