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"The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke
The very first science fiction title ever reviewed here on The Seeds of Books.
Kris Caballero • Dec 10, 2024 • 0 comments • Book Reviews


Where there is fiction, there is science fiction. You're looking at our very first science fiction book review! This is a big deal given that we often, and usually, read non-fiction, but because we had this copy laying around, we took a dive and instantly enjoyed all it offered. Look for more science fiction-related reviews coming in the future!
Author Arthur C. Clarke needs no introduction—being known around the circles as one of the most popular, and talented, science fiction writers there is. Of all titles, why did we start with this book? As a matter of fact, author Dan Gookin who wrote C for Dummies, made a reference to this book as he was providing an exercise writing a program that would generate random five-letter words. Because of that, we went ahead and ventured for that very book, and being sold in a lot of 3, this book was included with it; Mind you, we ordered this back in June 2017. More than seven years later, we finally got around to it and must we say, it was a joy to read!
While the book title may seem it's about the story itself, this is actually a compilation of Clarke's short stories in one volume. This will confuse readers when picking up this title, but overall, the reader will come away with not just one story but very many of them—some being printed in other editions and releases as well. In our case, this entire book and the stories themselves were all new to us, so we went all in with an open mind.
It was a joy to read, from cover to cover. However, we want to take the time to list some of the stories we enjoyed the most:
The Nine Billion Names of God
Let's remind ourselves: This is all science fiction, but to think that there's a possibility that God Almighty may have an actual name really should make one think. It's a story about Tibetan monks collaborating with engineers wanting to use computational hardware to try and decipher God's real name. Not much else, other than the story of the computer engineers themselves discussing and wondering if what they're doing is safe and okay. Why even ask nor wonder such a thing? I, myself, wonder too, if such thing was done in real life (author Clarke stated that IBM was looking to tackle and give such phenomenon a try). After the engineers went back and forth about it, the story ends. We won't spoil and ruin what happened, and will let the reader(s) find out themselves.
Of course, we didn't stop there as we read the entire book and read all the stories in its entirety. Besides that first story, which we truly loved actually, there were a few more that bares discussing as they were also our new favorites:
The Wall of Darkness
This story was quite gripping, wanting to know and find out more about this...wall. Void of any sound, one of the main characters, as a boy, learned about this mysterious wall from his father. As time went on, and the boy growing older, he then ventures in and takes a dive into this wall himself. It turns out that, no, he didn't fall off the cliff or anything having approached it but something strange, geometrically speaking. In short, if you've heard or know about the Möbius Strip, the Klein Bottle, or the Penrose Triangle, this part of the story will twist your mind. Besides that, it was a neat story that piqued our curiosities and kept our attention.
No Morning After
We found this story a bit on the humorous side, but also kind of lacking in depth. Our main character realized that the Sun is rapidly expanding and will consume Earth ending all and everything in its path. However, dismissing it as him hallucinating, he gets a "call" from aliens five hundred light years away telling him that they're able to save him and the rest of humanity. Well, you may as well guess after that.
Having said, yes, this short story was lacking in depth. However, it was fine and still enjoyed the story. Just wish it had a bit more "meat" to it.
This book's compilation of short stories was a treat and author Clarke certainly had some great stories to tell. Granted, some stories were a bit dry and some were acceptable, but it was still fun.
Don't ask us why it took so long for us to venture into the beautiful genre of science fiction, but it's about time. For that, we can't wait to do more exploring.
As for this book, this was a classic and the story about possible names of God was enough for us to grab a copy. Highly recommended!
CONTENTS5/5
COVER5/5
WRITING5/5
PRICE5/5
- Fantastic compilation of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke.
- The short story "The Nine Billion Names of God" was enough for us to pick up this book.
- Marked as the first science fiction book ever reviewed in The Seeds of Book history.
- None.
