Three Arthur C. Clarke novels

[nwhyte]

I picked these up as an omnibus dubbed The Space Trilogy, though in fact they are not even slightly linked narratives which take place in different versions of the near future. They are a good reminder of the strengths and also the limitations of the Good Old Days. As I've said before, Clarke was one of my formative influences as a teenager, and it

Comments

[simont]

though in fact they are not even slightly linked narratives which take place in different versions of the near future

Hmmm, do you think so?

I too had read Islands in the Sky as a child but not encountered The Sands of Mars until a few years ago (in fact it sounds as if we found the same omnibus volume). But when I read TSoM, it seemed immediately obvious to me that the two are set in the same universe: when Roy meets the Martian family at the end of IitS, they make mention of the 'Airweed' with which Mars is being terraformed, and the original 'Martian' inhabitants of the planet are shown holding hands with a human, and it seemed clear to me that those Martians and that Airweed were the same ones that formed the key plot point in the middle of TSoM. (The physical description of the Martians matches up, in particular - tiny clawlike hands, large pale eyes, horse-level intelligence.) So although I agree that the plots aren't connected at all, I think the universe is the same, and that IitS takes place some time after the events of

[thnidu]

So add it, to the encyclopedia anyone can edit. I'll advise, if you want.

[nwhyte]

No, I'm fed up with Wikipedians deleting changes I make and removing information I find useful; you can add it if you like, but I am investing my energy elsewhere.

[thnidu]

Islands in the Sky has had its own article since 2006, and been listed in "Arthur C. Clarke Bibliography" since that page was created in 2008. The article on Clarke includes a list of Selected works, with a headnote Main article: Arthur C. Clarke Bibliography.

[nwhyte]

The main Wikipedia entry for Clarke lists 19 novels, and Islands In the Sky is not one of them.

[jeriendhal]

Yeah, The Sands of Mars hit the British Empire vibe pretty hard. Find an indigenous life form and immediately put to work for you...