Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #856862 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review

Then it came close enough for visual inspection.

"Goliath here", Chandler radioed Earthwards, his voice tinged with pride as well as solemnity. "We're bringing aboard a 1000-year-old astronaut. And I can guess who it is. "

Thus after drifting to an icy death in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the body of astronaut Frank Poole is recovered in the outer reaches of the Solar System. Preserved at near absolute zero, it is a simple task for medical science a millennium hence to restore Poole to life--though strangely for a novel which pits religion against science, the metaphysical implications of technological resurrection are unexamined --and the first half is devoted to Poole's integration into the society of the future. If anything he adjusts with far too little grief or culture shock: apart from mourning his dog, and learning how the new technology works, he faces no major difficulties. Still, the world of the future is drawn with broad, imaginative strokes and apart from a persistent continuity error which makes Poole 6 years old in 2001, this is fascinating stuff. The plot kicks into gear with the revelation that the famous black monoliths may ultimately not have humanity's interests at heart, leading to a perfunctorily presented struggle for survival. Clarke himself notes that the ending is functionally identical to that of Independence Day, though novel and film were created simultaneously. Not the hoped-for late classic, 3001: the Final Odyssey does provide the satisfaction of closure to Clarke's epic Odyssey Quartet.--Gary S. Dalkin

Customer Reviews

Readable but could have been much better
Clarke returns to the universe of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the fourth and last novel, this time focusing on Frank Poole, the astronaut murdered by Hal in 2001. A thousand years later, Poole's frozen corpse is retrieved and revived by a society that regards him as a hero and a living national treasure. At first he's fully occupied with learning to live in an alien society and providing information to historians. But as boredom sets in, he finds himself drawn back to space and the Jupiter system... and the possibility of a meeting with David Bowman.

As Clarke notes in an afterword, it's not possible to be completely consistent in a series about the near future that was written over a period of thirty years, and this book is better viewed as a variation on a theme rather than a sequel. With that in mind, the within series continuity glitches aren't an issue, although there are a couple of annoying glitches within the book's own timeline. The real problem is that this book is mostly a travelogue of the year 3001, with the section about the monoliths feeling sketchy and tacked on. There's also a problem with some blatant preaching in places, when characters who are supposed to be having a conversation sound more as if they're reading a prepared speech to sway an audience. I found it
annoying, and I agree with many of the views being espoused.

It's a readable and often enjoyable book, but I expect better from Clarke. I'd have felt cheated if I'd spent the money to buy this in hardback.

What a poor ending!
I was extremely dissapointed with this book. I am a massive fan of 2001 the book and the film and have read all the books in the 2001 series but I wish that I had not read this one. 2001 and even 2010 were magical and mysterious, leaving the reader to make their own meanings and ideas. With 2063 the series began to become rather ordinary - just like any run of the mill science fiction book but 2063 still left many unanswered questions. 3001 unfortunatly, decided to answer all the questions.

I had though that 2001 was one of those stories that should never be explained. It should be left there to hang for all eternity, always to leave you wondering. It would be extremely difficult to come up with an appropriate ending to the series and 3001 just didn't do it. The ending was very "ordinary" and boring. It pulled the entire series down to "normal" level and basically ruined it in my opinion.

As a stand alone, the book is good and interesting and enjoyable in a Buck Rogers fashion. As an ending to the 2001 series - it's a disaster. I wish I had never read it.

Odyssey Four
Following on from '2001', '2010' and '2061', '3001' completes Clarke's series of alien contact, as Frank Poole is reanimated a thousand years into his future to confront alien monoliths once more.

When I first read this on publication in 1997 I hated it, thinking it a travesty of the original '2001: A Space Odyssey', however ten years later having re-read all four novels back to back I find myself a lot more impressed by it, with the ultimate showdown between humanity and the monoliths being a natural extention of the ongoing narrative of the earlier books, and the fact that certain aspects are open to debate (are the monoliths malfunctioning, or is this all another alien test?) adding to the fun.

Clarke's increasing habit of re-inserting entire (albeit small) chapters from previous novels does reach annoying heights here, though the argumet could be made he is refreshing readers memories of past events, but on the whole '3001 - The Final Odyseey' is an enjoyable ride, as Clarke paints an intruiging future life for humanity and brings the monolith tale to a close.

A solid finale.