# What’s good in the Collected Stories of Arthur C Clarke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 3, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612 "2024-11-03T15:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/1 "2024-11-03T15:34:19Z")
Just borrowed [this](https://www.amazon.com/Collected-Stories-Arthur-C-Clarke-ebook/dp/B07NMJPD6T/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=2HH78NV5Z5CIX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.S7FmkQ05TnURieGELb_9kLkxZQhvNtcvsndz_sB6O1nyQdL4xvVJ3-PJFuFbWiNGKWXTCjNm8vo_1OuCRLRU7bd8rj-6L-GcrlPzNRn79xr944BHg_JlcRw33kte-oRb8mWS_ea70I13djWUX3KNt1sI-UfoMarNjqmM9gthPew7ZMGCzpFqz5F_T5xUMwoQsFg2iDByaJ0aNVJ1_aB2cw.pQIgxkLZ0szqw_ZTLFlaNX5Rm6cik_xscA0aMBMCVRo&dib_tag=se&keywords=arthur+c+clarke+books&qid=1730647826&sprefix=arthur+c+cla%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-5) book from Amazon. It’s over 900 pages. Any particular stories I should check out or avoid specifically? I don’t really plan to read it cover to cover unless every single story is a winner, which I doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/2 "2024-11-03T15:39:04Z")
From memory: The Star is probably one of his more famous (and anthologized) stories. The Sentinel is what led to the book 2001. Interesting read if you liked the book/movie. Travel by Wire is an early story, and kind of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/3 "2024-11-03T15:45:24Z")
The Nine Billion Names of God. Plus, all of the Tales from the White Hart. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/4 "2024-11-03T16:33:30Z")
I love Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi short stories, and I’ve had a different edition of that same collection for many years. It does indeed run to nearly a thousand pages. As a fan, I can’t think of any that should be avoided, and it’s hard to come up with a favourite. But as I particularly love Clarke’s ability to get into hard science, as opposed to the kind of fantasy that often passes itself off as sci-fi, I’ll recommend a somewhat obscure story – “Technical Error” – the plot of which centers not only on physics, but also on a somewhat esoteric aspect of biochemistry. But my recommendation would be to enjoy them all! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/5 "2024-11-03T17:19:42Z")
Rescue Party Technical Error many more ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/6 "2024-11-03T18:48:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Plus, all of the Tales from the White Hart. Yes, those are good. I disliked The Star. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/7 "2024-11-03T19:04:37Z")
Concur with Rescue Party (and the tales of the White Hart). Looking at the [TOC](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?118431), I’m reminded of Superiority, Crusade, Reunion, and I Remember Babylon ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/8 "2024-11-03T19:17:56Z")
I greatly enjoyed the short story _Against the fall of night_. Clarke later expanded it into a novel, albeit a short one, which as also good, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/9 "2024-11-03T19:44:34Z")
I thought both versions were short novels - though substantially different ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/10 "2024-11-03T19:48:29Z")
The expanded version is _The City and the Stars_. 277 pages in my paperback edition, so not that short, but much longer than _Against the Fall of Night_. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/11 "2024-11-03T19:56:55Z")
Ah. There was a novella form of Against, then a novel form and then “City and the Stars” [Against the Fall of Night - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night) - I had only seen the novel form of Against (and City), not the original novella ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/12 "2024-11-03T20:12:01Z")
I think “Earthlight” was the same thing - a short story expanded into a novella. The novella version is quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/13 "2024-11-03T22:20:09Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > There was a novella form of Against, then a novel form and then “City and the Stars” [Against the Fall of Night - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night) - And one of our Dopers likely has a first edition of that: > it was revised and expanded in 1951 and published in book form in 1953 by [Gnome Press](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_Press). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/14 "2024-11-03T22:42:35Z")
**Dial F for Frankenstein** was my favorite…before I found out how prescient it is. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/15 "2024-11-03T22:52:19Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Just borrowed [this](https://www.amazon.com/Collected-Stories-Arthur-C-Clarke-ebook/dp/B07NMJPD6T/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=2HH78NV5Z5CIX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.S7FmkQ05TnURieGELb_9kLkxZQhvNtcvsndz_sB6O1nyQdL4xvVJ3-PJFuFbWiNGKWXTCjNm8vo_1OuCRLRU7bd8rj-6L-GcrlPzNRn79xr944BHg_JlcRw33kte-oRb8mWS_ea70I13djWUX3KNt1sI-UfoMarNjqmM9gthPew7ZMGCzpFqz5F_T5xUMwoQsFg2iDByaJ0aNVJ1_aB2cw.pQIgxkLZ0szqw_ZTLFlaNX5Rm6cik_xscA0aMBMCVRo&dib_tag=se&keywords=arthur+c+clarke+books&qid=1730647826&sprefix=arthur+c+cla%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-5) book from Amazon. It’s over 900 pages. Any particular stories I should check out or avoid specifically? I don’t really plan to read it cover to cover unless every single story is a winner, which I doubt. Thanks for the mention of this, which prompted me to buy the Kindle book. I have various collections of his books in storage, so this is more convenient than digging through boxes in the storage room. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/16 "2024-11-03T23:10:44Z")
_The Nine Billion Names of God_ will take about 20-25 minutes to read and will stay with you for much longer than that, IMHO. Can’t think of a single Clarke story I wouldn’t read again. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/17 "2024-11-04T00:59:07Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And one of our Dopers likely has a first edition of that: Indeed. And I wrote about the book [here](https://gnomepress.com/31-against-the-fall-of-night/). More Clarke history [here](https://gnomepress.com/21-sands-of-mars/) and [here](https://gnomepress.com/39-prelude-to-space/). For reading, here’s another vote for “Nine Billion” and the White Hart stories. Never much liked “The Star.” If I’m being honest, Clarke has the weakest fiction credentials of any of the star sf writers of that era. (On second thought, no, that’s Asimov.) His early work is bad, but he did get marketly better over time. Pick up a book of his collected nonfiction instead. The articles may be dated, but that’s where he shined. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/18 "2024-11-04T05:12:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Never much liked “The Star.” > > If I’m being honest, Clarke has the weakest fiction credentials of any of the star sf writers of that era. (On second thought, no, that’s Asimov.) I concur on The Star. Asimov had the Robots (especially the R Daneel series) the Black Widow “mysteries” and of course one of the great classics of all time- the Foundation trilogy. Now yeah, later on when he was writing the prequels and the sequels to that- it went downhill. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/19 "2024-11-04T23:49:20Z")
I thought Rescue Party (the first story Clarke sold) was better than early Asimov by a considerable margin (I’ve read “The Early Asimov” and much of it is dire, while “Rescue Party” is workmanlike) But mileage varies. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612/20 "2024-11-05T01:01:03Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > _The Nine Billion Names of God_ will take about 20-25 minutes to read and will stay with you for much longer than that, IMHO. Indeed, I read that over 35 years ago and still remember the last line. One of the best story endings of all time, IMO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-good-in-the-collected-stories-of-arthur-c-clarke/1009612.md?page=2)