For some odd reason, “Childhood’s End” is one of those all time great science-fiction classics that I have never managed to make time to read. Now that I have more reading time on my hands, that situation has been rectified. And I will state right up front here that this book is INDEED one of the justifiably classic novels of speculative fiction. I have always been a fan of Arthur C. Clarke’s work, mostly because any shortcomings in his prose or character development are consistently overshadowe

For some odd reason, “Childhood’s End” is one of those all time great science-fiction classics that I have never managed to make time to read. Now that I have more reading time on my hands, that situation has been rectified. And I will state right up front here that this book is INDEED one of the justifiably classic novels of speculative fiction. I have always been a fan of Arthur C. Clarke’s work, mostly because any shortcomings in his prose or character development are consistently overshadowed by his inherent command of what I will call “THE BIG IDEAS.” Clarke specializes in huge, transcendent concepts that stretch the boundaries of the mind, often falling into philosophical territory. Isaac Asimov falls into this same bucket for me, and it’s a testament to both writers that they had an enduring friendship even as they were competitors on the stage of advanced mental constructs.



I’ll also admit right up front that my interest to read this novel was spurred on after I read Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” last year. Wolfe’s screed on Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters is educational on many levels, but it was interesting to understand a little bit about what literary influences were present in the Prankster world. Apparently “Childhood’s End” was pretty much required reading for any prospective Prankster, and after reading it I can now fully understand why. Clarke’s plot reads like a “how-to” manual for those seeking a transformative experience on a cosmic level, and the Pranksters were ambitious to a fault.



“Childhood’s End” is in fact one of the great alien invasion novels of all time and it can, and needs to be, read on many levels to really understand its impact. The book plays out in three separate parts. In short order, the story begins when massive alien spaceships take up residence above all of the major metropolitan areas of planet Earth. Part One deals with the more or less immediate aftermath of the presence of the alien force, dubbed the “Overlords” by the human race. The Overlords wield massive power on a scale barely comprehensible to the general public, and the newly arrived beings set about to nullify mankind’s worst instincts about war and racism and poverty. In short they appear to be benign and here to assist mankind and save it from its own worst inclinations. The main catch is that the Overlords do not allow themselves to be seen in the flesh, communicating with Earth mainly through radio and television transmissions. Their only human contact is through the Secretary General of the United Nations, one Rikki Stormgren. The Overlords eventually do agree to be seen after a period of fifty years, after a full generation has had time to grow up under their influence.



Cut to Part Two. The Overlords have revealed themselves to be…...sorry, no spoilers here. Suffice to say they are truly alien even if they have an outward appearance that seems eerily familiar. Mankind has accepted the social engineering that the Overlords have achieved, and life on Earth enters a golden period of peace and prosperity, but at the cost of artistic and technological stagnation. And oddly enough, the Overlords seem to have taken an interest in what might be called paranormal phenomena.



Part Three, of course, is the big payoff. All of the various storylines reach their conclusion, and what a conclusion it is! This is the Big Bang of alien invasion stories, kids, and it does not disappoint. Clarke leaves nothing on the table as he wraps this story around your heart and your brain. I can easily see why “Childhood’s End” blew everybody’s minds back in the day, just as I can easily see why the Boomers picked it up as a sort of clarion call to the ideas of transformative possibility through the zeitgeist of mental and spiritual change. This is a book that took me a few days to fully digest and comprehend.



The fact that it took me a little bit of extra time to deal with it is what I love about Arthur C. Clarke. It’s why “2001: A Space Odyssey” is my favorite science-fiction book/movie combo of all time. The man deals with some heavy shit!! “Childhood’s End” is entertainment on a truly macro, universal level. It leaves one with questions even as it ties up the fate of the human race in a nice, taut bow. The Overlords are obviously not quite what they seem to be at first, and yet they ARE….the potential of mankind is seen as static, until it ISN’T…..and the endgame….well, the endgame is the template for the melding of scientific and philosophical thought for the ages. Not bad for a novel that was originally published in 1953, and one that Clarke was reportedly “dissatisfied” with in later years.



I have always been solidly a scientific rationalist, even as I have an interest in what might be termed the “paranormal.” I truly think that every physical and mental process can be explained, even if our current understanding of science doesn’t have the vocabulary to describe what falls outside the current boundaries of accepted theoretical research. But we can eventually get there. A fuller understanding of what constitutes “consciousness” along with a more comprehensive reckoning of quantum mechanics may be where we finally get the long-awaited “universal field theory” of what makes up the shared reality of which we all partake of. This is the point where science and philosophy meet, that part of the show where we start to put the “why” together with the mechanics of the “how.”



All of this said, I do think there is a big weakness in “Childhood’s End,” that being the swiftness with which the human race capitulates to the Overlord presence. Granted, the Overlords evidence massive, overwhelming power, but human nature is to fight against captivity, even when that captivity promises some sort of benefits to the race as a whole. There is a resistance movement of sorts in the plot, and the establishment of an artist’s colony named New Athens is an attempt to reclaim the human spirit of creativity, but the whole thing just comes off as a bit too clean and neat for my tastes. One need only to look at the current state of political discourse in the world to understand that humans are indeed little more than territorial primates with big brains. That fact, of course, and the developmental dynamics and potentialities of the human species are the driving forces of “Childhood’s End,” but I wanted just a bit more grit. At the very least I would have expected some sort of a descent into chaos for a time, but Clarke depicts none of this.



On the other hand history is also littered with examples of passive acceptance of rule by charismatic, powerful figures that promise an orderly, fulfilled society, so maybe I’m just being a bit too overly critical of this aspect of the plot. Surely there is something to be said for that sense of tribal community that comes with wearing a red hat and attending big, showboaty rallies with all of your buddies and….okay, I’ll just stop here.



And finally, here is a quick thought experiment for the adventurous reader. I, like most people, approached “Childhood’s End” as a straight-up piece of science-fiction. But try putting yourself in the mindset that it is a horror story instead…..it may change the way that you view the events in the tale and give you an entirely different perspective on the novel as a whole.



It should be no surprise that I’m gonna award the full five-star treatment to “Childhood’s End.” This book is brimming with huge ideas and concepts. I am aware that Clarke became much more of a skeptic of the paranormal in later years, and this led him to be more critical of his own work here, but I’m convinced that he hit the mark pretty solidly with this book. If “Childhood’s End” doesn’t get you to thinking, then nothing will and you should just decide that science-fiction ain’t yer bag. For me, this is the real deal and it’s one of the reasons why I seek out speculative fiction in the first place. My advice is to get on the bus and make contact with your inner Merry Prankster and latch onto this classic slice of science-fiction. You will not be disappointed.