Against the Fall of Night (1953)

Against the Fall of Night is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. Originally appearing as a novella in the November 1948 issue of the magazine Startling Stories, it was revised and expanded in 1951 and published in book form in 1953 by Gnome Press. It was later expanded and revised again and published in 1956 as The City and the Stars. A later edition includes another of Clarke's early works and is titled The Lion of Comarre and Against the Fall of Night. In 1990, with Clarke's approval, Gregory Benford wrote a sequel titled Beyond the Fall of Night, which continues the story arc of the 1953 novel. It is generally printed with the original novel as a single volume.

The title is from the poem "Smooth Between Sea and Land" by A. E. Housman, published in More Poems. Clarke explains: "I was also to discover the lines of A. E. Housman that not only described the locale perfectly, but also gave me the title of my first novel: 'Here on the level sand, between the sea and land, what shall I build or write against the fall of night?'".

Comparison with The City and the Stars

The City and the Stars is a complete rewrite of Against the Fall of Night, carrying over the main settings and characters from the earlier novel.

Plot summary

Diaspar is the last human city, hundreds of millions of years old. Alvin, born seventeen years ago, is the first child to be born in 7,000 years and lives among ancient immortals with unchanging lives. The Earth he knows lies in ruin, a vast desert, after a cataclysmic war with the Invaders millions of years ago confined mankind to the planet. He is fascinated by the world and its history, which his tutor Jeserac finds disturbing, the fear of doing anything that might trigger a return of the Invaders remains palpable. Bored, Alvin explores the empty sections of the city, and on one such trip, finds stairs leading to the desert outside. He begins to walk down them but is stopped by a large stone inscribed with the words "There is a better way. Give my greetings to the Keeper of the Records. - Alaine of Lyndar".

Alvin takes the message to Rorden, the current Keeper of the Records, who has access to "all the knowledge of Humanity" in the city's databases. Rorden finds a message from Alaine but it simply states there are three ways to leave. Three years later, Rorden tells Alvin that he has deciphered Alaine's message, and takes him to a park in the center of Diaspar. There lies a monument to Yarlan Zey, designer of the park, which Rorden realizes was built to conceal some sort of transport. Rorden triggers a hidden elevator that takes them to an underground train station. A large map on the floor shows Diaspar as a brightly lit dot among many dimmed destinations, but one other dot remains lit, "Lys".

After three days of preparation, Alvin steps into a waiting train car. Expecting an abandoned city, Alvin is shocked when he finds a thriving garden-like environment including a lake. He is taken to meet Seranis, leader of the local town of Airlee. She explains that Diaspar and Lys are two extremes of civilization, the ultimate end of those who preferred city or country. The inhabitants of Lys are different from his own people, living short but full lives and having telepathic abilities. Alvin is prevented from going home as the citizens do not want him to reveal Lys to the people of Diaspar. They contact Rorden and tell him that Alvin will stay five days to allow the council of Lys time to decide his fate.

Alvin befriends Theon, Seranis' son, who takes Alvin camping. That night they see a bright light that Theon realizes comes from the ancient fortress of Shalmirane. Even Alvin has heard of Shalmirane; it is where mankind made its last stand against the Invaders. They decide to continue their hike and visit the fortress. At Shalmirane they find an old man who tells them his story; he was a follower of the Master, who came from space during the recovery following the invasion, attracting followers with his powers and machines. When he was dying, the Master spoke of the "Great Ones" returning, and his last words suggest he had lived on a planet around the Seven Suns, a wheel of multi-colored stars. The old man is the last remaining follower, sending signals into space to attract the Great Ones. He also controls the Master's machines, three advanced intelligent robots, but the Master instructed them to keep secrets. Alvin convinces the man to lend him one of the robots so he can take it to Rorden, promising to return it.

The boys return to Lys, and Alvin is given the choice of staying in Lys forever or returning to Diaspar without his memories. Alvin agrees to the mind wipe but programs the robot to grab him and take him to the transit station before this occurs. He returns home, and Rorden takes Alvin and the robot under the city to meet the Master Robots, the computers that run the city. They are unable to remove the instructions from the Master, so they instead make a duplicate robot without the instructions in place. When they return to the surface, they find the Council has met in their absence and is trying to decide what to do about Alvin's visit to Lys. They decide to block the underground train system and instruct Rorden to remove all references to Lys from his records. As the Council debates, they allow Alvin to leave, expecting, and allowing, him to run for the train and return to Lys before it is blocked.