Against the Fall of Night was first published in the magazine Startling Stories in 1948 before being revised and expanded as a novel in 1953 and later completely rewrite by Clarke as The City and the Stars however Against the Fall of Night remained popular enough to stay in print after that.
In 1990 Gregory Benford published with Clarke’s approval Beyond the Fall of Night a sequel to Against the Fall of Night
The renowned science fiction author’s landmark novel of the last human born on a far future world—and his quest for the truth about existence.
Living in the ten-billion-year-old city of Diaspar, Alvin is the last child born of humanity, and he is intensely curious about the outside world. But according to the oldest histories kept by the city fathers, there is no outside world—it was destroyed by the Invaders millions of years ago.
One day, Alvin finds a rock with an inscription seemingly meant for him: “There is a better way. Give my greetings to the Keeper of the Records. Alaine of Lyndar.” This cryptic message takes Alvin on a quest to discover humanity’s true past—and its future.
