RIP

The last of the science fiction elders, Sir Arthur C Clarke has died. Here is an essay Gregory Benford, another science fiction writer wrote about Clarke. As Benford notes, Clarke was in many ways the father of hard science fiction, the science fiction that, as much as possible adheres to our understanding of the laws of the universe. He also occasionally displayed a wry take on humanity, as evidenced by his first short story Rescue Party, which has one of the best final lines of all of science fiction (or fiction for that matter.) Read the story here.

A substantial gap in my science fiction reading is Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, the book against which all first contact stories are compared. I better read it soon, as David Fincher has a film in the works.