Welcome back to another Golden Age science fiction short story review. Today, I’ve prepared a review after reading Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Nine Billion Names of God.” Before we begin, you might have noticed that my latest post went out at a different time. Chalk it up to WordPress being difficult again and missing its schedule. But we’re back on track! Let’s get into the review.
The story, a fairly short one, appeared in 1953. The SFWA chose it as one of the best short stories to come out of the Golden Age before the creation of the Nebula Awards. In it, Tibetan monks concoct a plan to have a supercomputer write out all nine billion of the names of God. Once the supercomputer completes its list, the Universe might come to an end. At least, the monks believe this. Two men work on setting up the machine in the monastery and question the validity of such a project. However, soon enough, the project gets underway.
Like the short story “Robot Dreams” by Asimov, which I reviewed last week, this story is fairly short. It took me only a few minutes to read it. I think I enjoyed the clear-cut aspect of the concept the most. Also, how the story executed that concept. It also dove into the kind of sci-fi horror that writers like Clarke and Asimov were known for. This especially came through in the ending. I also enjoyed how the story developed. It presented a concept that the Tibetan monks explained, then provided an explanation as to how it would work with the supercomputer. The story then shifted to the plausibility of the concept being executed when it shifted to the two men setting up the computer. By the end, everything fell into place.
The writing remained clear and succinct throughout, just like good sci-fi horror. It also includes a lot of subtle details that I appreciated when I read it. It really made me think. The story also came along right at the height of the Golden Age of science fiction, putting it up with other legendary stories.
Stay tuned next week for another writing post and book review! Hopefully, WordPress doesn’t mess up the schedule for the posts again. 🙂 Happy reading!
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