Two Civilizations one Technical other Psychic powers

[RulkeTheCharon]

I read this story a long time ago, and have been trying to find it now to re-read it and see if it is still as good as I remembered.

Synopsis: Begins inside a highly technologically advanced society where everthing is provided inside a large dome and everyone is cloned and lives long time. Everyones wishes can be met inside their room, and they meet each other by holographic projections. "Town hall" meetings of millions of them are also done holographically. No one wants to go outside nor had any wish to leave dome. Of course, except one person who has an compulsion to find out whats outside. After some time he finds a unused trainline underneath city, which leads to a sister city long way away.
This second city is rural paradise with few thousand people all of who have strong psychic powers.
The person finds out that he is one of many "glitches" that has been programmed into cloning machine, to shake things up and find a way to get two societies back together. He is only one to succeed.
They figure out they must take a hidden space craft with a star drive to a far away solar system to release a Creature that has been "growing" for many millions of years. Seems the advanced society created some evil creature that cannot be destroyed, so they imprisioned it. Then created this new creature that is supposed to grow for a few millions of years and then do battle with the evil creature at some epoch in the future.

Not sure if I am getting the right important points of the book, but it was a hard sci fi novel.

If anyone can help me with a name, I would be very grateful!!

Thanks.

[JP]

The book is called The City & The Stars by Arthur C.Clarke...

[RulkeTheCharon]

JP,

Thank you so much for your help. I could not believe you found the answer so soon. That definately does appear to be the book that I was looking for. It seems like its not very popular, or its an old story.
So the next challenge is to try to find it somewhere to re-read it.

I wish I had found out about this Forum before. So many years looking for this story, and found it in one day.

I have another story that I have been trying to find, but trying to remember enough coherent details to see if anyone can help me find it.

Thanks again!!!

[JP]

It was a book I also read years ago. And the only reason I found it recently was because I posted a question (similar to yours) on this forum.

Its also one of the SF Masterworks reviewed on this site.

[hegemon]

The book is still in print. It is probably one of the 100 most important sf books for all time. You can order it at amazon.com.

[RulkeTheCharon]

I began searching for the book, I did find it on Amazon.com.

You are right that the book seems to be one of these "masterpieces" of sci-fi that everyone either loves or hates. I did not know that I had such good taste in Sci-fi back then. It was just a regular looking book to me and had nice picture of spaceship on the cover... LOL.

I am definately ordering it, and maybe I can introduce it to my children as well.