Synopsis

Earthmen are exploring the moon and spot an object on top of a mountain that is unusually reflective.

History

First publication: 10 Story Fantasy, Spring 1951

Basis for the movie 2001:a space odyssey. Originally written in 1948 and submitted to a BBC story contest. It was not a finalist.

Review

This is another case where a little early story was published in one of the pulp magazines with an embarrassing cover, but has become a classic that is often reprinted. It is a very short story with just the beginnings of the concepts that would grow into 2001. This is a great example of how early science fiction writers came up with these ideas that could get your mind going down many speculative avenues. Clarke was wise enough with this story to stop, leaving a mystery for your mind to make up solutions to. You might criticize Clarke for not going further himself, but I think he knew that part of what we love about science fiction is how it does give us just enough mystery about the universe and just enough of a glimpse at something greater that it fires our own imaginations to go there ourselves. It gets us wondering about so many things. One of the stories that captures what science fiction really is, how it is different from other types of fiction. A true classic.