Against the Fall of Night
Encyclopedia
Against the Fall of Night is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke
. Originally appearing in the November, 1948 issue of the magazine Startling Stories
, it was first published in book form in 1953 by Gnome Press
. It was later expanded and revised as The City and the Stars
. A newer edition includes other early work by Clarke: The Lion of Comarre and Against the Fall of Night. Gregory Benford
wrote a sequel titled Beyond the Fall of Night
, with Clarke's approval, which follows the original novel but not the revised version, and it is generally printed with the original as a single volume.
The title is from the poem "Smooth between sea and land" by Alfred Edward Housman, published in More poems. Clarke explains: "I was also to discover the lines of A. E. Housman that not only described the locale perfectly, but also gave me the title of my first novel: “Here on the level sand, between the sea and land, what shall I do or write against the fall of night?”". Clarke would also quote Housman in 3001: The Final Odyssey
.
Alaine of Lyndar".
Alvin takes the message to Rorden, the Keeper of the Records, who has access to "all the knowledge of Humanity." Rorden finds the record of the message but does not believe Alvin is ready to understand it.
Three years later, Rorden discloses that not only has he been waiting for Alvin to age, but he has also been trying to find out how people in the past went outside. He and Alvin find a way out and Alvin finds a city called Lys.
Expecting the city to be abandoned, Alvin is shocked when he finds a thriving place. The inhabitants are different than his own people, living short but full lives. They know about Diaspar but they like their natural setting. Alvin is prevented from going home as the citizens do not want him to reveal Lys to the people of Diaspar. They contact Rorden, who already knew of Lys, and tell him that Alvin will stay three days to allow the council of Lys time to decide his fate.
Alvin makes a friend called Theon, who has a pet giant insect (Krif). While Theon shows Alvin the woods, the boys realize they both know about the legend of Shalmirane, a fortress mentioned in the earliest human history; a fortress which defended against the invaders and signified the end of Man's conquest of space. The boys decide to find the fortress, only a day's travel away. At the fortress they discover a large wall that defended the building survived, though its rocks were destroyed over time. When they venture into the fortress they find an old man with whom they share a meal and a story of his origins; he was a follower of the Master. This Master came from space during the recovery following the invasion, attracting followers with his lost powers and machines. When he was dying, he spoke of the "Great Ones" returning. His followers made this into a religion. The religion has been dying, and the old man is one of the few remaining followers; he also had a few of the Master's machines.
Alvin asks to borrow one of the old man's robots and bring it to Rorden. The boys return to Lys, and Alvin is told to either stay in Lys forever, or return to Diaspar without his memories. Alvin agrees to the mind wipe, but programs the robot to grab him before his mind is wiped and take him to the transit station. He returns home, where he finds Rorden, and they look under the city, where robots are made and repaired by other robots. A repair robot tells them it cannot fix Alvin's robot, but duplicates it. The council questions Alvin and threatens to seal the path to Lys.
Alvin shows Rorden a ship, buried under the sands outside the city, that was the Master's ship. Alvin decides to take the ship and go to Lys to return the robot. He meets Theon and speaks with Lys' Council, and they assume that Diaspar knows about Lys. Lys realizes that through the appearance of the ship, both of their cultures will be forced to interact. Alvin travels to Shalmirane to return the robot, only to find the Old Man dead, with his robots left to forever guard him.
Alvin takes his ship into space, towards an abnormal set of stars. He arrives at the middle star and meets an alien being that is no more than a child but has memories going back further than any human. The alien being, Vanamonde, is convinced that Alvin is the creator it has been waiting for. It follows Alvin home, where people from Lys and Diaspar meet to study it, each using their strengths to learn more about their history. They learn that the history they have known is false. Man only reached Persephone when space came to them, and they found species far greater than Man. They learned from them and decided to grow themselves as humanity before exploring space. They spent half a billion years perfecting the ability to live for infinite amount of time, like Diaspar, with telepathic abilities, like those in Lys. After improving themselves, man tried to create a pure mentality, a being that was free from physical limitations. They succeeded in creating a pure being, but it was insane. The Mentality, called the Mad Mind, almost destroyed the galaxy, and is now locked up, waiting for the time when its bonds break again.
described the original edition of the novel as "a light, simple, fast-moving and often richly imaginative fantasy." Boucher
and McComas
praised "this brief but intense book" as "beautiful," describing it as "poetry and awe and wonder" and characterizing Clarke as "the visionary poet of a future so far distant that its most prosaic science passes our technical understanding." P. Schuyler Miller
reported that because the narrative "is so well told, the story becomes convincing, and its magic spreads over the reader as well as the people of the plot."
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
. Originally appearing in the November, 1948 issue of the magazine Startling Stories
Startling Stories
Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
, it was first published in book form in 1953 by Gnome Press
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics.The company was founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle. Many of Gnome's titles were reprinted in England by Boardman Books...
. It was later expanded and revised as The City and the Stars
The City and the Stars
The City and the Stars is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is a complete rewrite of his earlier novella, Against the Fall of Night.-Overview:...
. A newer edition includes other early work by Clarke: The Lion of Comarre and Against the Fall of Night. Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
wrote a sequel titled Beyond the Fall of Night
Beyond the Fall of Night
Beyond the Fall of Night is a novel by Gregory Benford and Arthur C. Clarke. The first part of Beyond the Fall of Night is a reprint of Clarke’s famous Against the Fall of Night while the second half is a "sequel" by Gregory Benford which takes place many years later...
