Earthlight (Arthur C. Clarke Collection)

Two hundred years after the initial lunar landing, humanity has expanded throughout the solar system with permanent settlements on the Moon, Venus, and Mars. These colonies have formed a political alliance called the Federation. Tensions escalate between Earth's government and the Federation over access to rare heavy metals. On the Moon, a government agent from Earth investigates a suspected spy at a prominent observatory. As the agent becomes engaged in a life-and-death struggle across the lunar landscape, the larger conflict between Earth and the Federation intensifies, threatening mankind's future. First published in 1955, this novel combines espionage and space opera elements.