1. Childhood’s End: No Words to Describe Feraco Myth to Science Fiction 19 January 2012

2. “What has started this thing?” asked George. “And where is it going to lead?” “What has started this thing?” asked George. “And where is it going to lead?” “That is something we cannot answer. But there are many races in the universe, and some of them discovered these powers long before your species – or mine – appeared on the scene. They have been waiting for you to join them, and now the time has come.” “That is something we cannot answer. But there are many races in the universe, and some of them discovered these powers long before your species – or mine – appeared on the scene. They have been waiting for you to join them, and now the time has come.” “Then where do you come into the picture?” “Then where do you come into the picture?” “Probably, like most men, you have always regarded us as your masters. That is not true. We have never been more than guardians, doing a duty imposed upon us from – above. That duty is hard to define: perhaps you can best think of us as midwives attending a difficult birth. We are helping to bring something new and wonderful into being.” “Probably, like most men, you have always regarded us as your masters. That is not true. We have never been more than guardians, doing a duty imposed upon us from – above. That duty is hard to define: perhaps you can best think of us as midwives attending a difficult birth. We are helping to bring something new and wonderful into being.” Rashaverak hesitated: for a moment it almost seemed as if he was at a loss for words. Rashaverak hesitated: for a moment it almost seemed as if he was at a loss for words. “Yes, we are the midwives. But we ourselves are barren.” “Yes, we are the midwives. But we ourselves are barren.”

3. In the “Copywriter’s Notice” that precedes the story, Clarke writes that “the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author.” In the “Copywriter’s Notice” that precedes the story, Clarke writes that “the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author.” What may strike you as an odd, almost Swiftian statement at the beginning of the book becomes all too clear by its end. What may strike you as an odd, almost Swiftian statement at the beginning of the book becomes all too clear by its end. Clarke wasn’t necessarily a Utopian, but he held a great deal of hope for humanity’s future. Clarke wasn’t necessarily a Utopian, but he held a great deal of hope for humanity’s future. To write a story like this, then – with the simultaneous fulfillment and destruction of everything our forefathers could have dreamed – takes a perverse sort of ability to disconnect oneself from one’s true hopes. To write a story like this, then – with the simultaneous fulfillment and destruction of everything our forefathers could have dreamed – takes a perverse sort of ability to disconnect oneself from one’s true hopes.

4. By the time we begin to leave the Golden Age behind, Jan has already successfully stowed away aboard the Overlords’ ship, ensconced in the “air-conditioned coffin” nestled within the artificial whale being sent back to their planet. By the time we begin to leave the Golden Age behind, Jan has already successfully stowed away aboard the Overlords’ ship, ensconced in the “air-conditioned coffin” nestled within the artificial whale being sent back to their planet. When Karellen inspects the whale, Sullivan is nervous; whether Karellen knows what Jan is up to and allows it to happen (a la Stormgren’s attempts at discovery in the book’s beginning) or simply misses it during his inspection of an unfamiliar beast (he comments that his world, being ocean-less, has no creatures of such immense size) Clarke leaves intentionally ambiguous. When Karellen inspects the whale, Sullivan is nervous; whether Karellen knows what Jan is up to and allows it to happen (a la Stormgren’s attempts at discovery in the book’s beginning) or simply misses it during his inspection of an unfamiliar beast (he comments that his world, being ocean-less, has no creatures of such immense size) Clarke leaves intentionally ambiguous. Once Jan is gone, however, Karellen gives a speech to a group of reporters (and, by extension, the rest of the world) that brutally trivializes ambitions such as the ones the escaped “engineering student” held. Once Jan is gone, however, Karellen gives a speech to a group of reporters (and, by extension, the rest of the world) that brutally trivializes ambitions such as the ones the escaped “engineering student” held.

