Customer Reviews

The Last Theorem

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I wish I could say that this last book by one of the greats of the field is a masterpiece, but unfortunately it's not. Instead, this book covers many of the same ideas that Clarke has worked with before: space elevators, solar sailing, omnipotent aliens, AI and computerized immortality, achievement of world peace, and set mainly in Clarke's beloved adopted homeland of Sri Lanka. There is little that is new here.

Like most of the late period Clarke books, this one has a co-author, in this case a writer who has been around almost as long as Clarke, and his influence shows in this book, I think, in deeper, more fleshed-out characterization than most of Clarke's works have, which is a definite positive. There have been few depictions of real mathematicians in sf, and the portrait painted here of a man fascinated (some would say obsessed, a trait common to those bitten by this particular mathematical bug) by Fermat's Last Theorem is well done. Those in the immediate vicinity of this protagonist are also drawn with more than light pencil sketches, as we see his family, school friends, instructors, and eventually his wife both form part of what he is and sharply influence what he does with his life. As part of this depiction, there are descriptions of certain fairly simple mathematical puzzles and games from pentominoes to the combinatorial numbers relationship with the binary number base, things most people who are interested in math at all will have at least heard of, and these provide some concrete and understandable looks at the world of number theory.

However, the alien angle is very poorly done. Not only are these beings (multiple races) inadequately described in terms of their motivations, biology, and culture (I could never visualize them as real beings), the sections of the book that detail their actions is written in almost self-mocking language at sharp variance with the tone of the rest of the book. This is not too much of problem for the about the first three-quarters of the book, as this material is limited to a few paragraphs here and there, and doesn't interrupt the main story flow, but near the end when the alien's actions become a major portion of the plot, it seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Worse, the alien actions provide a far too easy `out' from the problem of achieving world peace without devolving into a police state or a dictatorship that had been so nicely set up earlier.

There is an entire subplot dealing with the protagonist's son who shows up with a certain type of brain disability that looked like it should go somewhere significant, but there was nothing ever really made of it.

The ending of this book feels very rushed and compressed, with many events glossed over or only hinted at. I think if this section had been written at the same detail level as the rest of the book, it would have made for a far stronger work.

Overall, this book provides a nice return to the ideas and themes that made Clarke famous, with more real characters than is typical for him, but its faults eventually overcame its good qualities, leaving me quite disappointed.

Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

There's a metric that I've found very useful as I read any book. I continually ask myself, "Will I ever want to read this book again?" If the answer is "Yes," it goes into my library. If the answer is "No," it's relegated to the public library donation pile. As I applied this metric over many years, I built up a large collection of books that I enjoyed very much the first time through, and still enjoy re-reading from time to time. Most of the works of the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke are in this category, as evidenced by my pristine paperback first editions (we're talking 35- and 50-cent-cover-price books here!) of all of his classic science fiction books. Unfortunately, "The Last Theorem," a collaboration between Clarke and his colleague Frederick Pohl, is not a keeper.

I really wanted to like "The Last Theorem" much more than I did. I hoped it would offer the same sense of wonder that used to be such an enthralling part of reading science fiction, but is rarely found today. The central story, the life of Sri Lankan mathematician Ranjit Subramanian and his successful effort to prove Fermat's Last Theorem, seemed to offer a lot of promise. But, ultimately, I found that the book did not deliver.

Set mostly on Earth in an undated but not-distant future in which brushfire wars rage worldwide, it somewhat resembles Clarke's "Imperial Earth" in being more of a "gee whiz" travelogue than a story the reader can sink his or her teeth into. The fact that Subramanian proves Fermat's Last Theorem is largely incidental--it really has little bearing on the tale. And many things in the book are rehashed from other works. There's a space elevator, of course. As in "The Fountains of Paradise," its Earthside terminal is in Sri Lanka, despite the physical impossibility of it being there (the terminal must be on the Equator, which Sri Lanka is not). Unlike "Fountains," the space elevator in "The Last Theorem" is throwaway technology--you'll find none of the details about the "skyhook" that made "Fountains" such a great read. There's also pentominoes, solar sailing and human consciousnesses transferred into computers--other favorite Clarke subjects. There's really not much new, and, sad to say, its all a bit boring. Most unforgivably, in telling the story of Subramanian's entire life in a scant 300 pages, its often quite superficial. Applying the metric I mentioned earlier, "The Last Theorem" is worth reading once, but it's not worth re-reading. It's not bad, but it's not great, either, and thus I give it a middle-of-the-road rating.

