The Light of Other Days

By: Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter

Narrated by: Dick Hill

The Light of Other Days tells the tale of what happens when a brilliant, driven industrialist harnesses the cutting edge of quantum physics to enable people everywhere, at trivial cost, to see one another at all times: around every corner, through every wall, into everyone's most private, hidden, and even intimate moments. It amounts to the sudden and complete abolition of human privacy - forever.

Then, as society reels, the same technology proves able to look backwards in time as well. Nothing can prepare us for what this means. It is a fundamental change in the terms of the human condition.

©2007 Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (P)2007 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein succeeded. . .and now Stephen Baxter joins their exclusive ranks, writing science fiction in which the science is right. A sheer pleasure to read." ( New Scientist)
"Extraordinarily rich in ideas." ( Los Angeles Times)
"A sweeping, mind-boggling read!" ( Booklist)

Absolutely incredible!

Absolutely incredible! So well written and narrated! A must read! One the best sci-fi stories ever!

When Seeing All is not Understanding All

Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter do not disappoint in their joint effort, "The Light of Other Days" If clones, wormholes, cloaking technology, brain implants, and the ability to alter the space-time continuum tend to rock-your-world - then this read/listen is for you. The unfortunate passing of Arthur C. Clarke marked the end of a science-fiction era of heyday popularity and futuristic envisioning. If there is another dimension available to this beloved carbon-based biped - I hope he has journeyed there and is happy discovering new mysteries of our universe.

One has to wonder if Clarke ever progressed beyond his early obsession with ground-controlled approach radar. Without an instrument landing system or modern navigational capability one would be entering the unknown in a hazardous fashion, counting only on the guidance and accuracy of a ground-based air traffic controller. There are some similarities in the journey of the main characters in this novel, but, to avoid spoiling the plot I will end now.

Great concept, lack of story

I was really excited about this book, but felt let down in the end. Much more time was spent on philosophy than story, to the point that it began feeling like a bias text book on humanity. The story's concept was great, and fairly solid. The writing itself is beautiful. I just would have liked more story, more plot progression, and more character development. It often felt like a study, and that the characters and story were in the way of both authors exploration of what humanity means. Unfortunately the narrator sounded like a professor reading said text, completing the illusion.

Instant Classic! How Is This Book Not Ubiquitous?

Loved this one. I'm currently on a mission to read every single work of fiction that Arthur C Clarke ever wrote. I've just started to dive into some of the books he wrote with Stephen Baxter and I was quite impressed!

The narrator is a little dry at first and gets better over time. I enjoyed his French accent and his voice for Hiram Patterson. I won't intentionally seek out other audiobooks read by this narrator, but I won't avoid his readings either. He was good but not quite great.

Most stories written by or written with Arthur C Clarke explore broad science fiction topics and their wider impact upon the human race as a whole. This story is no exception. Might be a better fit for a Clarke super fan like me as the Wormhole / past viewing / Joined mind / human resurrection sci-fi topics in this book are a little heady and the authors go to a surprising depth with these topics. There's a ton of speculation and suspend your disbelief springbroading off of interesting hard sci-fi theory that I found incredibly addicting as the book unfolded.

I found the rabbit holes that the narrative took me down in the world of sci-fi theory to be more interesting than the characters being used as vehicals to move the plot along. I usually feel this way about most Clarke stories. Maybe because Baxter was involved but these characters felt a little more real and a little more interesting than I normally expect from an Arthur C Clarke story.

Ultimately, it was the adventure of plunging into the unknown through a wormhole into the deep past that got me on the edge of my seat! the first time they did that, I was a little bored and like, "so, what?" about it... but the last time they dive into the deep past... wow! And the ending was fascinating.

Lots of food for thought in the one. A great read!Not for the casual fan, the light reader, or a newbie to Arthur C Clarke but a stirring adventure of the mind for those who wish to dive into it!

Amazingly imaginative!

I love it when authors combine up to date theory, fact and imagination. Great read.