Engagement:
Genre:
Science Fiction
Published:
1953
Page Count:
224
Where to Buy:
Childhood's End
#
Content Ratings
Intense Themes
The revelation of humanity's ultimate destiny—transcendence beyond individual identity and the end of the human species as we know it—creates a sustained and genuinely melancholy meditation on the cost of cosmic evolution.
No Violence
There is no significant violence; the Overlords maintain global peace, and the novel's catastrophic elements are cosmic rather than violent.
Synopsis
Vast alien ships appear over Earth's major cities and the Overlords, immensely powerful but reluctant to show their true forms, usher humanity into a golden age of peace and prosperity, while the deeper purpose of their visit remains mysterious. As decades pass and the truth about the Overlords' mission is revealed, the novel moves toward one of science fiction's most haunting and melancholy conclusions. A profound meditation on humanity's place in a larger cosmic order.