I had a special reason for wanting to like "The Last Theorem." Years ago, when my wife and I were on vacation in Sri Lanka and had a few hours to spare in Colombo, I looked up "Clarke" in the telephone directory. There was only one. I noted the address and we set out on foot from our hotel with a crude city map. We had no trouble finding Mr. Clarke's villa--a former embassy building, as I recall--and I boldly approached a Sri Lankan man working under the bonnet of a Land Rover in the driveway. "Is Mr. Clarke in?" I asked. He was. The great Arthur C. Clarke, one of my childhood heroes, came out to meet us, invited us into his home and we spent a short but very enjoyable time (at least to me) talking about spaceflight, the "Golden Age" of science fiction, rocket testing at White Sands Missile Range and other wide-ranging subjects. Mr. Clarke was gracious, pleasant and accommodating to a headstrong American tourist who barged in uninvited and disturbed his privacy. I'll never forget that.

I picked up this book in great anticipation and I really, really wanted to like this story. I just (painfully) finished this book today, and words to describe my thoughts include "disappointment", "unsatisfactory", and "thoroughly bored". I hope people do not remember Clarke by this piece of work, and I really think this is a total embarrassment to his illustrious writing career.

PLOT: Basically, I grinded through the entire book expecting the author to make his point soon and tie the entire story together. It was a case when I really wanted to put the book down, but felt that the author has a trick up his sleeves on the next page. This never happened. Ideas were raised and not followed up on, which make you wonder why it was mentioned in the first place. It seems like a mix-match of many different ideas without any direction. Some of the plots cooked up by the author also seem ridiculous and quite childish. It's one of those that makes you cringe as you read through it.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Superficial at best. Characters do not have a life and soul, and I never developed any emotional response to any one of them. Attempts at portraying real feelings make me feel like I'm reading the work of a 3rd grade student.

I'm never posted any reviews on amazon before, and I'm wondering why I felt the strong need to write something here. I think it's because I feel betrayed by Clarke.

Don't waste your time on this poorly written and conceived book.

I picked this book up hoping that it would have the same sort of magic that earlier Clarke fiction had in spades. Sadly, it was a major disappointment in every way. Other reviewers have it right - poor plot, cardboard cutout characters, oddly mocking tones, unresolved developments. It is a mystery how this could have left the galleys.
Ultimately, the worst realization for me was to conclude that had this book not been authored by two of the greatest names in the SF pantheon, it would never have been accepted for publication.
Which leads me to think that this was not really a book that had to be written by choice, but possibly to simply fulfill a contract or pay off an obligation. Clarke and Pohl mailed this one in, and it shows. Unworthy coda to an amazing career.

I'm a long time fan of Arthur C. Clarke's SF pieces, and I am saddened to have to say that The Last Theorem is very poorly written and edited; the story line in the early part of the book starts out promisingly enough, but loses steam in the middle for no apparent reason, and close to the end there seems to be an entire chapter missing then the book jumps to its concluding chapter. For those who respect the lifelong contribution to SF by the late Mr. Clarke, please stay away from this book, and re-read his earlier novels that made him so famous.

Notably, I have read a good bit of Pohl's published SF. This book reads a bit like him rather than clarke at times. I would be curious to know who was the primary writer, etc.

My review does contain spoilers. Consider whether to continue reading, as plot threads will be deflated.

I found the first half of the book well-paced, with the Aliens being 1-paragraph backdrops/subplot elements of the early progression of the protagonist's life, up until his kidnapping/incarceration. At that point, some plot elements seemed a bit contrived (the manner of his rescue could only be described as improbable), and furthermore the pacing of the development of the plotlines, with the protagonist's family life being a central feature, seemed to become very slow. I skipped many pages in the last third of the book to simply get to the next major plot event.

I think this book would have been better with a re-tooling of the pacing in the last half. The actual main plot-lines and ideas are fascinating, though the telescoped epilogue was confusing in terms of how the great galactics were supplanted.

I agree with almost everything that has been said by the two main reviewers, but I'll put it more simply. A great premise: the light waves (and other advanced waves) from the 1945 bombs in Japan reach the guardians of the universe, and it is determined that Earth (which has always been watched closely) must be sterilized.
That means us. The sterilizers start toward earth years ago (60??), and arrive in our solar system at about the same time as earth discovers a way to make our planet peaceable (or nearly so).

