Childhood's End

the long version

Childhood's End is a science fiction novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, dealing with the role of Mind in the cosmos and the plausible implications of that role for the evolution of the human race. It was originally published in 1953 but first appeared as a 1950 short story titled "Guardian Angel" in Famous Fantastic Mysteries magazine. The original publication is the novel after the prologue, Earth and the Overlords, with some different text in certain places. A new first chapter was substituted in