PROFILE |
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Title | The Nine Billion Names of God - The Best Short Stories of Arthur C. Clarke |
Author(s) | Arthur C. Clarke |
Description | ARTHUR C. CLARKE'S FAVORITE STORIES— THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD—A short term course for computing the way to God. TROUBLE WITH TIME—Martian time proves that crime doesn't pay! NO MORNING AFTER—Drink, drink and be merry, for tomorrow there will be no morning after... THE POSSESSED—Or, why the lemmings drowned. ENCOUNTER AT DAWN—The day the gods came to Earth. THE SENTINAL—The story which inspired 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; when man sets off the galactic burglar alarm, who will answer the call? THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD |
Dedication | To "Mitty" (Captain E.B. Mitford) who encouraged my initial scribbings at Huish's Grammar School, 1930-36, and became my first editor |
ISBN | 0-19-505216-1 |
Book Dimensions | Width: 4.5 (4 ½) |
Height: 7″ | |
Depth: 0.5″ (½ ″) | |
Page Count | 240 |
Contents | Introduction, The Nine Billion Names of God, I Remember Babylon, Trouble with Time, Rescue Party, The Curse, Summertime on Icarus, Dog Star, Hide and Seek, Out of the Sun, The Wall of Darkness, No Morning After, The Possessed, Death and the Senator, Who's There?, Before Eden, Superiority, A Walk in the Dark, The Call of the Stars, The Reluctant Orchid, Encounter at Dawn, "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth . . .", Patent Pending, The Sentinel, Transience, The Star |
Book Design | -- |
Author Photograph | -- |
Published | First Printing, 1974 |
Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. |
Copyright | © 1967 by Arthur C. Clarke; "The Nine Billion Names of God" copyright, 1953, by Ballantine Books, Inc; "I Remember Babylon" copyright 1960 by HMH Publishing Co., Inc.; "Trouble with Time" © 1960 by Davis Publications, Inc. (as "Crime on Mars"); "Rescue Party" copyright 1946 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; "The Curse" copyright 1953 by Star Publications, Inc.; "Summertime on Icarus" copyright 1960 by Condé Nast Publications, Inc. (as "The Hottest Piece of Real Estate in the Solar System"); "Dog Star" copyright 1962 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation (as "Moondog"); "Hide and Seek" copyright 1949 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; "Out of the Sun" copyright 1958 by Arthur C. Clarke; "The Wall of Darkness" copyright 1949, by Fictioneers, Inc. (a subsidiary of Popular Publications, Inc.); "No Morning After" copyright, 1954, by August Derleth; "The Possessed" copyright 1952 by Columbia Publications, Inc.; "Death and the Senator" copyright 1961 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; "Who's There?" copyright 1958 by United Newspapers Magazine Corporation (as "The Haunted Spacesuit"); "Before Eden" copyright 1961 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company; "Superiority" copyright 1951 by Fantasy House, Inc.; "A Walk in the Dark" copyright 1950 by Standard Magazines, Inc.; "The Call of the Stars" copyright 1957 by Royal Publications, Inc.; "The Reluctant Orchid" copyright 1956 by Renown Publishing Co., Inc.; "Encounter at Dawn" copyright 1953 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company (as "Encounter in the Dawn"); "If I Forget Thee Oh Earth . . ." copyright 1951 by Columbia Publications, Inc.; "Patent Pending" copyright 1954 by Popular Publications, Inc.; "The Sentinel" copyright 1951 by Avon Periodicals, Inc.; "Transcience" copyright, 1949, by Better Publications, Inc.; "The Star" copyright, 1955, by Royal Publications. Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information, storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 757 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017. |
Printed in | United States of America |
Book Format | Mass Market Paperback |
Quoted Reviews | PRAISE FOR "The Colossus of Science Fiction" "Arthur Clarke's own favorites among his short stories are the best from the top rank of science fiction. Within the field of science fiction the author has turned his powerful imagination loose on stories of horror, humor, detection, religion, and politics. . . . If you know Clarke's storytelling, you'll want this book; if you want to sample science fiction, start here." — Publishers Weekly "Anyone faintly familiar with the 20th century publishing phenomenon of science fiction knows that Arthur C. Clarke is a household word in his realm." — Library Journal "Science fiction readers are sure to agree that Mr. Clarke's best are among the genre's best. . . . Mr. Clarke provokes his readers to think constructively about man's future, and to be concerned for man to have one. . . ." — Chicago News "Clarke has written over a hundred short stories . . . but these are his twenty-five favorites and they combine to make fine reading. . . . The reader will find much to entertain and challenge." — Virginia Kirkus Service "Some of the best tales in the genre." — August Derleth |
Best Seller's List | -- |
Other | SIGNET TRADEMARK REG. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA HECHO EN CHICAGO, U.S.A. Signet, Signet Classics, Mentor, Plume and Meridian Books are published by The New American Library, Inc., 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10019 NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY PUBLISHES SIGNET, SIGNETTE, MENTOR, CLASSIC, PLUME & NAL BOOKS |
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data |
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CIP Number | 67-16086 |
LC Control Number | -- |
LC Call Number | -- |
DDC Call Number | -- |
Kris Caballero
Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.
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