Will the galactic cleansers back off, or eliminate us anyway?

This could have been a thriller, a tense book of the Michael Crichton or Larry Niven or Alastair Reynolds type, that kept you on the edge of your seat. But it too often plays to the comedy aspects of the other galactic races, and basically tries to be too cute.

I give it three stars for the first 90% of the book, and one star for the sappy, we are the galaxy, 13001 space odyssey ending.

It pains me to say this, but Clarke has done a great disservice to the SF genre with the publishing of this book. The utopian paradise is bland and irritating. The alien subplot is neglected and eventually overtly aborted. The conclusion is a hasty, extemporaneous disaster.

I picked this book up from the library based on the summary inside the dust jacket. The synopsis is misleading and embellishes the actual narrative, making Ranjit's activities at the NSA and Pax per Fidem seem more compelling than they actually are. I feel deceived.

There is a reason that you will have misgivings merely after the first few chapters and the explanation is simple. This is most certainly not one of Clarke's best; if anything it feels like an attempt by a virgin SF author.

On the morning of Sir Arthur's death, I pre-ordered this, his last novel. And that after having panned his last three, which were co-written with Stephen Baxter.

First, an observation. I think Sir Arthur may be more "religious" than he claimed to be. Even in ""2001: A Space Odyssey" which clearly put Clarke on the map, he referred to a creature, transcending the material world, close to "God." In this one, the authors create the "Grand Galactics," known collectively as "Bill." There is something distinctive, bordering on the "divine" about them/it.

The story itself is a biography of a young man in Sri Lanka, where Clarke lived for many years. In the book's beginning, the boy, Ranjit Subramanian, has an "affair" of sorts with a good friend. That friend pops up throughout the rest of the man's life, but sporadically, without much rhyme or reason.

In the meantime, the Grand Galactics witness Hiroshima and Nagasaki from afar. Their subordinate creatures of which there are many, the One Point Fives and the Nine Limbeds, for example, are authorized to destroy earth which has become a threat to life elsewhere. It's a theme not unlike "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and inferably "divine."

While this is happening, and while Subramanian is getting a little older, he's imprisoned for a couple of years. That was my first major problem with the text. That imprisonment served no purpose other than to indicate that other technical changes were taking place around the earth. And nothing later came of the imprisonment, no revenge on those who'd imprisoned him, no enlightenment as a result of it, or anything like that. What was the point?

Anyway, during the period, a nuclear weapon is developed which, like Clarke's (and Kube-McDowell's) book "The Trigger," renders its victims' weapons impotent. And that eventually provided a reason for the Grand Galactics' reconsideration of the earth's fate.

Then there was a space transportation means developed, taken from Clarke's novel "The Fountains of Paradise." In neither this book nor that one was I able to picture that means very clearly, but that may be my weakness rather than that of the books. Ranjit's daughter uses that means in a "solar sailing" race from which the message of the Grand Galactics and their subordinates' message comes to us earthlings--in ways that I dare not give away to the potential reader.

The whole story was rather slow in here. We saw Ranjit's kids develop; they had their own gifts and weaknesses. It was interesting, but didn't make me long for the next chapter.

All of these creatures by the way make themselves known by the end of the novel. Even the text refers to how boring the creatures' dissertations and inquiries could be!

And the end of the book I'm still trying to figure out. Ranjit's beloved spouse dies in a diving accident, her consciousness is inserted into a machine, somewhat like the theme of Clarke's (and McQuay's) novel "Richter 10." One passes thousands of years into the future as this consciousness survives and...what? Who is that guy behind the curtain?

I guess the most interesting theme of the text is that of the "theorem." in fact, it interested me enough to study a little about Fermat and that theorem. I'm still trying to figure out its utility, but at least I looked it up. Then there was the incorporation of contemporary themes into the text, especially US hegemony and militarism. But the authors didn't do much with those themes. I appreciate that they were there as that what makes a "story" good. But something more might have been done with them.

I guess I felt let down at the end of the book as I had more questions than answers. Again, there were themes that didn't serve any discernable purpose, others that didn't go where they might have.

If you're a Clarke collector, as I am, you might want it. If you want an uplifting story, any mathematical or scientific insights, you're going to be let down.

Warning! All fans of either writer: Stay away from this book! It is a tedious, implausible, somewhat juvenile rehashing of Clark's favorite themes for the past twenty years. This is the rare case, when the sum of two figures is far less than the value of either one taken individually.