, with Clarke's approval, which follows the original novel but not the revised version, and it is generally printed with the original as a single volume.
The title is from the poem "Smooth between sea and land" by Alfred Edward Housman, published in More poems. Clarke explains: "I was also to discover the lines of A. E. Housman that not only described the locale perfectly, but also gave me the title of my first novel: “Here on the level sand, between the sea and land, what shall I do or write against the fall of night?”". Clarke would also quote Housman in 3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series.-Plot summary:...
.
Comparison with The City and the Stars
Plot summary
Diaspar is a seemingly ageless city in the year 10 billion AD; the last child, Alvin, was born seven thousand years ago. Alvin is a child curious about the outside world, which, according to the earliest histories, was destroyed by the Invaders, leaving only Diaspar. Alvin's desire to see the outside world is considered an eccentricity. When Alvin wanders into a tower to watch a sunset, he finds a rock with the inscription: "There is a better way. Give my greetings to the Keeper of the Records.Alaine of Lyndar".
Alvin takes the message to Rorden, the Keeper of the Records, who has access to "all the knowledge of Humanity." Rorden finds the record of the message but does not believe Alvin is ready to understand it.
Three years later, Rorden discloses that not only has he been waiting for Alvin to age, but he has also been trying to find out how people in the past went outside. He and Alvin find a way out and Alvin finds a city called Lys.
Expecting the city to be abandoned, Alvin is shocked when he finds a thriving place. The inhabitants are different than his own people, living short but full lives. They know about Diaspar but they like their natural setting. Alvin is prevented from going home as the citizens do not want him to reveal Lys to the people of Diaspar. They contact Rorden, who already knew of Lys, and tell him that Alvin will stay three days to allow the council of Lys time to decide his fate.
Alvin makes a friend called Theon, who has a pet giant insect (Krif). While Theon shows Alvin the woods, the boys realize they both know about the legend of Shalmirane, a fortress mentioned in the earliest human history; a fortress which defended against the invaders and signified the end of Man's conquest of space. The boys decide to find the fortress, only a day's travel away. At the fortress they discover a large wall that defended the building survived, though its rocks were destroyed over time. When they venture into the fortress they find an old man with whom they share a meal and a story of his origins; he was a follower of the Master. This Master came from space during the recovery following the invasion, attracting followers with his lost powers and machines. When he was dying, he spoke of the "Great Ones" returning. His followers made this into a religion. The religion has been dying, and the old man is one of the few remaining followers; he also had a few of the Master's machines.
Alvin asks to borrow one of the old man's robots and bring it to Rorden. The boys return to Lys, and Alvin is told to either stay in Lys forever, or return to Diaspar without his memories. Alvin agrees to the mind wipe, but programs the robot to grab him before his mind is wiped and take him to the transit station. He returns home, where he finds Rorden, and they look under the city, where robots are made and repaired by other robots. A repair robot tells them it cannot fix Alvin's robot, but duplicates it. The council questions Alvin and threatens to seal the path to Lys.
Alvin shows Rorden a ship, buried under the sands outside the city, that was the Master's ship. Alvin decides to take the ship and go to Lys to return the robot. He meets Theon and speaks with Lys' Council, and they assume that Diaspar knows about Lys. Lys realizes that through the appearance of the ship, both of their cultures will be forced to interact. Alvin travels to Shalmirane to return the robot, only to find the Old Man dead, with his robots left to forever guard him.
Alvin takes his ship into space, towards an abnormal set of stars. He arrives at the middle star and meets an alien being that is no more than a child but has memories going back further than any human. The alien being, Vanamonde, is convinced that Alvin is the creator it has been waiting for. It follows Alvin home, where people from Lys and Diaspar meet to study it, each using their strengths to learn more about their history. They learn that the history they have known is false. Man only reached Persephone when space came to them, and they found species far greater than Man. They learned from them and decided to grow themselves as humanity before exploring space. They spent half a billion years perfecting the ability to live for infinite amount of time, like Diaspar, with telepathic abilities, like those in Lys. After improving themselves, man tried to create a pure mentality, a being that was free from physical limitations. They succeeded in creating a pure being, but it was insane. The Mentality, called the Mad Mind, almost destroyed the galaxy, and is now locked up, waiting for the time when its bonds break again.
Politics
The book makes a distinction between the city life of Diaspar, and the life in Lys. Diaspar reflects the values of a city, in which technology cares for mundane tasks (robots, streets, food), so people can pursue pleasures such as music and knowledge. The opposite is true in Lys, which has a rural style where everything comes from nature. When Alvin re-introduced the two, they found that one still needed the other, and that their cultures had become stifled. The Council from Diaspar had become old and weary, and did not want to deal with the exuberance of youth, while Lys, feeling that it was young, did not want the city culture to interfere with its natural way of life. When the two cultures met, they found out that that they complemented each other: Diaspar with infinite life and technology, and Lys with quick minds and telepathy.Reception
Groff ConklinGroff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
described the original edition of the novel as "a light, simple, fast-moving and often richly imaginative fantasy." Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
and McComas
J. Francis McComas
Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....
praised "this brief but intense book" as "beautiful," describing it as "poetry and awe and wonder" and characterizing Clarke as "the visionary poet of a future so far distant that its most prosaic science passes our technical understanding." P. Schuyler Miller
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
reported that because the narrative "is so well told, the story becomes convincing, and its magic spreads over the reader as well as the people of the plot."