Books

New York, Gnome Press, 1953. First Edition. First Impression. Hardback. A fine copy. First hardback edition, published earlier in Startling Stories in 1948 (making it Clarke's first novel). Subsequently expanded and published as The City and the Stars. A little bumping to the spine tips at the boards, owner's name and a small ink mark (both to the endpapers). Cover art by Frank Kelly Frease [11054, Hyraxia Books].

Against the Fall of Night is a novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke, originally appearing as a novella in the November 1948 issue of 'Startling Stories.' Clarke expanded the story and published it in book form in 1953. The novel takes place a billion years in the future, in the city of Diaspar. Humanity has retreated to this single, opulent city, protected from the harsh outside world by technological marvels. Alvin, the protagonist, is a young man who is not content with the stagnant perfection of Diaspar and seeks to explore the mysterious past and unknown future of mankind.