Arthur C. Clarke Books

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Arthur C. Clarke was a renowned science fiction author and inventor best known for ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset, Clarke came from a family of four children.

The author was a curious child, obsessed with science and astronomy. He spent many a night gazing at the stars using his homemade telescope.

His father’s death attracted financial hardships that prevented Clarke from completing his formal education. He started working soon after leaving middle school.

Despite securing a position in the government as a bureaucrat, Clarke’s love for the stars never left him. He spent his days with the British Interplanetary Society championing space travel.

The author was starting to make headway as a writer, experimenting with newsletters and articles when the Second World War entered the picture, interrupting his endeavors and pulling Clarke into the Royal Air Force.

The author thrived during the war. For all its horrors, WWII encouraged Clarke to utilize his technical aptitude. It also inspired several stories and articles, some of which predicted notable technological developments such as geostationary satellite systems.

Once the war ended, Clarke went back to school, attending King’s College, London, and pursuing math and physics. Despite the challenges, the author successfully juggled his responsibilities as a writer and scientist.

After piquing the interest of the public with ‘Interplanetary Flight,’ a nonfiction book that dissected the future of space travel, the author finally published a full-length novel (Prelude to Space).

This was the first of many critically acclaimed works. Clarke became a star, winning the adoration of mainstream audiences while also securing the respect of the science community, which perceived him as a revolutionary thinker.

Eventually, the author moved to Sri Lanka, where he stayed for the rest of his days, dabbling in photography and scuba diving. He developed a fascination with undersea worlds, using his fame to draw attention to underwater safaris.

But his love for astronomy and space never left him. He wrote a book (Profiles of the Future) that made significant predictions about the technological developments and advancements that would occur in the coming centuries.

The author’s renown reached new heights in the 1960s when director Stanley Kubrick turned his stories into ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ one of the most popular science fiction films of all time.

Clarke’s mobility was significantly reduced when he contracted polio. The disease confined him to a wheelchair. But he continued to make waves in the science community.

He created an organization (The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation) that uses grants and awards to improve the quality of life of people in developing nations through technological advancements. Clarke died in 2008 at the age of 90.

Arthur C. Clarke Awards

Clarke won Hugo, Nebula, and John W Campbell Memorial Awards.

Arthur C. Clarke Books into Movies

The Stanley Kubrick movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was based on Clarke’s work. The sequel novel (2010: Odyssey Two) received a film adaptation in 1984.

‘Childhood’s End’ became a three-episode miniseries on the Syfy Channel.

Best Arthur C. Clarke Books

Clarke was knighted in 2000, but he couldn’t receive the honor in person because he wasn’t well enough to travel to London. Clarke’s best books include:

2001: A Space Odyssey: A long time ago, at the proverbial dawn of time, the world was populated by benevolent man-apes that stood on the verge of extinction because of various natural threats.

A mysterious object descended and changed these man-apes, introducing a violent streak, along with a spark for imagination and innovation that allowed the human race to survive.

In 2001, humankind made a discovery so incredible that astronauts were sent out into the solar system for the first time to investigate the enigma.

Rendezvous with Rama: Rama was unlike anything humanity had ever seen. The celestial object was heavy, weighing several trillion tons. It was hurtling through space, towards earth at incredible speeds.

It did not take experts long to realize the truth. Rama was not a natural object. Rama was a spacecraft. For the first time in human history, the world is preparing to receive visitors from another planet.

But who are the Ramans? Where do they come from? What kind of technology do they possess? More importantly, what do they want? Are they peaceful or hostile?

When Does The Next Arthur C. Clarke book come out?

Arthur C. Clarke doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Lost Worlds Of 2001 and was released on November, 28th 2022.

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