The City and the Stars. Childhood's End

The collection includes two works by Arthur Clarke: The City and the Stars and Childhood's End. Diaspar – a city of the future, whose inhabitants are protected from the harsh deserts of the dying Earth, are happy and prosperous. They are immortal – and thus do not think about the past or the future. Lish – a valley, also securely protected from the poisonous tentacles of the deserts by high mountains, has become home to entirely different people. Unlike the inhabitants of Diaspar, they are mortal and have not lost their human feelings – of mutual aid, love, unity with nature – yet they often regard outsiders with distrust, being telepaths. And the young man Alwin, who is destined to unite these two very dissimilar cultures… "Childhood's End" is a novel that Arthur Clarke considered one of his greatest successes. The book that inspired the screenwriters of "Independence Day" and "Babylon 5". Gigantic alien ships hover over the world's largest capitals. Representatives of another world – the Overlords – force humans into an agreement: from now on, they will take care of the prosperity of humanity in exchange for a ban on space exploration… What will happen to humanity that has renounced its aspiration to the Cosmos? And – will it be able to do so?