The Songs of Distant Earth
by Arthur C. Clarke · first published 1986
33% recommend67% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Thoughtful science fiction about a seed ship colony and the cultures that grow apart over vast distances and millennia; readers like its ideas about society, shared human identity, and interstellar travel.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The paradise of Thalassa is threatened by an evolutionary event brewing beneath the calm seas and by a spacecraft of refugees hovering in orbit above the planet. The arrival of a spaceship from Earth--destroyed when its sun went nova--carrying five million Earthlings in suspended animation, as well as an uncensored cultural record of Earth, threatens to destroy the paradisiacal planet of Thalassa.
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…author on desert ecosystems. My favourite real science fiction author is Arthur C clarke. some good books by him... earthlight the fountains of paradise islands in the sky the sands of mars rama songs of distant earth Also would recommend accelerando by Charles Stross and the mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗I have enjoyed reading "The Songs of Distant Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke which talks about seed ships and the culture rise from that. It's an interesting read.
on “An extrasolar world covered in water?” ↗This thread is reminding me of one of my favorite Clarke books, which partially explores this theme: The Songs of Distant Earth [1]. Is there such thing as a singular human civilization, once it become split by great distances and millennia? 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Songs_of_Distant_Earth
on “A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight (2016)” ↗That's the premise of one of my favorite sci-fi stories, The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C Clarke. The stuff about what-do-people-do-when-the-apocalypse-is-coming-but-kind-of-a-ways-off was cool too. (in case anyone scrolling by is looking for additions to their to-read list)
on “A Visualization of Galactic Settlement” ↗…author on desert ecosystems. My favourite real science fiction author is Arthur C clarke. some good books by him... earthlight the fountains of paradise islands in the sky the sands of mars rama songs of distant earth Also would recommend accelerando by Charles Stross and the mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson
on “Ask HN: Favourite sci-fi books?” ↗Many. Clarke's "Songs of Distant Earth" is a very good one. "A Deepness in the Sky" is another.
on “SETI: No Signal Detected from KIC 8462852” ↗I like that old Arthur C Clarke novel, The Songs of Distant Earth[0], where they travel with an ablative shield in front made of ice, and they can make new shield segments by finding planets with water. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Songs_of_Distant_Earth
on “Relativistic Spaceship” ↗Power should only be given to those who don't seek it out. I think "Songs of Distant Earth" had the right idea with random selection of the mayor or council. Just imagine if we picked from a pool of 500 randomly chosen citizens who are active in their community. Like if we required volunteer…
on “„We were chased out of SF after trying to give free Internet to the poorest“” ↗As much as I love "Songs of Distant Earth", I suspect a Hollywood version of it would amount to "giant lobsters vs space marines", whereas in the book they're a minor sideshow.
on “Rendezvous with Rama” ↗…books can be both and I think that Clarke is a prime example of this. 2001 is as much of a story of psychology as it is about astronomical distances and the ship needed to accomplish that goal. The Songs of Distant Earth is about two cultures clashing ... with the real problems of engineering a ship to travel (it's a softer story than it is hard). Protector by Niven likewise scores high on both the soft and hard scales.…
on “Tomorrow people: For a century, it felt like telepathy was around the corner” ↗The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C Clarke makes it a large plot point that any vessel traveling through the stars would need some kind of "windshield" as mentioned in the article. His idea for implementing it seems as good…
on “Space is full of dirty, toxic grease, scientists reveal” ↗"The Songs of Distant Earth" by Clarke had a sorta-third option, where we sent out ships with just frozen embryos, and some automation which in theory kept infants alive long enough to watch videos / and other automated "parenting"…
on “Close and tranquil solar system has astronomers excited” ↗…approaches the speed of light is something as surprising as it is obvious in hindsight. I had hever had though of that until yesterday when, coincidentally, I finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's "The Songs of Distant Earth".
on “What happens to chirality at relativistic velocities?” ↗One thing which might be of (tangential) interest here is the novel The Songs of Distant Earth, by Arthur C. Clarke, where the replenishment of this sort of ice buffer plays a prominent role in the plot.
on “Is Faster-Than-Light Travel or Communication Possible? (1997)” ↗…of this election, maybe we could make progress. I'm not holding my breath, though... I would also love to see experimentation with really radical forms of democracy. For example, Arthur C Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth has a fun aside about random selection of leaders. The Venetian Republic apparently used multiple rounds of lotteries and nominations; incredible to think that such a complex system was used successfully…
on “How Stable Are Democracies? ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red’” ↗