Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

“If your kid has weird dreams, Earth will likely end”

Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

The story follows the final days of humankind (as we know it), and builds to a thought-provoking and somewhat distressing climax, but with an underlying hope that maybe there is something else out there for us in the universe. Naturally it isn't a smooth ride for mankind. This book has become a fully-deserving classic of its genre, - it is worth reading just for the sheer intelligence of the writing alone, even if you're not a sci-fi fan. The writing, the ideas of “the other” and the descriptions of man’s “coming to terms” with aliens makes for a super interesting read.

Also to give this book it's due, it was written in 1953, and holds up astonishingly well considering. I had to remind myself how long ago it was written and how the world seemed almost like it is today, apart from a few obvious technological “facts.”

The end is a bit weird, and certainly unexpected, but overall, fitting for all the characters that are there in the end.

Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

“A story of aliens, space, and adventure, featuring no aliens”

Overview: Rendezvous with Rama is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973. Set in the 2130s, the story is about a 50-by-20-kilometer cylindrical alien starship that enters the Solar System and the team of explorers who are sent to explore it. 

Clarke does a great job with the scientific tone and meticulous details that slowly build the reader's anticipation that something very big is going to happen when humans land on and make their way into the craft. Gripping is the best way to describe it. 

I fucking loved this book. This is a bit more sci-fi than I tend to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It’s one of those books that you can just visualize in your head without even realizing that you’re reading. 

Rama is very well written and although the characters are not the most complex I have ever encountered, they make very logical decisions and do not stray from their character. The real beauty in the story is the gradual unraveling of the secrets hidden within Rama as well as its strong grounding in real-world scientific principles as well as what might realistically be possible with sufficiently advanced engineering.

Overall, Rama is straightforward, clean, technical without being too much so, well written and a good story with an intriguing premise.