Customer Reviews

3001: the Final Odyssey

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(61)
2 star:		(80)
1 star:		(92)

 

 

The Odyssey of the Monolith and the Hal 9000 computer is among the most fabled stories in all of science fiction. The first in the series, the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction movies ever (although, I do not share opinion, even though it's a good film). It was followed up on book and on film by the successful "2010: The Year We Make Contact (Odyssey Two in the book)". "2010" was a more straightforward story, but it pushed for greater ideas about HAL's existence and the purpose of the Monolith. The third part of this series, the book "2061: Odyssey Three", reached the satisfying conclusion of the tortured Dr. Heywood Floyd's involvement in the Odyssey. It also helped expand the understanding of the purpose of the Monolith. "3001: The Final Odyssey" presented a tremendous opportunity to tie up all the loose ends and answer all the questions. Unfortunately, Arthur C. Clarke's choice in story direction answered all those questions incorrectly. Clarke does reveal the purpose of the Monolith, but what he reveals renders everything we knew about it in the previous three stories totally moot. I will not reveal what it is. You should still read it to find out. I just ended up being very disappointed by the resolution. The ratings given by other reviewers show that they felt much the same way.

The irony of the story is that it had great potential. After 1,000 years of floating in virtual suspended animation in the 'absolute zero' graveyard of space, astronaut Frank Poole's body is discovered in remarkably well preserved, and barely alive (!), form. Poole's amazing revival has provided humanity with an unbelievable to tap into the mind of the only living person to have had first contact with the Monolith. Poole doesn't have too much trouble adjusting the changes in the culture he knew and his newfound celebrity status. He comes to terms with the events of the past and tries to help humanity understand the Monolith as it impacts its future. This is actually quite an entertaining story arc and the reason I didn't give this book a one-star rating. It just feels right reconnecting with Poole. Alas, the book goes south when Clarke defines the purpose of the Monolith. It's very disappointing and leaves the reader flat. Still, for Odyssey completists, you need to read the book to see how it ends (regardless of the disappointment). At only 274 pages, you won't have risked to great a time investment in the process.

This novel begins when Frank Poole, the Discovery astronaut from the novel 2001, and who was killed bt HAL on the first mission to Jupiter, is found by a deep space crew, frozen. He is re-animated by advanced technology, in the year 3001, so all of his previous friends and acquaintances are long dead, dust forever. Poole is able to explore much of the human occupied solar system and later has contact with the mysterious black monolith on Europa, and also with what used to be Dave Bowman and HAL from 2001. This is the novel that concludes the four volume series that began with 2001 back in 1968.

Clarke includes a lot of foreseeable future technology in this book, including nano-assembly of a person from information stored in a memory device to braincaps that connects a person directly to the global information network and even allows a person to recieve in minutes knowledge that now takes years of study. 3001 is a very descriptive novel, Clarke has a lot to say about possible life and technology as it may exist in a thousand years, it seems he does an amazing job, but no one can tell for certain until the year 3001 is here, in the past just predicting things only 10-20 years in the future has been very difficult indeed.

3001 contains thoroughly modern thinking, typical of Clarke, and I am pleased that he wrote it himself without relying on a co-author. I also enjoyed the several pages of notes Clarke has at the end of the book. The major criticism I have for this novel is that the human relationships are only briefly sketched and could have been in more detail. All told though, a fun and easy read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in the Odyssey series. They each had one thing that this book completely lacks: Plot.

3001 seemed to have been slapped together in a week. The actual events that do occur in the story seem to have been thrown in as diversions to are long, dull, obsolete essays by Clarke on his perspective on religion and the moral state of the human race. These soapbox asides are clumsy, polemic, and not substantiated adequately. If you want to read a decent gripe about how self-destructive we are, read something by Kurt Vonnegut instead.

Clarke also seemed overwhelmed by the task of catching Poole up on 1000 years of history. Every character he talks to makes references to the 20th Century; it makes one wonder if nothing interesting happened over the 1000 years Poole was dead outside of improvements in space exploration and industry. Compare what you know about 1000 A.D. to what the characters in 3001 know about 2000 A.D., and the book becomes absurd pretty quickly (braincaps aside).

