From the Ocean, from the Stars (1962) a.k.a. The Deep Range and Other Stories (1964) by Arthur C. Clarke
There’s a progression in this collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke that I don’t think I’ve seen in any of his other books—or in those of Isaac Asimov, for that matter.
The original British title for this collection (From the Ocean, from the Stars) is fitting, because Clarke opens with two stories set in Earth’s oceans, then offers three set upon land, and then includes one of my favorite stories set in space. Why he ends the book with “The Nine Billion Names of God” is a mystery to me. It messes up the flow, and it sort of ruins the overall mood.
That’s my own opinion, though, and I’m sure his publishers were focused less on clarity and more on cash. The more I read these short-story collection, the more I realize that their eventual publication (and republication, and re-republication, etc.) was all about the money. Can’t say I blame them, though. Few of us writers can claim to have “a writing career”!
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1. “The Deep Range” (1954)
Man had come back to the sea after aeons of exile; until the oceans froze, he would never be hungry again.
This particular story hadn’t yet shown up in the books I’ve read, so I appreciated opening with something fresh. This short story about whaling in the future formed the basis for Clarke’s later novel by the same name (which I haven’t yet read).
I really liked his shout-out to the mast famous whaling story out there, Moby Dick, by naming his whaling ship, The Herman Melville—though of course Clarke’s version of “ship” differs from that of Captain Ahab!
2. “The Man Who Ploughed the Sea” (1954)
Still focused on the oceans, Clarke takes us back to one of the more creative technological possibilities he’s considered, the mining of oceanic minerals. Someone attaches his invention, the “molecular sieve,” to cruise ships in search of something far more valuable even than gold. I’m still clueless about whether such a venture has yet been attempted. I know the answer is right there at my fingertips with AI, but I still don’t want to be the type of person that “researches” that way!
3. “The Reluctant Orchid” (1956)
If you’ve ever seen The Little Shop of Horrors starring Rick Moranis, then you know the basic plot of this humorous short story. I love how Clarke frames Hercules’ problem as a battle of morals—which he loses:
When Hercules considered that his picador tactics had brought the orchid into the right frame of mind, he wondered if he should test it with live bait. This was a problem that worried him for some weeks, during which time he would look speculatively at every dog or cat he passed in the street, but he finally abandoned the idea, for a rather peculiar reason. He was simply too kind-hearted to put it into practice. Aunt Henrietta would have to be the first victim.
4. “The Ultimate Melody” (1957)
I’ve written before about the rise of AI music, which in the hands of a true musician can be excellent (see the cover of “Higher” by The Professor). In the hands of someone chasing views, though—I’m so sick of it. The YouTube algorithm shoves these lengthy AI-built playlists in my face every time I perform a search, and it’s forced me to avoid the site not delve deeper. I hope this push for AI “art” dies a quick and sudden death, though I’m sure it won’t.
In the meantime, we’re faced with this very real possibility that even Arthur C. Clarke considered unfathomable:
If [the machine] worked, it would put every composer in the world out of business. Or would it? Perhaps not. Ludwig might be able to deliver the raw material, but surely it would still have to be orchestrated.
5. “The Parasite” (1951)
The parasite in this story is no earthly bug but an otherworldly entity that literally possesses its human hosts. While Clarke argues that such a possibility would necessarily require an alien encounter, I view it differently. Demons are real, though I can easily foresee that—during their visible revealing in our physical dimension during the Tribulation period foretold in Revelation—people will automatically think they’re aliens. They may even consider them friendly, until they start feeding on their human hosts!
Yikes.This story isn’t really Sci-fi. It’s more like future history.
6. “Jupiter Five” (1951)
Still one of my favorite Arthur Clarke short stories, Jupiter Five tracks a crew to Jupiter’s exosphere, where they discover that one of the planet’s moons isn’t a moon at all. This story includes space travel, mystery, alien encounters, thievery, and even humor—though its treatment of women is pretty dated. Still, a thrilling ride and a fascinating bit of Sci-fi imagination.
7. “The Nine Billion Names of God” (1953)
Again, I’m not really sure why this story was placed at the end of this book, while it could have found a comfortable spot just before “The Parasite.” Still, it’s one of Clarke’s most famous stories and thus one that would always boost sales—even if its presence in a collection doesn’t really make sense.
The basic premise is that a group of Buddhists have spent the past 300 hundred years writing every possible permutation of a list of letters to that they’re certain to have written God’s name at least once. Now they want to employ a computer and its team of technicians to finish the task more quickly.
All I have to say is that I’m glad we don’t need to go searching for God or His name, since He has already revealed Himself clearly in both character and name and in the sending of His Son—Jesus Christ (see John 14:1-14). I’ll end up saying the same every time this story creeps up on me!
Conclusion
I have been treating these stories at little breaks from my regular reading, and it’s been a fun habit to jump inside the mind of Arthur C. Clarke. While Asimov seemed to build an entire universe based upon a fixed set of laws, Clarke seems to have let his imagination run rampant, writing about whatever popped into his head. I like the balance of enjoying both perspectives off-and-on from time to time.
©2026 E.T.
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