The City and the Stars

The City and the stars has been on my to-read list forever, and it seemed to take me forever to read it. It moves very slowly. In a nutshell, it is the story of Alvin, a Unique in utopian Diaspar, the last city on an Earth that has been overtaken by desert. Diaspar is the survivor of man's interstellar conflict with the Invaders a billion years ago. Alvin is curious about what is outside Diaspar and he manages to find a way out. He discovers the land of Lys, quite different from Diaspar. In Lys, Alvin becomes friends with Hilvar. Hilvar shows Alvin around and they find the site of an ancient battle and discover a robot. Later, Hilvar's mother Seranis, a local potentate, tries to prevent Alvin from returning to Diaspar. Alvin escapes with the robot. With the help of the robot, Alvin discovers an ancient spaceship. He returns to Lys, finds Hilvar, and together they travel to the Seven Suns in the spaceship piloted by the robot and explore several planets but find no intelligent life. As they prepare to return to earth they encounter Vanamonde, a juvenile ethereal super-mind, who follows them back to Earth. The philosophers of Lys communicate with Vanamonde and open diplomatic relations with Diaspar. From Vanamonde, the people of Diaspar learn that their history of a billion years is complete myth. Alvin decides that his mission in life is to reclaim the Earth from the desert. Ho-hum.

I don't really understand why this book is considered a Science Fiction Classic. It's so pedantic. The City and the Stars is confirmation of the saying that the golden age of science fiction is 12.