Overall, 3001 was incredibly disappointing. The climactic confrontation simply is not; it reads like a deus ex machina. Clarke's whole perception of what mankind would be like in 3001 seems terribly amiss and too simple (especially in regards to attitudes concerning weapons of mass destruction).

If you really just want to say that you've read the entire series, get this from the library and get through it as quickly as possible. Don't pay a cent for it.

"Plagued with problems" is how I choose to describe "3001." I echo what J. R. R. Tolkien said about Lewis's conclusion to the Space Trilogy: I think it spoiled it. (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 393). In fact, I think this series is a good example of when a good franchise goes bad. "2001" is euphoric, "2010" is idealistic, "2061" is optimistic, but "3001" is sarcastic. The future may have been a let-down, but his books need not be.

What we wanted was a resolution to the Monolith Enigma, but what we got was an old geezer sounding off on religion, politics, circumcision, society, and religion. Clarke has a gift to taking pre-sent day science, extrapolate it 20 years into the future, and then place today's man into tomorrow's world--exploring humanity's possibilities. Sadly, the "silent artillery of time" has worn down his vision.

Additionally, there are grave continuity errors. Originally, the monoliths were blasting caps for primitive species' thinking caps; now they are just outdated hardware in need of an update patch. In "2001," there are multiple monoliths on Earth (2001, Ch. 2), and after Moon-Watcher expands his mind, TMA-0 disappears (2001, Ch. 5), only to be dug up in Africa in "3001." In "2010"'s epilogue "20,001," Clarke presents the Europans with Swfitinan twist: bickering over religion, philosophy, and the nature of God the Monolith. But this discussion cannot happen, since the monoliths disappear, and the Europans are stuck in an evolutionary cul-du-sac (Ch. 31). And, at the end of 2061 (my favorite of the series), the Great Wall has eBowman, eHal, and wise eFloyd as a human Holy Trinity (Clarke's words, not mine), but eFloyd is conspicuously absent (2061, Ch. 59).

And there is eDave: Originally, he was the next step in human evolution. Now he is a semi-used subroutine, akin to a Yahoo! Widget. The expression "Star Child" does not appear in this book, only as a back-cover blurb.

Of these discontinuities, Clarke merely asserts that his books are not direct linear, sequels, but variations on the same themes, and occurring in parallel universes. This explanation is really an excuse not to hold himself to higher standards. If each book is its own continuity, then why not have each chapter with its own continuity, or each sentence? By disregarding the continuity, Clarke disregards the theme, the plot, and the whole purpose for writing a book.

Then there are the difficulties in projecting future civilization. Clarke honestly admits "A writer who sets out to describe a civilization superior to his own is obviously attempting the impossible. ("The Lost Worlds of 2001 Ch. 34). Well, "physician, heal thyself." The cloned dinosaurs and kongs, the brain-computer interface, and using a computer virus to crash the Cosmic Server were science-fiction clichés known to every John Q. Popcorn (P. 265).

In the endless end-matter, Clarke excuses this last item by saying he never saw "Independence Day (Single Disc Widescreen Edition)," and claiming that he came up with it independently. Actually, this was used earlier in Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Fifth Season "I, Borg." And the computer virus was really a modification of a natural virus, which was H. G. Wells's deus ex machina in "The War of the Worlds (Modern Library Classics)"

Speaking deus ex machina, this series is essential religious: During the writing of 2001, Clarke noted, "Saw Carol Reed's film about Michelangelo `The Agony and the Ecstasy.' One line particular struck me--the use of the phrase `God mad man in His own image." This, after all, is the theme of our movie." (Lost Worlds of 2001, 39).

Yet Clarke has a weird take on religions (Ch. 9), which is hilarious, since the franchise is essentially Christian: Replace aliens with God, the monolith with Christ, and evolution with salvation, then you have the core Christian message. As Athanasius said, "God became man so that man might be god." (On the Incarnation (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei)) What C. S. Lewis wrote about Christ applies to Dave Bowman: "In Christ a new kind of man appeared; and the new kind of life which began in Him is to be put into us." (Mere Christianity).

Think of the Monolith Trinity: Floyd is the wise Father, Bowman the son who dies and is a mediator, and Hal is a fine Holy Ghost. Why, then did Clarke feel the need apologize to people of faith in his endless end-matter? He has just started his own religion with the story.


