Yes 2010 - damn phone typo! (Fixed)

The 'golden era' authors all got huge book advances in the 1980s to persuade them to write books. Quality suffers (see Asimov's later Foundation books). Imho 2010 was the last decent book Clarke wrote. Of course most of those later books were collaborations and it seems he discussed ideas with the co-author but did little more.

I wouldn't have classed Fountains of Paradise as a true masterpiece but it is >30 years since I last read it. Perhaps time for a re-read (my opinion of Songs of Distant Earth improved with a re-read).

I definitely agree with your last paragraph- Childhood's End increasingly stands out as his best book.