5. Your race had shown a notable incapacity for dealing with the problems of its own rather small planet. When we arrived, you were on the point of destroying yourselves with the powers that science had rashly given you. Without our intervention, the Earth today would have been a radioactive wilderness. Your race had shown a notable incapacity for dealing with the problems of its own rather small planet. When we arrived, you were on the point of destroying yourselves with the powers that science had rashly given you. Without our intervention, the Earth today would have been a radioactive wilderness. Now you have a world at peace, and a united race. Soon you will be sufficiently civilized to run your planet without our assistance. Perhaps you could eventually handle the problems of an entire solar system – say fifty moons and planets…But in this galaxy of ours, there are eighty-seven thousand million suns. Even that figure gives only a faint idea of the immensity of space. In challenging it, you would be like ants attempting to label and classify all the grains of sand in all the deserts of the world. Now you have a world at peace, and a united race. Soon you will be sufficiently civilized to run your planet without our assistance. Perhaps you could eventually handle the problems of an entire solar system – say fifty moons and planets…But in this galaxy of ours, there are eighty-seven thousand million suns. Even that figure gives only a faint idea of the immensity of space. In challenging it, you would be like ants attempting to label and classify all the grains of sand in all the deserts of the world. Your race, in its present state of evolution, cannot face that stupendous challenge. One of my duties has been to protect you from the powers and forces that lie among the stars – forces beyond anything that you can ever imagine. Your race, in its present state of evolution, cannot face that stupendous challenge. One of my duties has been to protect you from the powers and forces that lie among the stars – forces beyond anything that you can ever imagine. It is a bitter thought, but you must face it. It is a bitter thought, but you must face it. The planets you may one day possess. The planets you may one day possess. But the stars are not for man. But the stars are not for man.

6. The operative phrase buried within all of that, of course, is “in its present state of evolution.” The operative phrase buried within all of that, of course, is “in its present state of evolution.” For therein lies the heart of the whole matter. For therein lies the heart of the whole matter. Without the Overlords, we’d developed just a bit too far for our own good: our technological prowess outstripped our ability to harness such powers safely. Without the Overlords, we’d developed just a bit too far for our own good: our technological prowess outstripped our ability to harness such powers safely. With their help, we refrained from self- conclusion. With their help, we refrained from self- conclusion. We became something better, even if it took crushing the ambitions of the more hopeful and starry-eyed among us. We became something better, even if it took crushing the ambitions of the more hopeful and starry-eyed among us. As Karellen notes, “for a lifetime, mankind had achieved as much happiness as any race can ever know. It had been the Golden Age. As Karellen notes, “for a lifetime, mankind had achieved as much happiness as any race can ever know. It had been the Golden Age.  “But gold was also the color of sunset, of autumn: and only Karellen’s ears could catch the first wailings of the winter storms. And only Karellen knew with what inexorable swiftness the Golden Age was rushing to its close.”

7. The final part of Childhood’s End, “The Last Generation,” knocks down the various pins the first two acts left in place. The final part of Childhood’s End, “The Last Generation,” knocks down the various pins the first two acts left in place. We see the Greggsons, now married, move to a breakaway colony out in the islands called New Athens, quietly adjust to their new lives, and narrowly avert tragedy when Jeff, their oldest child and only son, survives a tsunami under mysterious circumstances. We see the Greggsons, now married, move to a breakaway colony out in the islands called New Athens, quietly adjust to their new lives, and narrowly avert tragedy when Jeff, their oldest child and only son, survives a tsunami under mysterious circumstances. We see Jan arrive at the homeworld of the Overlords. We see Jan arrive at the homeworld of the Overlords. And as the two disparate threads collide and intertwine, we learn just why the first section of the book is so important. And as the two disparate threads collide and intertwine, we learn just why the first section of the book is so important.

8. Jeff survives the tsunami because a voice – an Overlord’s voice – speaks to him telepathically, urging him to run; when he’s trapped in front of a giant rock, he’s ordered to close his eyes, and the rock’s been melted away when he opens them. Jeff survives the tsunami because a voice – an Overlord’s voice – speaks to him telepathically, urging him to run; when he’s trapped in front of a giant rock, he’s ordered to close his eyes, and the rock’s been melted away when he opens them. George, a man of decent intelligence for all his other faults, makes the connection between the Overlords’ interest in protecting Jeff and Jean’s “performance” in the séance sequence; he just doesn’t understand why that connection exists. George, a man of decent intelligence for all his other faults, makes the connection between the Overlords’ interest in protecting Jeff and Jean’s “performance” in the séance sequence; he just doesn’t understand why that connection exists. He worries about his son, but the boy seems normal, and nobody else’s tests or observations seem to indicate anything contrary to that initial conclusion. He worries about his son, but the boy seems normal, and nobody else’s tests or observations seem to indicate anything contrary to that initial conclusion.

