I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction that includes and discusses religion. It might seem like a dichotomy at times, but I don’t see why they can’t work together, just like religion and science in real life. Despite Arthur C. Clarke identifying as an atheist, he included a lot about religion and tackled religious themes in his work. His short story The Star reflects this the most.
Clarke published The Star in 1955, and it won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1956. The story follows a Jesuit priest who is part of a mission to a star system, cataloguing one star that went supernova. He and the team discover an alien civilization that had recently been destroyed. What the priest discovers about the civilization greatly affects his faith and makes him question God. Obviously, I won’t spoil anything, but the discovery has to do with the star from the story’s title.
I loved the twist in this story. I won’t give it away, however. In the end, it’s up to you how you want to interpret it, though whatever background you have will likely affect what you think about it. The story takes you on a journey into the mind of someone struggling with what they just witnessed. It confronts the horrors one might feel when looking at the hugeness of the universe, in my opinion. But it also poses a lot of questions about God and how God works. I found it interesting since Clarke acknowledged that he was an atheist. Why would a loving God destroy the alien civilization? What was the greater plan? The priest acknowledges that he doesn’t have an answer. But the story doesn’t try to provide an answer. It lets the reader interpret and think of what the answer might be.
Not only that, but it doesn’t waste a single sentence when talking about its themes. It infuses meaning in every word. The best short stories do this phenomenally, and this one knocks it out of the park. Though the entire story reads like a journal entry, these themes come through from the very first sentence. This ended up being what I enjoyed the most about “The Star.”
“You gaze into the distance, Father, but I have traveled a distance beyond any that you could have imagined when you founded our order a thousand years ago. No other survey ship has been so far from Earth: we are at the very frontiers of the explored Universe.”
I also enjoyed the prose in this piece. The descriptions wove the different themes of religion and the universe and combined them with vivid imagery. I loved even the small descriptions Clarke included of the spaceship the story primarily takes place in, for example. And of course, the ending was astounding.
I think of it as a welcome addition to my growing list of classic science fiction short stories. Certainly one of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke stories so far. It also stands as an absolute classic in science fiction today.
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