*

I was fascinated to learn that the book's core idea goes back to the brainstorming sessions for "2001." In his journal, Clarke recorded that the monoliths may be malevolent: "Suggested to Stanley that `they' might be machines who regard organic life as a hideous disease. Stanley thinks this is cute and thinks we've got something." (Lost Worlds, p. 32)

More to the point: "Fighting hard to stop Stan from bringing Dr. Pool back from the dead. I'm afraid his obsession with immortality is overcoming his artistic instincts." (Lost Worlds of 2001, p. 36).

Ahem!

I dislike this books. I would have preferred having the Trinity of Bowman, Hal, and Floyd meet with Poole discuss the possibility of the monoliths malfunctioning. Then have the Trinity get control of some portion (or all) of the monolith network. The book could have ended with the threesome setting the monoliths on back on track, or meeting Clindar and the Firstborn, or even the higher Powers that Be.

So can Clarke salvage the franchise? They may be a story in-between 2061 and 3001 that would account for Floyd's absence. Another thread would be the nano-reassembly of Dave, hinted at in Chapter 6. The monolith's supervisor is 450 l.y. away, so that gives us a time frame for a response (Ch. 34). Or we would finally me the Firstborn or the powers and entities that are higher than Firstborn, as they send repair crews to fix the malfunctioning monoliths.

This last one may be what Clarke wants: an apology from God.

(Too bad Douglas Adams already did this in "Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)")

P. S. Susan Calvin is from "I, Robot."

**WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED 2061, THERE MIGHT BE A SPOILER OR TWO WITHIN THE REVIEW** 3001 is NOT a masterpiece. No, it is not absolutely terrible, but fans of the odyssey series are sure to hate it. That is because of the major, simply unignorable inconsistencies that contradict the other books that this book has. The very weak plot and out-of-the-blue, anticlimatic ending does not help, either. The premise of the novel sounds quite intriguing: Frank Poole, the famous astronaut in 2001 who was presumably killed by HAL, actually survives in a "frozen before actual death" state, drifting away from the solar system, almost a thousand years hence. The plot of the book sets itself up, and proceeds, immediately. Frank Poole is dicovered in the first few pages, and, with the enormous databases of information that the year 3001 has, is identified immediately. He is treated, and told what has happened to him as quickly as possible (page 18). Thus, Frank is truly a time-traveler, and the ideas that this premise leaves suggests intriguing possibilities. Frank, experiencing no culture-shock, finds out how society has advanced: the colonization and terraforming of Venus, needle-like towers that sprout from the earth into space where people live, the Internet access through the mind, and more. The problem that many people may have with this novel, however, is that this is, in essence, the entire plot. Frank represents us; he is a cardboard character that is viewing the world a thousand years hence, and that is all he really does. After a while, this could get boring. And what about Dave, HAL, and Floyd? Floyd does not even make an appearance in this book, Dave and HAL have been severely cheapened. The star-child originally had the ability to travel anywhere through time and space at complete free will (his time-travelling abilities can be evidenced in 2010). Now, Dave--now fused with HAL, cannot travel faster than the speed of light. There are other, even greater inconsistencies that render this book not a true sequel to the former novels, but an independent story that borrows many elements from the previous sagas. Characterisation is weak, of course, but Clarke normally compensates for this by creating a good story. The story, however, is far from great. It goes nowhere until the third quarter, and then, when events appear to become exciting, the story shortly fizzles afterward. There are other ways in which Clarke has, in the past, compensated for weak characters. One way, for example, is to characterise a supercomputer (HAL), turning a "mere" inanimate object into a complex character. Another way to show a charcter coming through is when an extraordinary event has happened to him. When Frank finds out what happened to Dave, that could be considered an extraordinary event. But Clarke does not take advantage of this opportunity to show Mr. Poole as more than just a cardboard cutout. Where is the shocked reaction, the dismay, and the disbelief? Where is the "this just can't be happening!" feeling? Making a crude paraphrase of Frank's genuine reaction: "This is what happened to him? I don't believe it! Amazing! I hope I can try to contact him." That's it! Frank is equally one-dimensional when he actually MEETS his old commander. No tears, no incredulity, etc. This book could have been so much better, so much more complex. Instead it leaves something that is much to be desired.

