The City and the Stars
by Arthur C. Clarke · first published 1956
58% recommend37% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Far-future sci-fi about the closed city of Diaspar, praised for vivid worldbuilding and ideas ahead of its time, like virtual reality and memory-editing rebirth. Suits fans of cosmic, melancholy, idea-driven stories.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Omnibus
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It's only mentioned because the publisher has teamed it up with "The Sands of Mars" in a double novel volume, but I've very much enjoyed Clarke's "The City and the Stars". I've been struck by its prescience, particularly given it was written in the late 40's / early 50's. Amongst other things: Immersive, virtual reality gaming as a major passtime and social venue.…
on “10 Favorite Mars Novels - Kim Stanley Robinson” ↗…label on it). I'd class Atwood as similar to Vonnegut in this regard, but even more so—her sci-fi work is just OK, from what I've seen of it, and I prefer her "straight" fiction. If found Clarke's The City and the Stars deeply affecting (though, for long stretches, a bit of a chore), but the other couple novels of his I've read I wish I hadn't. A couple interesting ideas that stick, but not much substance. They were…
on “Choose your reading carefully” ↗I think he's dated way less badly than Asimov has. Even early Clarke is still quite readable; _The City and the Stars_ and _Rendezvous with Rama_ are still quite wonderful, but I've always had a soft spot for his juvenilia --- _Dolphin Island_ is half a semiautographical memoir of snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef,…
on “A Conversation with Arthur C. Clarke (1999)” ↗Clarke's "The City and the Stars" Technologically enabled immortality (in an interesting manner). Massive, crystalline data storage. Immersive gaming, including the negative, subsuming aspects of same. The individual as radical.…
on “Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?” ↗(Speculative) Fiction: "The City and The Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke Nonfiction: "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The best book on how to communicate. The best part: the book is written in a way that…
on “Books that have affected you and your life the most” ↗Let's see: Cory Doctorow's Unauthorized Bread and Walkaway, Arthur C. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names of God and The City and the Stars.
on “Hard comp-fi reading list” ↗"The City and the Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke includes that concept—humans edit their memories before their death and recover them after being born again. I recommend reading it, just for the extreme transhumanism within the…
on “The world's only immortal animal” ↗…3rd novels) There are many "classic" authors and novels. One novel that receives somewhat less attention/accolades, but which I think speaks to some of what you ask, is: Arthur C. Clarke "The City and the Stars" Neal Stephenson' The Diamond Age might also resonate. And while both more "near term" and historical, his Cryptonomicon has some very worthy reflections and speculations. And I guess I really can't…
on “The Tomorrow Project: science fiction commissioned by Intel” ↗1950s: The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke I've read few works that are so broadly and extensively predictive. (Though it's been a while, so pardon any memory lapses on my part.) Genetic engineering. Subsuming oneself in…
on “The Amazing Colossal Science Fiction Ketchup” ↗…rest of Herbert's Dune saga. #2. Frank Herbert's "The Eyes of Heisenberg". #3. Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination". #4. "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller. #5. Arthur C. Clarke's "The City and the Stars".
on “Ask HN: Which SciFi novel(s) would you want made into a TV series?” ↗Or Arthur C. Clarke's "moving ways" (Against the Fall of Night / The City And The Stars)
on “How the 'hoverboards' took off in spite of laws against them” ↗My top fiction books this year: * City and the Stars - Arthur C. Clarke * The Master Magician - Charlie N. Holmberg * The Algebraist - Iain M. Banks * Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert (in progress) Non Fiction Pick: * Command and Control - Eric Schlosser
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Or, The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke, though it is was not exactly computer AI. That book still makes me goosebumps every time I remember it.
on “The best defense against malicious AI is AI” ↗…I'm reading the right book I essentially cannot see the page anymore because the visualization is so strong and intense that I'm in that other world, not in ours anymore. I recently read Clarke's The City and the Stars. His description of the city of Diaspar is so strong that I feel like I have literally been there in exactly the same way as I have been to Yellowstone. I know I can't get on a plane to go back there,…
on “Aphantasia: 'My mind's eye is blind'” ↗That reminds me of a scene in Clarke’s novel “The City and the Stars”, where there is a map that lets one view the entire billion year history of the city of Diaspora. I thought that was a cool idea when I read the book decades ago and now we can actually do it!
on “ Building ages in the Netherlands” ↗