When Childhood’s End was first published in book form, on August 24, 1953, science fiction seemed in a race with scientific reality. The opening section of the book – which depicts the arrival of aliens who step in to halt the space race between the United States and the USSR—was superseded by real events less than five years later, when the successful launch of the Sputnik and Explorer satellites made official the Cold War race to the stars. Folks fascinated by space travel no longer needed to buy Amazing magazine, they could read about it in the newspapers.
Clarke later (in 1990) rewrote the opening to adapt the story line to the historical reality of Apollo program. But the book’s status of a science fiction classic would hardly have been jeopardized even if he had left the text unchanged. Orwell’s 1984 did not lose its relevance when the foreboding date passed with neither a bang nor a whimper from Big Brother. The same is true of that other celebrated date in sci-fi literature—that true millennium year of 2001 – which came and went without the mission Jupiter anticipated by Clarke in his most famous novel. Childhood’s End , in particular, stands out as one of space age tales of the 1950s that best retains its charm for modern audiences.
The story confronts the mixed legacy of mankind’s first confrontation with intelligent life from outer space. Shining ships arrive from the stars and float in the air above New York, London, Paris, Moscow and other major cities. Day after day, they hang there silently observing. And on the sixth day (no, not the seventh . . . that’s a different story), Karellen the Overlord announces his intentions by means of radio transmission. Karellen is supervisor for Earth and his English is flawless, his knowledge of human affairs detailed and subtle, and his plans are ambitious. Under his command, international conflicts will end, wars will be relegated to the dustbin of history. Few nations attempt to challenge the Overlords, but those that do are quickly convinced of the futility of human intervention in the affairs of these powerful aliens.
A period of unprecedented peace and prosperity follows. And humans might even learn to love their Overlords . . . if it was not for the peculiar fact that Karellen and the other aliens refuse to let themselves be loved—or even seen. Their obsessive desire to hide from view raises suspicions. On those rare occasions when Karellen meets with an earthling, he relies on a two way mirror to keep from being seen. What is the Overlords’ dark secret? Why do they refuse to come out into the open?
In order to allay concerns, Karellen promises that fifty years after their arrival, the Overlords will emerge from hiding. Clarke skillfully builds up to this moment, and it offers one of the unexpected plot twists that are a trademark of his stories. In the hands of a lesser author, this emergence into the harsh light of day of the conquering aliens might have served as the conclusion of the book—and it would have been a strong, memorable ending. But Clarke moves on toward a greater climax when, one hundred years after their arrival on Earth, the Overlords announce the true purpose of mission.
Clarke was skilled at adapting the language and concepts of current technology to his needs, and his prose sometimes even aspires to the cold, even- handed writing style of the scientist. But don’t let this fool you. Clarke is a storyteller, first and foremost. And a grand one, at that. Childhood’s End continued appeal rests on the strength of its clever, multilayered plot. And this will hardly change, no matter what surprises the cosmos throw at us.