This book represents the embarrasing and unfortunate effort of Arthur C. Clarke to continue to cash in on the high profile of both his name and one of the most famous science fiction series ever. Incredibly, Clarke brings back Frank Poole, who as it turns out was not actually dead after being subjected to the vacuum of space and abandoned by Discovery. Even if we could believe that the gravity of Jupiter or one of its moons would not pull in a human body in a thousand years allowing it to float out to a point near Neptune, the idea of a human body withstanding the lack of both oxygen and air pressure for one thousand years and being in a state of advanced hibernation is unthinkable. Clarke spends the bulk of the story showing us Poole's adaptation to life a thousand years in the future, and then makes one last attempt to explain his intentions for the monolith and Bowman/HAL. This attempt fails again, proving the futility of the continuation of this series. It is disappointing to see one of the most acclaimed science fiction authors ever destroying his reputation for the sake of staying in the public's mind and wallets.

This book starts out badly, and then gets worse. Clarke, not content to rest on his laurels after completing his original 2001 trilogy, decided to make a great leap forward a full 1,000 years to show us his vision of what our human society would look like at the start of the Fourth Millennium. This he does by resurrecting astronaut Frank Poole, previously notable mainly for being HAL 9000's first victim, after he'd been found adrift in deep space, and then plopping him right smack in the world of 3001 and letting us see it through Poole's eyes. This is, at best, the stuff of cheap pulp science fiction, and a man of Clarke's scientific knowledge should have been embarrassed to use it as a key plot device. This is, after all, the man who gave us the notion of putting astronauts in hibernation for long duration space flight, an idea that, though technically challenging, at least sounded reasonably plausible. In contrast, re-animating a corpse that's been dead for a thousand years is just absurd.

Anyway, it starts from there, and quickly heads downhill. A common critique of science fiction is that it's often heavy on the science and light on the fiction. Putting aside Poole's magical, er, `revival', the rest of the science is quite good. And it is also the only part of the book that is genuinely imaginative and interesting. Clarke's 3001 does sound eminently plausible, there have been great strides in space travel, for instance, and yet there's still been no star voyages, no discovery of "hyper drive" or "warp drive", for instance. But once he veers away from his vision of futuristic science and technology, the train starts to leave the rails. There is little sense that people had advanced artistically, culturally, morally, spiritually or in any other way besides technologically. True, there's less crime, for example, but that's only because every person is outfitted with an electronic device that plugs directly into their brain, thus allowing potential criminals and other forms of deviancy to be monitored and dealt with. As a result of developments such as these, future life is generally safe, healthy, and pleasurable, but also generally bland and seemingly lacking in any higher sense of purpose. It is, not coincidentally, also lacking in religious faith and values, which also makes for the most controversial (and, in my opinion, poorly handled) part of the book.

Clarke isn't exactly subtle in his views on the subject. Early on, Poole finds that whenever he utters the word "God", even as a mere figure of speech, people react as if he's just used a dirty word. It seems in the future, religion, while apparently not outright illegal, appears to be strongly discouraged. Clarke dredges up the usual arguments, most notably the case of the Inquisition, to try to portray all religion as a sham at best, and a form of insanity at worst, but ultimately they fall flat. This is probably due to the fact that Clarke seems to have made only the shallowest and most rudimentary efforts to understand the subject of religion, having, for instance, one character pompously proclaim that religion was simply the byproduct of fear, it obviously never occurring to him that it might also be the byproduct of hope, even love. And, finally, it is interesting to note that, while the 2001 series makes for an entertaining creation myth to explain mankind's evolution from ape to thinking human, there's a moral to be derived from the fact that the mysterious monolith brings us only intelligence, but not wisdom or virtue.

I wish Clarke had stopped with the first book. 2001 was Science Fiction at its finest; a perfect blend of science and fiction, showing a mastery of imagination that affirmed Clarke as one of the maestros of the genre. Some of the best parts of that book were the questions it left unanswered. What did the star-child actually do? Why did HAL mutiny? What is the nature of the progenitor civilization?

