Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (born 16 December 1917) is a British author and inventor, most famous for his science-fiction novel ', and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film of the same name. Clarke is considered one of the Big Three of science fiction, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.

Themes, style, and influence

Clarke's early published stories would usually feature the extrapolation of a technological innovation or scientific breakthrough that assists the resolution of a human dilemma. The first manned mission to the moon (Prelude to Space), the colonization of Mars (The Sands of Mars) and life aboard a space station (Islands in the Sky) were all genre SF mainstays. Clarke's background as a technical writer showed in the early novels as a deliberate documentary style and his characters reflect Clarke's experience being mostly military or civil service types. Despite this, Clarke's style was open to humour and a degree of whimsy as salting their propagandist tone of scientific advancement with a sting in the tail.

Related Topics:
Prelude to Space - Mars - The Sands of Mars - Islands in the Sky

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A recurring type of character is found in The Lion of Comarre, The City and the Stars, The Road to the Sea, and other works. A young man in a superficially utopian society becomes dissatisfied and restless and seeks to expand his horizons, thereby discovering the underlying decadence of his own society.

Related Topics:
The Lion of Comarre - The City and the Stars - The Road to the Sea - Utopian

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The Sentinel introduced a religious theme to Clarke's work. His interest in the paranormal was influenced by Charles Fort and embraced the belief that mankind may be the property of an ancient alien civilisation. Surprisingly for a writer who is often held up as an example of hard science fiction's obsession with technology, three of Clarke's novels have this as a theme.

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