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Nov 17
21m 37s

The Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur ...

SCOTT MILLER
About this episode

A team of engineers travels to a remote Tibetan monastery to install a computer meant to complete a centuries-long sacred task. But as the machine nears the end of its work, the engineers realize the monks believe its final output will trigger something far greater than they ever imagined. The Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur C. Clarke. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.


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Today’s story is one of Arthur C. Clarke’s most famous and most debated works—The Nine Billion Names of God. First published in 1953, it blends technology, philosophy, and belief in a way that only Clarke could.


In this tale, two engineers trek into the remote Himalayas to help a monastery complete a centuries-old sacred project. What begins as a straightforward installation job slowly reveals an idea so vast and unexpected that it has echoed through science fiction ever since.


Clarke is at his most graceful and unforgettable here. The story later earned the Retro Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2004. It first appeared in Ballantine Books’ Star Science Fiction Stories anthology in February 1953, released in both paperback and hardcover. We are looking for the last story on page 195, The Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur C. Clarke…


Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A desperate treasure hunt on the frozen surface of Mars turns explosive when three men uncover the legendary weapons of a vanished civilization. But the greatest danger is not what the Martians left behind — it’s the ambition boiling inside the humans who find it. The Last Weapon by Robert Sheckley.


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