Against the Fall of Night

Against the Fall of Night, by Arthur C, Clarke,  is not a book for everyone. It is classic science fiction for better or worse. Like most sci-fi from the 50s (although it was technically written in '48), Against the Fall of Night is filled of grandiose visions and big big big ideas. Also like the sci-fi of it's time, the book leaves something to be desired when it comes to characters and actual plot. Clarke was obviously mainly interested in delivering a compelling and fascinating setting. The plot then is a basic "boys' adventure" book, a simple device through which to explore the world.

The cover of the magazine that ATFON originally appeared in.

So Against the Fall of Night is about a precocious boy who goes on a wild adventure. The stakes are decidedly low, and while there are obstacles to be overcome, the book never manages to be exciting. Where the real action is is in the setting. ATFON is set over a billion years in the future. It is set in a city so marvellous that, even though its inhabitants are immortal, they never exhaust it's wonders. And the plot moves from grand location to grand location. It took humanity less than 100,000 years to master the Earth- ATFON asks us to imagine how much more we could create given 100 million years. For one thing, if it takes humanity less than 100,000 years to produce the Mona Lisa imagine how many Mona Lisas there will be in a billion years. More Mona Lisas than even an immortal would have time to go through.

ATFON's large scale is the best thing it has going for it. Unfortunately, it also hampers reader engagement. It's hard to be drawn into a story that has such enormous distance in it. ATFON's subjects are too large for it to draw close to and so the story ends up feeling weirdly clinical and cold. Despite that the book is a quick read and fairly interesting in spite of itself. Against the Fall of Night recieves 589,034 of 100,528 alien races banding together to form a Galactic Empire.