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The City and the Stars

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The City and the Stars

By: Arthur C. Clarke
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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About this listen

Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar; for millennia its protective dome shut out the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it ruled the stars. But then, as legend had it, the Invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man, a Unique, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders.

©1956 Arthur C. Clarke (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Thought-Provoking

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I first read this 40 years ago. And again and again. Whilst it's probably 30 years since I last read it and the format is Audible the story and it's themes remain captivating and it has lost none of its appeal.

In my opinion a masterpiece.

Probably Clarke's best novel

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Really good book by Arthur C. Clarke.

This novel is based in the far far future of what is left of the human race. The story of Alvin and the complex patterns of the city is really well written and amazing. He along will change the fate of humankind

Really enjoyed it!

A very good reading/listening

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Realised about 10 minutes in that this was a book I had read many, many years ago. Great to revisit it as had forgotten the storyline other than the basics. It's of its time but still an interesting listen.

Old forgotten read revisited

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brilliant. philosophical. hard to comprehend. do read. ttttttttttm rtrrþg hjiib hinged jhgf gi64r

brilliant

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I loved it from start to finish. Great narration and a captivating story that was ahead of its time.

fantastic

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This is a simply wonderful story—an exploration of human nature, time and space. Despite the book’s great age, the prophetic visionary skills of Arthur C Clarke are prodigious. Though even he, I would guess, would remark on just how quickly we would achieve some of his visions—in 70 rather than 1000 million years!

Wonderful narration in a quintessential English accent one would demand of any novel written by this master of sci-fi

A voyager to the inside and outside

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The narrator was excellent. Very suitable for telling an engaging story of humanity and lessons learnt in the future. From his descriptions you can easily visualise the world and space.

A great story

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I am surprised by some of the negative reviews of this book, because it is surely one of the very best in the canon of ‘classic’ science fiction. Like a few other reviewers, I first read the book in the early 1960s and was quite overcome with the breadth of ACC’s imagination. It is true that he is not great on characterization and that really jars in some of his other books, but here the story speaks for itself. I have listened to The City and the Stars on Audible three or four times now and even though I am quite familiar with the story, it still gives me goosebumps.

Classic Sci Fi

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I’ve read this book several times over the years and loved it every time. The narration style in this audio book almost murdered this book. The pauses where there shouldn’t be any, the poor reading, the sentences that are disjointed or don’t flow and this child like grandfatherly voice was just awful.

While this narrator might be good for children’s books being read by children for children it completely ruins this stellar book.

Terrible narration for a magnificent story

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If you could sum up The City and the Stars in three words, what would they be?

Imaginative, enjoyable escapism


What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

As the story is set way into the future anything is possible, and it's an entertaining tale. However, it lacks the slickness and humour of Arthur C. Clarke's short stories. This book seems to be aimed at a slightly younger reader/audience, but worth listening to.

What does Mike Grady bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Mike Grady is one of the best audiobook narrators going. He speaks in a measured voice, so no problem understanding every word and he has the marvellous gift of having a different voice for each character, so no confusion as to which person is speaking. If I'd been reading the book it would have had much less depth.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really, it's not that sort of book.

Any additional comments?

In spite of what I said earlier, it's easy to listen to, and nothing actually wrong with it, but just falls short of what I'd expect from Arthur C Clarke. But if you like science fiction this could be worth having in your library.

Enjoyable..........but!

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