The City and the Stars

The City and the Stars is a novel by Arthur Clarke, published in 1956, and based on the author's first novel, Against the Fall of Night.

The story takes place a billion years into the future, in the last remaining city of Earth, Diaspar. Diaspar is a huge and magnificent city, fully automated and self-sufficient, whose residents are free to occupy themselves with whatever they please. In addition, it is the only place of the planet not turned into desert after hundreds of millions of years of geological evolution. The city's population is stable in a very unique way – people's personalities are stored in the city's central computer, which at random intervals regenerates them, so as to continue their lives for a few centuries, and then again return to storage for a few more millennia.

The novel follows the life of Alvin, an extremely rare case in the history of the city. He is one of very few people that have ever exited the computer's memory to live for the very first time. In addition, he is possessed by an insatiable curiosity, and he is determined to find out what is outside the city walls, even though all his friends tell him that he seeks something that does not exist. Undeterred, he will continue his search, to discover the truth about humanity's past, present and future.

An interesting novel that manages to remain fresh despite its age, with the classic grand visions of the author, but a somewhat weak ending.

7/10