Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 11, 2023 June 4, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
On his ship, Karellen meets with Rashaverak, who reports on his observations at Rupert Boyce's party. Rashaverak tells him that Boyce himself is rather uninteresting and that, while Boyce has the world's largest library of paranormal research, he is as much a skeptic as any scientist. This is important to the Overlords; they are about scientists actively exploring things like telepathy and telekinesis. It turns out that the Ouija board was correct: the star of the Overlords homeworld is NGS 549672. Rashaverak says that Jean Morrel must have been "the channel through which the information came." The Overlords do not say who--or what--this information may have come from. Rashaverak suggests that Jean be watched closely, because "she may be the most important human being alive." The two Overlords also discuss Jan Rodricks, who asked the question about the star. Though he now knows where their homeworld is, Karellen dismisses him as a threat. Jan has no way of independently verifying the information--humans are not allowed to build spaceships that can travel any further than the moon.
Meanwhile, George has been shaken by Jean's fainting spell. He realizes how much he loves her, and so he proposes they join in a marriage contract. Jean agrees. Elsewhere, Jan quickly investigates NGS 549672. He discovers that it is exactly in line with the direction the Overlord ships take when they leave the solar system. His biggest problem now is figuring out what he can do with this information.
The human race continues to enjoy its blissful peace and prosperity. At the same time, small problems are beginning to emerge. For instance, the narrator notes, the headlines in the newspapers are rather dull compared to those of a century before. Without war, murder, and exploration, there is little to put on the front page. Robots run all the production, while men expand their minds through education. Education is the primary way that humanity now fends off boredom. Nearly a quarter of all human activity is now expended on sports, resulting in so many good athletes that professional sports are all but eliminated. After sports, the greatest single industry in the utopian Earth is, of course, entertainment. Due to the fact that money is no longer a major factor in determine which films are made, as well as the fact that most people were generally well educated, films are now very "highbrow," high-quality films. But in the midst of all this happiness and contentment, humanity cannot help but wonder "where do we go from here?"
Jan meets again with his brother-in-law, Rupert Boyce. Boyce is preparing a stuffed elephant to be sent to the Overlords, who collect specimens of exotic alien life forms for their museums. Boyce mentions that another scientist, Sullivan, is preparing a sperm whale and a giant squid for the Overlords. This gives Jan an idea. Soon after, he travels down to Sullivan's laboratory, where he asks for the doctor's help in achieving his dream of reaching the stars.
In Chapter 9 the reader begins to get some clues as to what the Overlords are really doing on Earth. Now that a utopia has been achieved, their presence almost seems superfluous, although chances are good that society would eventually break down if the Overlords left. But clearly the Overlords have some sort of agenda, one that has something to do with Jean Morrel and her surprising mental powers. It was Jean who "channeled" the information that came out on the Ouija board. The Overlords determine that while she is too old to be a "Prime Contact," someone very close to her will be—as it turns out, her future children.
The next chapter takes a break from the characters and, again, describes the state of Earth society. Again, it is hinted that boredom is beginning to set in, as is a sense of being without purpose. When there is nothing to strive for, what is the point of life? By working harder, more money can be made for luxury items, but this is a hollow pursuit. Without religion and without suffering, life has started to lose its meaning for much of the world. Everything that mankind had hoped to achieve in the last few thousand years—peace, prosperity, and health for every human on the planet—has been accomplished in a hundred years by the Overlords. Quite rightly, humans begin to ask, "where do we go from here?" They suspect that the Overlords know, but the aliens are not telling them what it is.
Please wait while we process your payment