I'm a big Sci fan but hadn't read any of Arthur C Clarke before so a short story collection seemed like a nice option to start with. I do always prefer full length novels than shorts though as I find it a lot harder to engage with the characters in such a short time, that being said I really enjoyed the collection.i rated each individually and the end result was a 4.1 average so I'll put 4 as the rating overall with the following breakdown.

The nine billion names of God: An entertaining idea, if not a bit far fetched for me. 3.5

Refugee: A nice read but doesn't really end anywhere, would be a good start to a novel but not as a standalone. 3.5

The other side of the sky:  less of a fan of the titulator piece. 3

The wall of darkness: this was quite good and bizzare, didn't see where it was going and it felt like a complete story. 4. 5

Security check: very twilight zone esq. 3.5

No morning after: This was surprisingly funny and unexpected. 4

Venture to the moon: Most of the sections of this were very silly with hindsight, but the last entry with staying on the moon longer than 6 months to avoid tax liability was hilarious. 4

Publicity Campaign: a funny little one but nothing groundbreaking. 3.5

All the time in the world: A brilliant little story, very twilight zone. 5

Cosmic cassanova: Quite a silly one really, not a fan of the character generally. 3

The star: A bit dull for me this one, a nice twist at the end did save it though. 3.5

Out of the sun: A very nice bit of philosophical Sci fi on the nature of life. 4

Transience: A little depressing view of the apocalypse through the eyes of a child. 3.5

The songs of distant earth: An unexpected love story to round off the book, was quite beautiful and the characters surprisingly well developed for such a short story. 4.5