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A review by sydsnot71
Of Time and Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
4.0
I had this collection as a kid back in the 80s. I read it and re-read it. When I bought it I found that I could remember some of the stories, but not all of them.
They're mostly pretty short, crisply written and reasonably light-hearted. Two - The Sentinal and Encounter at Dawn - were influences on 2001: A Space Odyessy. They often end with a natty final line or two, which wraps everything up. Some of those final lines are fantastic. I'm thinking of the last line to the Nine Billion Names of God and No Morning After in particular.
A couple of them have that Tales of the Unexpected vibe about them. One of them is, to me, a SFed up version of a PG Wodehouse story, complete with an overbearing Aunt. It almost feels like an influence on 'The Little Shop of Horrors' musical too. But there I may be over-reaching a tad. It's one of my favourite stories in the collection.
There's a couple I wasn't vastly entertained by. Hence the four stars not five. But glad I re-read it.
They're mostly pretty short, crisply written and reasonably light-hearted. Two - The Sentinal and Encounter at Dawn - were influences on 2001: A Space Odyessy. They often end with a natty final line or two, which wraps everything up. Some of those final lines are fantastic. I'm thinking of the last line to the Nine Billion Names of God and No Morning After in particular.
A couple of them have that Tales of the Unexpected vibe about them. One of them is, to me, a SFed up version of a PG Wodehouse story, complete with an overbearing Aunt. It almost feels like an influence on 'The Little Shop of Horrors' musical too. But there I may be over-reaching a tad. It's one of my favourite stories in the collection.
There's a couple I wasn't vastly entertained by. Hence the four stars not five. But glad I re-read it.