MY FAVORITE SCI-FI CHARACTERS: PART 19 ALVIN No, not the chipmunk. Alvin is the hero of Arthur C. Clarkes seminal masterpiece Against the Fall of Night and The City and the Stars. He might also be in the short story The Lion of Comarre, but Im not sure about that. Anyway, Alvin is the spirit inside every explorer whos locked in a world of non-explorers. How I identify with him. Against the Fall of Night and The City and the Stars are set hundreds of millions of years in the future in the domed city of Diaspar. Nothing has changed in millennia, ever since the Invaders drove humans back from their interstellar empire to hide in the isolated cities of the dying Earth. Diaspar is a technological wonderland where anyone can do anything, have anything, live any experience, and even live forever. But thats not enough for Alvin. He seeks to break out and explore the world outside. Its a story of surprises, as are many of Clarkes books, but lets just say Alvin succeeds in breaking out of Diaspar and embarks on an astonishing journey of discovery in which he learns that the world is not what he was taught. Its one of the definitive science fiction novels, and Alvin one of the most unforgettable and archetypical characters in science fiction.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 12:24:39 +0000
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