9. Six weeks later, however, Jeff begins dreaming of things that he shouldn’t be able to dream about – seeing real worlds orbiting distant stars, places humanity has absolutely no knowledge of and forms of life even Clarke can’t fully explain. Six weeks later, however, Jeff begins dreaming of things that he shouldn’t be able to dream about – seeing real worlds orbiting distant stars, places humanity has absolutely no knowledge of and forms of life even Clarke can’t fully explain. The Overlords’ reports to one another, threaded with increasing frequency through the main narrative of the story, grow at once more urgent and more portentous. The Overlords’ reports to one another, threaded with increasing frequency through the main narrative of the story, grow at once more urgent and more portentous. They marvel at the things Jeff’s accessing, and as they talk we begin to realize that Jeff, for some reason, isn’t like us anymore. They marvel at the things Jeff’s accessing, and as they talk we begin to realize that Jeff, for some reason, isn’t like us anymore. Neither, as it turns out, is his little sister. Neither, as it turns out, is his little sister. In a scene of unbelievable creepiness (if for no other reason than the tone of it is so dry), Jean hears her daughter’s favorite rattle shaking with a weirdly rhythmic beating. In a scene of unbelievable creepiness (if for no other reason than the tone of it is so dry), Jean hears her daughter’s favorite rattle shaking with a weirdly rhythmic beating. When she goes to check on it, she finds the rattle shaking two feet away from her daughter, who lies with closed eyes and a smile on her face as she bends the world around her with her mind. When she goes to check on it, she finds the rattle shaking two feet away from her daughter, who lies with closed eyes and a smile on her face as she bends the world around her with her mind. As Rashaverak tells George afterward, it’s good that neither parent touches the rattle – not that they could have moved it, but they might have disturbed or upset their daughter, and there’s no telling what she would have done if that were to happen. As Rashaverak tells George afterward, it’s good that neither parent touches the rattle – not that they could have moved it, but they might have disturbed or upset their daughter, and there’s no telling what she would have done if that were to happen.

10. It’s a truly weird sensation that Clarke captures – the feeling that someone you’ve known as well as anyone can has just changed into something weird and alien and uncontrollable. It’s a truly weird sensation that Clarke captures – the feeling that someone you’ve known as well as anyone can has just changed into something weird and alien and uncontrollable. But that’s much the same as human childhood, as anyone who’s ever raised a nice kid who turns into a surly teenager can attest. But that’s much the same as human childhood, as anyone who’s ever raised a nice kid who turns into a surly teenager can attest. The book functions as a metaphor for that parenting process – raising something, then enduring its departure once it surpasses you – on a number of different levels, not just through the Greggsons, but through the Overlords as well. The book functions as a metaphor for that parenting process – raising something, then enduring its departure once it surpasses you – on a number of different levels, not just through the Greggsons, but through the Overlords as well.

11. As more and more children begin to turn into whatever it is that Jeff and Jennifer are becoming, “the end of civilization” arrives. As more and more children begin to turn into whatever it is that Jeff and Jennifer are becoming, “the end of civilization” arrives. “In the space of a few days, humanity had lost its future, for the heart of any race is destroyed, and its will to survive is utterly broken, when its children are taken from it. There was no panic, as there would have been a century before. The world was numbered, the great cities stilled and silent. Only the vital industries continued to function. It was as though the planet was in mourning, lamenting all that now could never be.” “In the space of a few days, humanity had lost its future, for the heart of any race is destroyed, and its will to survive is utterly broken, when its children are taken from it. There was no panic, as there would have been a century before. The world was numbered, the great cities stilled and silent. Only the vital industries continued to function. It was as though the planet was in mourning, lamenting all that now could never be.”

