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Rating: 
Summary: I really liked this one
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Sometimes you just feel like reading little gems of science fiction instead of plowing through large tomes. This collection did exactly that. Along with Asimov, Clarke is my favorite sci-fi author, and both are good at the short story. My favorite story had to be 'Hide and Seek' in this collection.
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Summary: classic bread-and-butter sci fi from the master
Review: One of his best collections of short stories, it includes The Sentinel, the story that inspired 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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Summary: Great Collection of Short Stories
Review: There are 11 short stories in this collection and all of them are truly exceptional but 3 really stand out. The first of course is "Sentinel" which is the basis for the movie and eventually the book, "2001" "Breaking Strain" is a great book discussing the moral implications of two men trapped alone in a space ship when it is quite obvious that if there was only one of them they could survive. With interesting commentary on how people live under pressure and what actions they take, this is an exceptional piece of work. But my favorite is probably "Second Dawn" this story discusses what happens to a group of aliens without hands but with enormous mental powers when they encounter a group of aliens with hands. The interaction of the civilizations and cultures is well described, and though I think Clarke may be taking too friendly an approach to such a meeting it would be nice if all civilizational clashes resolved this way. Overall this book shows that once again Clarke has proven himself a master of the science fiction genre. Though it should be warned that Clarke's writing style is very "hard" in other words he definitely emphasizes technological capability over character development. That being said I think this collections contains some of his best character sketches yet.
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Summary: Several Great Stories
Review: This book shows why Arthur C. Clarke is a great writer. As the quotation on the front of the book so aptly puts it "In his fiction he thinks at once like a poet and like an engineer-and writes, at his best, like an angel". Indeed. Of the stories in this collection, several stand out. Superiority was issued as required reading at MIT's Engineering courses after publication. "If I Forget Thee On Earth..." is a nice short piece that is in Freshman Literature books. The Sentinel, was, of course, the "inspiration" for 2001. Second Dawn and Exile of the Eons are two other good stories in here. But my personal favorite from this collection is History Lesson, a seemingly very serious story with a last sentence that will have you howling with laughter. Typical Clarke wit. This is a nice book for the ACC fan.
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Summary: A good Clarke book!
Review: This collection of 11 short stories gather Clarke's best talents in story telling and originality, accompanied by a unrivaled poetry.
Most of the stories are very character oriented (which I particularly like) while science plays a very secondary role.They are definitely dated though and you have to keep that in mind while reading them. It's obvious that many of these stories were sparked by the dropping of the atomic bomb and its ensuing consequences. Clarke explores the problems and consequences of a discovery that could mean the end of civilization, also showing sapient life's arrogance against nature. A very enjoyable book, which includes The Sentinel (that's the basis of 2001 Space Odyssey).
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Summary: Disappointing first effort
Review: This is the first Arthur C. Clarke book I've read, and I was disappointed. Clarke writes traditional "hard" science fiction and, sadly, the science aspects of his work outweighed the narrative and emotional aspects. I just did not find these stories very imaginative ("Second Dawn" would have been very good except for the melodramatic warning against atomic bombs at the end). Even when viewed in historical perspective, this collection of stories does not compare with Clarke's contemporaries, such as Asimov or Niven. The only real gem was "The Sentinel", which served as the inspriration for the movie (and novel) 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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