authors
data
ISBN-10: 1-4395-0180-7
ISBN-13: 9781439501801
Country:
Year: June 26, 2008
Edition: Reprint
Number of pages: 274
Binding: Library Binding
editions
Arthur C. Clarke
Charnwood (Large Print); 1998
Hardcover
order
description
It began four million years ago when a gleaming black monolith cast its shadow on the stark African savanna *an inexplicable apparition that ignited the spark of human consciousness, transforming ape into man.
It continued at the dawn of the 21st century when an identical black monolith was excavated on the moon *propelling Dave Bowman and his deputy Frank Poole on a mission to Jupiter that ended in the mutiny of the supercomputer HAL.
Only Dave Bowman would survive to encounter a third, and far more massive monolith on Jupiter's moon Europa *and be forever transformed into the star child.
It is the world of 2001: A Space Odyssey. And now, the odyssey enters its perilous ultimate stage. In 3001, the human race, incredibly, has survived, yet lives in baffled fear of the trio of monoliths that dominate the solar system--until a ray of light beams forth from a totally unexpected source. The body of Frank Poole, believed dead for a thousand years, is recovered from the frozen reaches of the galaxy, restored to conscious life, and readied to resume the voyage that HAL abruptly terminated a thousand years back. He knows he cannot proceed until he reestablishes contact with Dave Bowman. But first he must fathom the terrifying truth of what Bowman *and HAL *have become inside the monolith.
In 3001: The Final Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke brings the greatest and most successful science fiction series of all time to its magnificent, stunningly unforeseen conclusion. As we hurtle toward the new millennium in real time, Clarke brilliantly, daringly leaps one thousand years into the future to reveal a truth we are only now capable of comprehending. An epic masterpiece at once dazzlingly imaginative and grounded in scientific actuality, 3001 is a story that only Arthur C. Clarke could tell.
reviews
Whilst 2001 has a certain mythical grandeur, and left the reader with a sense of awe and wonder, and is one of the greatest works of the twentieth century, Clarke's conclusion of the story one thousand years later is highly unimaginative and much more like 'standard' science fiction. To those readers enthralled by 2001, and to some part, 2010, I strongly advise that you do not read 2061, and certainly not 3001, lest the wonderous illusion of the original story be shattered in an instant.
A weak ending to a great series. The sense of wonder was gone. Very little suspense and story. This is more Clarke's view of the future than it is a story about the future. Potentially interesting as an examination of Clarke's views on politics, but that's about it.
Not much to say that hasn't already been said. 2001: A Space Odyssey (the film) should have been the beginning and final chapter in this 'saga'. The movie was a classic enigma; the 'Mona Lisa' of cinema. Each viewer left with his own interpretation of "what the hell was all that about'? That was the fun, the mystery, the challenge of what the Odyssey presented to the individual viewer. To have it dragged out, ad infinitum, into a Star Wars wannabe, was just sad! 2001 Is still one of my all time favorite films. I was 17 when I saw it in CINERAMA in Montreal. I'm 60 now, and have watched the movie maybe 50 times. It still leaves me with the same chills and awe that it did the first time I saw it. Too bad it got dragged the the comercialism knot-hole! Kubrick must be rolling in his grave.
»Just as it says from the back of the book ,the moment i started reading it i could not put it down. Especially since i am a long time sci-fi affacionado .Started to follow this story at the cinema watching the movie 2010 when i was a kid! Immerse yourself like i did into this book and start coming up with your own images of technology and space adventure coming from this journey .Rediscover again the continuation of what happened to Frank Poole,what is he now discovering many years later and the ongoing mystery that surrounds the Monolith!«
I just finished this novel and was stunned that it was over … I kept waiting for something to happen and all of the sudden I was left looking at credits and commentary by Clarke. I agree with others that this book should never have been published. I disagree that there is anything really interesting in it. None of the ideas are new, and most have been presented better in other books. The fact that it shares something with the movie »Independence Day« should be an indication that it isn't very good. The story just plods along with no real focus or reason for being until near the end and then the solution is so matter of fact, and trivial that it just sucks the life out of the Odyssey series. I would recommend passing on this book.
related products
URL: http://www.book-info.com/isbn/1-4395-0180-7.htm
- search