12. But when Karellen speaks to us for the last time, we begin to understand the true nature of the Overlords’ sorrow – their inescapable duties, their role in our development, and their own inescapable place in the universe. But when Karellen speaks to us for the last time, we begin to understand the true nature of the Overlords’ sorrow – their inescapable duties, their role in our development, and their own inescapable place in the universe. In a supremely ironic narrative stroke, Clarke pulls back the curtain to reveal that it is the Overlords, not we, whose potential seems to be limited by a force greater than themselves. In a supremely ironic narrative stroke, Clarke pulls back the curtain to reveal that it is the Overlords, not we, whose potential seems to be limited by a force greater than themselves. When they came to us, we could still believe in gods, still create works of art, still explore without a jaundiced eye; they couldn’t. When they came to us, we could still believe in gods, still create works of art, still explore without a jaundiced eye; they couldn’t. They are, in George Greggson’s words, trapped in an evolutionary cul-de-sac, with no future of their own; they live to serve a mysterious force called the Overmind, the thing which all great races eventually merge with…only the Overlords themselves have been denied entrance. They are, in George Greggson’s words, trapped in an evolutionary cul-de-sac, with no future of their own; they live to serve a mysterious force called the Overmind, the thing which all great races eventually merge with…only the Overlords themselves have been denied entrance. Clarke doesn’t really try to hide it – Karellen virtually says as much repeatedly during “Earth and the Overlords” – but we don’t suspect it because, to us, it makes no sense: that the Overlords, seemingly magical for all their technological savvy, are merely galactic midwives trying to prevent breach births and maternal deaths. Clarke doesn’t really try to hide it – Karellen virtually says as much repeatedly during “Earth and the Overlords” – but we don’t suspect it because, to us, it makes no sense: that the Overlords, seemingly magical for all their technological savvy, are merely galactic midwives trying to prevent breach births and maternal deaths. When he ends with “We shall always envy you,” it’s the most powerful moment in the entire story – and we feel pity for those whose power we once resented. When he ends with “We shall always envy you,” it’s the most powerful moment in the entire story – and we feel pity for those whose power we once resented.

13. When Jan reaches the Overlords’ world, he sees things that Clarke finds difficult to accurately depict with mere words. When Jan reaches the Overlords’ world, he sees things that Clarke finds difficult to accurately depict with mere words. He does a non-flashy but highly effective job of trying to describe the indescribable, including the Overmind’s bizarre avatar. He does a non-flashy but highly effective job of trying to describe the indescribable, including the Overmind’s bizarre avatar. One of my favorite moments is when Vindarten doesn’t just push Jan’s camera down while he tries to photograph it, but asks him repeatedly to describe exactly what he saw. One of my favorite moments is when Vindarten doesn’t just push Jan’s camera down while he tries to photograph it, but asks him repeatedly to describe exactly what he saw. In that moment, Jan realizes he sees something that Vindarten doesn’t and he realizes that the Overlords have masters as well. In that moment, Jan realizes he sees something that Vindarten doesn’t and he realizes that the Overlords have masters as well. He returns to Earth, speaks with Karellen about what he sees, watches the children begin bizarrely reshaping the world…and plays a piano in lonely fashion, the Last Man among us all. He returns to Earth, speaks with Karellen about what he sees, watches the children begin bizarrely reshaping the world…and plays a piano in lonely fashion, the Last Man among us all. When the children take to the sky, destroying our world in their wake, it’s a simultaneously horrifying and beautiful image: mankind achieves his potential and takes his place in the universe. When the children take to the sky, destroying our world in their wake, it’s a simultaneously horrifying and beautiful image: mankind achieves his potential and takes his place in the universe. It just takes leaving mankind behind to do it. It just takes leaving mankind behind to do it. And one wonders, in the end, whether it’s worth losing all of that. And one wonders, in the end, whether it’s worth losing all of that.

14. But then we see the Overlords, forever denied that same place, forever left behind – the barren midwives of the universe, masters of logic but lost all the same. But then we see the Overlords, forever denied that same place, forever left behind – the barren midwives of the universe, masters of logic but lost all the same. And we realize that staying here forever may be a worse fate than leaving it all behind – that being born again is perhaps preferable to waiting for the end. And we realize that staying here forever may be a worse fate than leaving it all behind – that being born again is perhaps preferable to waiting for the end.

