Childhood's End

One of the classic books of our childhood has finally been made into a miniseries (6 hours/3 parts starting on Monday on SyFy). Reviews are pretty good. Who are we as a species without our conflicts?

Quote: Pacomartin

One of the classic books of our childhood has finally been made into a miniseries (6 hours/3 parts starting on Monday on SyFy). Reviews are pretty good. Who are we as a species without our conflicts?

How do you stretch half a book for 6 whole hours?

Come on. Once we see what the alien looks like, the story's over.

Quote: Nareed

How do you stretch half a book for 6 whole hours? Come on. Once we see what the alien looks like, the story's over.

No spoilers please. Some people haven't read the book.

Ray Bradbury's short story, "Zero Hour", from The Illustrated Man is only a few pages long, and Disney stretched it to 13 one hour episodes, and it was still open ended (but the series was cancelled).

But the "big reveal" in C-E has less effect on an audience than it did 60 years ago. People are a lot more jaded. It could explain why such a widely read book has not been filmed for over 60 years.

Quote: Pacomartin

People are a lot more jaded. It could explain why such a widely read book has not been filmed for over 60 years.

Because it's half a book.

Clarke wrote some good novels, but CE and 2001 aren't among them.

You know what would be a good basis for a film? "The City and The Stars."

I didn't like CE and don't see how it can
be made into a successful show. The
story has been done many times in different
forms, and I found this one to be depressing.
Also a lot of time goes by in the book,
how will they handle that.

Quote: Pacomartin

One of the classic books of our childhood has finally been made into a miniseries

Do you mean Scarnes on Dice or something by Thorpe? The South Sea Bubble Story.

Quote: Evenbob

Also a lot of time goes by in the book, how will they handle that.

I've forgotten the details of the book since I read it about 40 years ago. I am trying not to read a synopsis. I do remember there was a passage of time in at least decades, but I have forgotten exactly how long. I also forgot the ending, as all I remember was the "big reveal".

Looks slow paced and wordy, low production
budget. I'll see the first one I guess, I bet I
don't last all the way thru it.

No spoilers? Hah! I went to wikipedia to get a synopsis.

I liked a recent scifi miniseries, Ascension. I'll probably watch this one, too, once it is released to netflix or hulu.

For a book I didn't like and haven't re-read since the late 80s, I recall an awful lot of it.

Clarke, IMO, was at his best, as regards novels, with "The Fountains of Paradise."

I maintain he inserted the largely unrelated, yet riveting, story of the alien probe fly-by only so he could put in a killer line at the very end.