The Nine Billion Names of God
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The Nine Billion Names of God Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Arthur C. Clarke (Author), Mark F. Smith (Narrator), Spoken Realms (Publisher)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
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The invention of computers was a godsend to the obscure monks deep in the Himalayas. Their centuries-long project to write out all of God's names could be sped up by thousands of years. And only they had any clue what would come next!

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    18 minutes
  2. Author
    Arthur C. Clarke
  3. Narrator
    Mark F. Smith
  4. Audible release date
    January 14, 2014
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Spoken Realms
  7. ASIN
    B00HV488ZW
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 18 minutes
Author Arthur C. Clarke
Narrator Mark F. Smith
Audible.com Release Date January 14, 2014
Publisher Spoken Realms
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00HV488ZW
Best Sellers Rank #276,165 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#18,263 in Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#87,718 in Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
29 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael W. Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2018
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I bought this used when our dog chewed up my first copy.
This is a great read.
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Mary Ellerbrake
5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Clarke.
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2013
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I fell in love with an old tattered second hand book shop copy of this when I was 11. It opened my eyes to sci-fi. Finding a copy in decent shape was a treasure.
2 people found this helpful
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garv
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2017
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Great Arthur Clark stories
One person found this helpful
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Psychoanalyst
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2016
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A classic set of tales.
One person found this helpful
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Kristi R.
5.0 out of 5 stars “A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets.”
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2015
I enjoyed this collection of Arthur C. Clarke's short stories from the 1950's written for magazines, contests or newspapers.

There are several of the White Hart stories with Arthur Purvis telling the tall tales of the future from the local pub. These were my favorites because after you have heard one, you can't wait to see if he can top it with the next story.

I also like "The Star" a story about losing your faith, or testing God. One of those that makes you think.

The Nine Billion Names of God is another religiously rooted story about monks getting a supercomputer to find all names of God to be ready when he comes.

There are some stories about anti-gravity, new worlds, horse like creatures who meet tiny creatures who may outsmart them before too long. There are also some stories that are precursors for his 2001 series.

Science fiction can seem dated if it's not done right, but Arthur C. Clarke is a genius and he is still relevant today. This was a very enjoyable listen.
5 people found this helpful
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Cian Beirdd
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2014
I loved this collection, a good look at Clarke's twisted sense of humor, his views on religion, and some unique perspectives that could only be explored in a shorter format. The title story was a great laugh and many of them were very funny. But Clarke also had some intriguing things to say about us as a species and our sense of importance that he was never able to say when he was worried about the development of characters and plot. Clarke's bounteous imagination is on display here - he was definitely a better writer of short stories than novels.
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Brian Melendez
5.0 out of 5 stars Arthur C. Clarke's best short stories
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2001
Arthur C. Clarke is best known for his novels, especially "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Rendezvous with Rama," which each spawned three sequels. But throughout his early career in the 1950s and 1960s, the tail end of science fiction's "golden age," Clarke was more successful as a writer of short fiction. This book collects his best stories, or at least his own favorites. As Clarke himself acknowledges in his introduction, "Every author must have his favorite stories, though he would often be hard put to give reasons for his preferences. Sometimes these may be completely illogical--or at least unliterary. A story written at a time and place associated with pleasant memories may be more highly rated, in retrospect, than a much better tale provoked by unhappiness or penury--the two great sponsors of art."
But Clarke's choices largely jibe with mine. They are drawn from five earlier collections: "Expedition to Earth" (1953), "Reach for Tomorrow" (1956), "The Other Side of the Sky" (1959), "Tales of Ten Worlds" (1962), and "The Wind from the Sun" (1972). Here you will find "The Sentinel," which Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick expanded into the epic "2001." And the often anthologized "The Star," in which an astronomical discovery challenges a believer's faith. And "Superiority," a parable about too much reliance on technological innovation. And "Death and the Senator," which is perhaps not quite science fiction, about power coming to terms with mortality. And the title story, a whimsical yet disturbing speculation about humankind's purpose in the divine plan. And . . . twenty more gems of short fiction. (The only omission that I regret is "Hate," which appears only in "Tales of Ten Worlds.")
Despite a hardcover re-release in 1996, this excellent collection is still hard to find. But I still recommend it over "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke" (2001) because, while that collection contains all the stories in this collection, "Nine Billion Names" presents the stories in their original form while "Collected Stories" is rife with editorial and typographical errors and omissions.
19 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

J K Leadbeater
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2015
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Very Good for the price
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