Welcome to the second installment of Dust Jacket, Nerd Culture Podcast’s fortnightly review of the greatest Sci-Fi novels of all time. I’m joined by Luke Walker, NCP regular and world’s harshest critic.
This week, we’re turning our eye to Arthur C. Clarke’s 1956 classic The City and the Stars.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Diaspar is the final refuge of mankind, a sprawling cityscape protecting its inhabitants from the ravaged earth that lies beyond its protective dome. In this seemingly Utopian world, there is no poverty, no disease, no strife. The city is run by an artificial intelligence known as the Central Computer, allowing the citizens of Diaspar dedicate their long lives to art and creativity.
The Diasparans are essentially immortal. They live for thousands of years, never aging or dying. When they grow tired of life, their consciousness is absorbed into a vast memory bank, where it is stored for centuries, until it is reborn in fully grown bodies created by matter replicators.
Despite this seeming utopia, Diaspar is culturally stagnant. The city has remained the same for countless millennia.
Our protagonist is Alvin, an anomaly in this seemingly perfect world. He lives in a culture that can easily tend to his every need, yet remains discontent. He feels trapped within his utopian society and longs to explore the world beyond Diaspar.
Escaping the confines of the city, he begins to unlock the mysteries of his world and discover the secret billion year history of humanity. Along the way, he discovers new cities, ventures into space, and meets whole new life forms.