Childhood's End is the third book written by Arthur C. Clarke on my top-100 science fiction list. I loved the other two, but I did not like this one. I thought the first and third part were better than the middle section, but overall it just felt flat. I didn't have the sense of wonder that I felt in Clarke's other novels and the whole thing felt rather ordinary. Other than the insights into extraterrestrial contact, utopia, and the ending it was just too bland for my taste.