The City and the Stars

The City and the Stars (Signet, 1957) by Arthur C. Clarke.

Inspired by a discussion on one of the groups I moderate, I'm re-read this (first time in about 30 years). I also plan to re-read Against the Fall of Night, an earlier, but fairly different, telling of the same story. You can definately tell that Clarke was influenced by people like John W. Campbell, Jr., Olaf Stapledon and J.D. Bernal. A solitary city is the last refuge of Man on Earth, or is it? One inhabitant of the city questions this and finds the truth. He travels across the Earth, and eventually into space to find out what Man's fate was.

One amusing bit to be found in some introductions to either book is a tale that Clarke tells about a psychiatrist and his patient. One had read Against the Fall of Night and the other had read The City and the Stars. The plots were different enough that they each were convinced the other was hallucinating.