15. Just as G.K. Chesterton’s quote reminds us that the love that endures is really just the love that renews as it changes shape – that you don’t fall in love once, but over and over again – Clarke reminds us that you’re not born only once either. Just as G.K. Chesterton’s quote reminds us that the love that endures is really just the love that renews as it changes shape – that you don’t fall in love once, but over and over again – Clarke reminds us that you’re not born only once either. From the moment you entered this world, we’ve been preparing you to join us in it – your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, coaches, priests, and, yes, teachers. From the moment you entered this world, we’ve been preparing you to join us in it – your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, coaches, priests, and, yes, teachers. Childhood is a special time because, in many ways, it doesn’t really mirror life. Childhood is a special time because, in many ways, it doesn’t really mirror life. You don’t have many responsibilities, you’re blissfully unaware of the stuff you can’t do yet, and you spend most of your time imagining or exploring things. You don’t have many responsibilities, you’re blissfully unaware of the stuff you can’t do yet, and you spend most of your time imagining or exploring things. When you have questions, you just assume somebody knows the answer – with that somebody specifically being the one who’s raising you. When you have questions, you just assume somebody knows the answer – with that somebody specifically being the one who’s raising you. The things that make up adult human existence – job duties, providing for a family, managing the health of one’s body as it declines instead of grows – are as alien to a little kid as the life of a honey badger. The things that make up adult human existence – job duties, providing for a family, managing the health of one’s body as it declines instead of grows – are as alien to a little kid as the life of a honey badger.

16. Childhood’s end always requires some form of collateral damage. Childhood’s end always requires some form of collateral damage. In the novel, the children take over a continent as they continue shifting into something else, then destroy all life on it, then consume the entire world as they go, using it to fuel their travels to better places. In the novel, the children take over a continent as they continue shifting into something else, then destroy all life on it, then consume the entire world as they go, using it to fuel their travels to better places. And most of you will consume your parents’ worlds when you go – not just because you’ll drain them of material resources (money, goods, etc.), but because you change the identities they’ve spent the past two decades crafting irreversibly. And most of you will consume your parents’ worlds when you go – not just because you’ll drain them of material resources (money, goods, etc.), but because you change the identities they’ve spent the past two decades crafting irreversibly. Even if you end up living with them after you graduate, you will never look at them again the way you looked at them when you were little, when they meant more to you than your undeveloped vocabularies could express – when, indeed, you had no words to describe what you felt for them, and they for you. Even if you end up living with them after you graduate, you will never look at them again the way you looked at them when you were little, when they meant more to you than your undeveloped vocabularies could express – when, indeed, you had no words to describe what you felt for them, and they for you.

17. And you will still love them, but you leave them, and shatter their worlds as you go, harnessing that wreckage for your own needs as you propel yourselves outwards to greater heights, to learn with and from people who are smarter than them, or more influential, or more ambitious. And you will still love them, but you leave them, and shatter their worlds as you go, harnessing that wreckage for your own needs as you propel yourselves outwards to greater heights, to learn with and from people who are smarter than them, or more influential, or more ambitious. You will go to a better place, one where they cannot join you, and leave them at this point in space and time forever. You will go to a better place, one where they cannot join you, and leave them at this point in space and time forever. Compared to your future, the futures of the adults who raised you, nurtured you, cared for you, and cared about you…they’re barren too. Compared to your future, the futures of the adults who raised you, nurtured you, cared for you, and cared about you…they’re barren too. Our purposes changed when you entered our orbits; your well-being is our greatest accomplishment. Our purposes changed when you entered our orbits; your well-being is our greatest accomplishment. Gilgamesh argued that our lives take on meaning through the things we build. When you stand in front of that crowd of ten thousand cheering people at the race track in less than six months, clad in gowns and mortarboards with your tassels still turned to the wrong side, perhaps you’ll understand why. When you stand in front of that crowd of ten thousand cheering people at the race track in less than six months, clad in gowns and mortarboards with your tassels still turned to the wrong side, perhaps you’ll understand why. And perhaps you’ll finally understand what you truly meant to us – the ones you’ll leave behind, the ones who will always envy you. And perhaps you’ll finally understand what you truly meant to us – the ones you’ll leave behind, the ones who will always envy you.