Arthur C. Clarke
Though the events in this book are said to take place in a parallel universe to that of 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010 is by all accounts a direct sequel. Though there are a few inconsistencies between the two works, the most glaring of which is the movement of the first book's main action from Saturn to Jupiter, this proves a worthy successor to the sci fi classic. Clarke continues the saga of the failed Discovery mission to send readers on another voyage through space that will reveal new truths about the mission and the history of Earth itself. Clarke does a fantastic job mixing high space adventure with subtle hints of philosophy and even psychology. The interactions between the Russian and American crew members seem incredibly realistic, if a bit too nice considering the vast amount of time they've spent isolated on the way to Jupiter, and each member of the crew has a distinct and interesting personality. Clarke doesn't sacrifice human relationships for action, and though there is plenty of excitement and science to go around in this book, Clarke's focus on humanity highlights the philosophical currents that run throughout the book. His treatment of Dr. Chandra in particular is illuminating: the creator of HAL seems at times less human than his creation and though Clarke can be a bit blunt when dealing with Chandra's inability to engage in human interaction, his presence says volumes more about increasing reliance on technology than an academic paper could. Clarke is wonderful at balancing story, characters, science, and philosophy and blending them together to create an original and stunning work.
2010 stays mainly on track as it follows the crew of the Russian space ship Leonov out to Jupiter to investigate the corpse of the Discovery and a mysterious monolith orbiting near Io. A side journey with new Star Child Dave Bowman seems distracting at first, but is later weaved sufficiently into the fabric of the story of the Leonov. Despite Clarke's love of raising tricky philosophical dilemmas and an again uncanny knack for predicting future attitudes twoards space and technology, his tendency to leave his plots unfinished and unexplained is annoying and sadly plagues this book. Readers latch on to the stories of the Leonov and, later, Bowman only to have the plot explode unexplained at the end of the book. Some ambiguity is certainly desirable when dealing with problems of such cosmic proportions, but Clarke leaves a bit too much open-ended at the close of 2010. Whether this is looking towards a sequel or not I don't know, but this feeling of an unfinished story also hampers the power of 2010 as a sequel to 2001. Overall, Clarke delivers an exellent follow-up that, despite feeling a bit raw at times, fits in perfectly with its predecessor. Nods to 2001 only become ridiculous when Clarke reprints long passages from the earlier book and even then they are at least relevant, if unnecesarily repetitive. Clarke adds new characters at will while keeping the universe and feel of 2001 more or less intact and 2010: Odyssey Two is a worthy addition to the Space Odyssey series, a serious examination of humanity's place in the universe lurking inside a good old-fashioned space adventure. Clarke has plenty of imagination to go around and I look forward to reading the next sequel in this worthy series.
Grade: A-
2010 stays mainly on track as it follows the crew of the Russian space ship Leonov out to Jupiter to investigate the corpse of the Discovery and a mysterious monolith orbiting near Io. A side journey with new Star Child Dave Bowman seems distracting at first, but is later weaved sufficiently into the fabric of the story of the Leonov. Despite Clarke's love of raising tricky philosophical dilemmas and an again uncanny knack for predicting future attitudes twoards space and technology, his tendency to leave his plots unfinished and unexplained is annoying and sadly plagues this book. Readers latch on to the stories of the Leonov and, later, Bowman only to have the plot explode unexplained at the end of the book. Some ambiguity is certainly desirable when dealing with problems of such cosmic proportions, but Clarke leaves a bit too much open-ended at the close of 2010. Whether this is looking towards a sequel or not I don't know, but this feeling of an unfinished story also hampers the power of 2010 as a sequel to 2001. Overall, Clarke delivers an exellent follow-up that, despite feeling a bit raw at times, fits in perfectly with its predecessor. Nods to 2001 only become ridiculous when Clarke reprints long passages from the earlier book and even then they are at least relevant, if unnecesarily repetitive. Clarke adds new characters at will while keeping the universe and feel of 2001 more or less intact and 2010: Odyssey Two is a worthy addition to the Space Odyssey series, a serious examination of humanity's place in the universe lurking inside a good old-fashioned space adventure. Clarke has plenty of imagination to go around and I look forward to reading the next sequel in this worthy series.
Grade: A-
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