History Lesson – The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Book 1 (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $8.99)
In the distant future, Earth has entered its final ice age-precipitated by the cooling of the sun. In this forbidding climate, a small tribe of nomadic human survivors travels toward the equator ahead of glaciers moving down from the North Pole, carrying with them a handful of relics from the 21st century-and racing against the ice to preserve them from annihilation.
This collection is a showcase of groundbreaking stories that wrestle with the moral, psychological, and ethical implications of scientific advancement-written by one of the foremost science fiction authors of our time.
Stories included in this volume: Introduction (author unknown); Foreword; Travel By Wire!; How We Went to Mars; Retreat from Earth; Reverie (not previously collected); The Awakening; Whacky; Loophole; Rescue Party; Technical Error; Castaway; The Fires Within; Inheritence; Nightfall; History Lesson; Transience; The Wall of Darkness; The Lion of Comarre (previously only available in a small omnibus of The Lion of Comarre/Against the Fall of Night); The Forgotten Enemy; Hide-and-Seek; Breaking Strain; Nemesis; Guardian Angel (later part of Childhood’s End); Time’s Arrow; A Walk in the Dark; Silence Please; Trouble with the Natives; The Road to the Sea.
The Sentinel – The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Book 2 (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $8.99)
Originally published in 1983, this collection represents some of the greatest short fiction from one of the genre’s most renowned authors. These collected works were written throughout Clarke’s career, from 1946 to 1981-originally appearing in science fiction magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, and OMNI.
Between these pages you’ll find some of Clarke’s most groundbreaking early stories-many of which influenced later classic novel-length work. The title story, “The Sentinel,” formed the foundation for what would later become the Space Odyssey series-perhaps Clarke’s most famous work. You’ll also find “Guardian Angel,” a rarely reproduced story that was the inspiration for Childhood’s End.
Use the Look Inside link on the book’s product page for a full listing of the stories included in this volume.
The Star – The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Book 3 (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $8.99)
In the title story of this outstanding collection, a group of cosmonauts discovers the remains of an advanced civilization in a remote star system-destroyed when their sun went supernova. They find that the civilization was very similar to Earth’s-and that its people knew of their coming doom centuries before it occurred. What they find leads their chief astrophysicist-also a Jesuit priest-into a deep crisis of faith, sparked by a shocking revelation that has implications not just for history-but for religion.
This collection of short stories demonstrates not only Clarke’s technological imagination-but also a deep poetic sensibility that led him to ponder the philosophical and moral implications of technological advances. These stories demonstrate the range of his vision as an author-based on both our scientific potential and the deeper aspects of the human condition.
Use the Look Inside link on the book’s product page for a full listing of the stories included in this volume.
A Meeting With Medusa – The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Book 4 (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 TODAY ONLY as a Kindle Daily Deal)
In leading an expedition through the many-layered Jovian atmosphere in the hydrogen balloon craft Kon-Tiki, Captain Howard Falcon discovers a world where bioluminescent air plankton produce brilliant atmospheric sea-fire, predatory manta-ray creatures dominate the skies, and enormous jellyfish-like beings grow to be over a mile across.
The title story of this fourth collection from one of the genre’s most celebrated authors ends with a twist-that leaves the reader questioning what it means to be human. This collection contains some of the author’s most acclaimed short fiction, including “Cosmic Casanova” and “Sleeping Beauty”-stories that delight, surprise, and lead readers to ask big questions about humanity’s role in the cosmos.
Use the Look Inside link on the book’s product page for a full listing of the stories included in this volume.
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