I haven't read this book since I was in the 9th or 10th grade. This 1954 story of the last human city, standing unchanged fora billion years, holds up very well. Clarke's debt here to the majestic timespans of Olaf Stapledon is clear, and it seems he here perfects, or maybe invents, some tropes that have been used over and over again the last 50 years.

Humanity has huddled in the city of Diaspar for a billion years, afraid to stick its heads up because of the way it was beat down by the Invaders; no new people are born, instead their personalities are recoiled into the memory banks of the computers that control the city. That is until a Unique comes along who dares to try to get out of the city, and the book tells the story of what he finds. A young Clarke manages all this story well, though sometimes, like Stapledon, it's a tad cold. The love interest, for example, disappears pretty early.

But even with that said, it's a fairly moving story, a good mix, as Clarke always is, of the mystic and scientific. ( )

Mind-bending stuff. Clarke does a good job of bringing out the terror and sadness of deep time. There’s rather a lot going on thematically. A lot of it you could boil down to death and rebirth, but that really doesn’t do it justice; there’re so many variations on that. Clever writing.

Whether you prefer this or the earlier version Against the Fall of Night is probably personal choice. I’m with Against. It’s short enough to read in one sitting and if you do it on a quiet Sunday afternoon it’ll put you into a dreamlike state. That’s lost in this version. ( )

This is like an action movie except the action consists entirely of people sitting around being agreeable and polite with each other. I guess there was the thing that tried to eat them. That's the closest thing to a villain there was in the whole book

Diaspar existing unchanged for billions of years makes sense because it was constructed to, but Lys remaining the same for that long is unbelievable.

The whole "Let's become mortal and have babies!" ending is ridiculous.

Also wouldn't the sun have expanded into a red giant and melted the Earth by now? ( )

En un remoto futuro, la ciudad de Diaspar acoge a los últimos restos de la humanidad sobre la Tierra. Perseguidos hasta su planeta natal por los misteriosos Invasores que conquistaron el universo, los humanos abandonaron su Imperio Galáctico. Desde entonces, y durante millones de años, Diaspar ha mantenido a sus habitantes sumidos en el grato estupor de una sociedad perfecta. Gracias a sus poderosos circuitos de eternidad, la ciudad conserva para siempre todos sus elementos, incluyendo a sus ciudadanos, que emergen completamente adultos de la Sala de Creación, viven vidas plenas que duran siglos, y por fin vuelven a los Bancos de Memoria a esperar su resurrección al cabo de miles de años. Pero muy rara vez, en Diaspar nace un ciudadano único, cuya información no consta previamente en la memoria de la ciudad. Nadie sabe por qué aparecen, ni cuál es su función en el sofisticado mecanismo de Diaspar. Alvin es uno de estos únicos, y como tal carece de vidas anteriores a las que remitirse. Por eso no le resulta difícil cuestionar la organización social aparentemente perfecta de Diaspar, y especialmente la limitación psicológica que hace que sus habitantes sean incapaces de salir de ella. A pesar de las comodidades que le rodean, Alvin está insatisfecho. Pero pronto encuentra su objetivo: abandonar Diaspar, averiguar si el exterior es tan hostil como dicen, y descubrir si realmente son los últimos humanos sobre la Tierra.

3.5 stars, 7/10. I have not read a lot of the oldest classic sci-fi from the middle of the century, and very little of Asimov himself. I picked this up on a whim from a free little library. It was formulaic, but in a charming and original way that has aged well; I saw how Asimov could be so influential. It's also a relic of its time, being concerned mostly with ideas rather than character, so don't expect many meaningful relationships or well-drawn women. Mostly I found a lot of fun in its grand scope, full of imaginative ideas surrounding traditional themes of human curiosity and fear. I was also impressed by Clarke's ability to keep me hooked even though much of the book feels like plodding exposition with relatively little action. The second half was a bit disappointing -- I expected it to take off with more meaningful action as Alvin headed into the stars, but instead it was just little pulp vignettes that Clarke rushed through to get back to his grand vision of Earth. Most of all I was struck by the constant tone of hope and excitement, even as the truth of the story became a bit dark and depressing. I feel this sense of hope and wonder is less common in today's speculative and science fiction, so it was very refreshing. ( )