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  • The City and the Stars

  • By: Arthur C. Clarke
  • Narrated by: Mike Grady
  • Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (761 ratings)
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The City and the Stars cover art

The City and the Stars

By: Arthur C. Clarke
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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Summary

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

What listeners say about The City and the Stars

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • BM
  • 28-11-14

Ahead of its time

What did you like most about The City and the Stars?

An exciting story with a good pace. The main character becomes the hero in bringing about a monumental change on the planet.

What other book might you compare The City and the Stars to, and why?

I suppose it could be compared to an almost Star Trek type of story. Arthur C Clarke seemed to have similar ideas/ beliefs as Gene Roddenberry

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

He manages to bring feelings of excitement or sadness into reality

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it was. I found myself walking around with it all day!

Any additional comments?

Great book, great author and exciting storyline. Arthur C Clarke wrote this in the late 50's I believe and his ideas of the future are extraordinarily accurate!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

sci fi majesty

I can't summarise how incredible this story is.. or even hope to give you an idea of its scope of.. you will just have to listen for yourself. all I'll say is, this is easily one of the best sci fi novels I've ever experienced. and this audiobook version was epic

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A story that raises some interesting ideas

A thought Mike Grady did a great job of narrating this story, he has the perfect voice for audiobooks and I would certainly listen to more of his work.

Arthur C Clarke must have been an incredible man, what a fantastic imagination he must have had to come up with some of the ideas that are in this book. Some of these ideas could become a reality in the near future such as telepathy. An idea Elon Musk has talked about with neural networks.

This book also reaches into our human character of overcoming fear, our curiosity to explore, the dangers of conformity and social conditioning. Arthur C Clarke imagines a city that is so advanced it is run by a central computer and robots and explores the problems of immortality.

I thought the audiobook overall was brilliant, however, in a couple of places I felt the story lost its way, but then somehow managed to recover. I would say it's worth a listen

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A truly fantastic book

I didn't realise when I've started to read this book that it was written by Arthur C Clarke, there were so many twists and turns out was fascinating ... one of the best sci-fi books I have ever read.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the greats

First read this book 40 years ago, it has lost none of its appeal and is as readable today as it was then. possibly my favourite sci fi of all time

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Pity about the Stars

Trying to remember the characters names in the context give was wearisome. The narrator had a monotone voice, ideal for a sleep disorder, sent me straight off.
There are tunnels some with gates then not with gates. Tunnels that lead nowhere. The main character has been made not born, trying to find himself(I think)
Not for me

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning, epic and awe inspiring in its scope.

I read this when I was a teenager in the 80s. although the language now seems dated, the power of this story is still awe inspiring.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A voyager to the inside and outside

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

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Kept my interest after a slow start

Not my favourite Arthur C Clarke novel but some interesting ideas and clearly some inspiration for many other works of other creators of literature and film.
Good to recommend as an introduction to his work and as most that I have read, not inappropriate for a young audience.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Extraordinarily dull.

After about 5 hours I'm giving up. Not one of the greats, a potentially interesting story that is nevertheless so dull I can't go on with it. There is very little other than drudging future 'history' (which I cannot abide) most of the time. Not one for me.

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1 person found this helpful