thegooddoctor
12/19/2024
Despite this novel being on numerous “best of, classic, masterworks, top-listed”, I was not overly impressed. It is certainly true that you should make allowances for first novels – which this was, and for older novels (published in 1953 – but Clarke said he started writing it in 1937). However, I still couldn’t force myself to rate it above a “C” – which translates to 1 ½ stars on my Worlds Without End ratings.
As I read my way through, I noted “schlocky, excessively verbose, rather “pulpish”, amateurish, overblown vocabulary. I did not at all enjoy the long long (pages and pages worth!) of unleavened description of the future history of the galaxy. Or was it the universe – the two words seem to be used almost interchangeably at times – much to my astronomical distress.
I do know that Arthur C. Clarke was a legendary figure, and one of “The Big Three” (with Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov) – but I would rather reserve praise for good novels. I have yet to read “Childhood’s End” and “2001”, and have great hopes for both them. Certainly Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama” was outstanding, and “The Fountains of Paradise” was very good. As for shorter fiction, “The Star” is one of the very best SF stories ever, and “The Nine Billion Names of God” and “The Sentinel” were also exceptional.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
My rating system for this website (I have done reviews for over 80 “books” (including short stories, novelettes and novellas, as well as novels).
Their system is out of 5 stars, and allows you to use half-stars, so highest rating is 5 full stars, next-highest 4 ½ stars, etc. – and lowest is ½ star. I did NOT want to space these ratings equally, giving just as much precedence to low-quality mush as to really good works. For that reason, I laid out my system as follows:
My rating system: I begin with one star being equivalent to a rating of “C -”. Progressing upwards, I add ½ star for each step, up to the maximum 5 stars, which is equivalent to a rating of “A”+. I reserve ½ star for BOMBS, there being no option of zero or negative stars. As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don’t squander half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.