All good fiction shares this one virtue: it allows the reader a private mental space. Our imaginations are given room to breath and we are afforded the opportunity to reach our own conclusions because enough of a resolution is provided to complete the story, but no more. Too much exposition fences in a universe that must remain, if it is to compel us, both expansive and elusive.

2001 also dealt successfully with big themes: humanity's place in the universe, the nature of sentient thought, the definition of life, moral judgment in a machine.

These are all elements that are missing from 3001. An astronaut is resurrected who should have remained dead. A society is exposited that is fundamentally no different from ours. This is a poor resolution, especially after an event as momentous as the emergence of the star-child. It's all terribly anti-climactic. It's as though we were given a thorough and detailed exposition of Odysseus' retirement after his great struggles. Enjoyable for Odysseus perhaps, and certainly well deserved, but hardly the compelling stuff of epic, and of no interest to posterity.

Blandness is the great pitfall of science fiction. Plot, character, setting, themes, even the quality of the writing can be second rate, but the imagination must scintillate. In 3001, the imagination plods and Clarke tries to make up for its absence with a series of vignettes that make no new contributions to the human story. We end up with a work that is too clever by half and too comfortable by far. All in all, one of Clarke's weakest contributions within a lifetime omnibus of the highest achievement.

This was my first Arthur C. Clarke novel. Like a lot of people I've seen the Kubrick movie several times and I've known _of_ Clarke, but I had never read any of Clarke's novels. Though this is the last book in a trilogy, I had no trouble getting into the story.

A body is found floating out in space, and when a space tug Goliath hauls it in we find it is Frank Poole, who has been presumed dead or missing for 1000 years. Due to the deep freeze of space, Poole is able to be revived and is amazed to discover 1000 years has passed. All the people he knows are dead, the life that he knew is long since gone, but curiously he is the subject of much attention, as he is a historical curiosity. People want to meet him and talk with him, and he becomes a kind of a celebrity.

Part of the fun of the novel comes with Clarke's showing how a person suddenly tranferred 1000 years into the future would have to deal with all the changes that have happened to society, and Clarke's wit and charm shine very brightly in a lot of these instances. My favorite of the changes was the Five Towers that have been erected over every continent on Earth that act as a sort of giant elevator from ground level up into space. This was a very vivid image and Clarke seemed to have fun with it. Conversely, I thought the Dragon Scene was a little off course. It just didn't make sense in the natural progression of a realistically-told sci-fi novel to introduce a woman flying on the back of a dragon, even if it turns out to be a technological device.

But Clarke recovers nicely and moves his plot moves on to more recognizable things like the Europa monolith, Hal, and the voice of Poole's old shipmate Dave Bowman. Poole acts a messenger sent to communicate with the monolith which has integrated Dave Bowman into itself. We learn more about the monolith, its origins and its purpose, and the novel builds to an exciting ending wherein the course of human evolution may be altered forever.

3001: The Final Odyssey was great fun to read. It is a story by a master of the genre. I do see how that if you are a regular sci-fi reader, this novel might be a bit slow for you, and a number of other customer reviews have touched on that. Clarke seems to be writing science fiction for a mainstream audience. But if you're just looking for a well-written, fun read to spend a few hours away from the hum-drum world we all have to live in 3001: The Final Odyssey is a great place to begin.

Sincerely yours,

Stacey

I really enjoyed the previous books in this series and I was really excited when I heard that the final installment had been written, but I was sorely disappointed with this lame and pathetic effort. I couldn't become involved with any of the characters at all. Clarke seems to have characters in the book only as an excuse to give an exposition of what he believes future technology will bring us. Actually, this entire novel, including the entire monolith portion of the story seems extraneous. It seems as if Mr. Clarke simply wanted to deliver his futuristic fantasies about technology and put a few modern dollars in his bank account. The plot was lame, the characters as featureless as the page I was reading them from, and the ending simply uninspired. This is how the devices of aliens who can transform themselves into pure energy are defeated? With a computer virus? Please.

As many loose ends are exposed as tied up here. Now we only have to fear 4001: The Final Oddessey Plus One Thousand, when the supervisor monolith responds to the message and Halman has to be exumed by Poole, who has miraculously survived another millenium only to find that his life is just as boring and emotionally dead as ever.