Review of '3001: The Final Odyssey'

3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Well, the end of the road (?) for the series began with 2001 (though many are more familiar with the movie than the novel – which is a pity since the novel offers so much more depth and characterisation) and perhaps it is none the sooner. 2001 was a sell-contained novel that stands quite well by itself and it is unforunate, in many respects, that Clarke felt compelled to continue with the story. I loved the sheer ambiguity of the first novel and to have it all explained is perhaps a bit of an anti-climax. This latest novel tells the final days of Frank Poole on a thoroughly modern, and strange, earth. What, Frank Poole, you say, “isn't he dead”, you ask? Yes, evidently frozen in time is brought back for one final chapter in the 2001 saga. A bit slowly paced with a story line that is much more linear than his other novels in this series. One wonders, as one reads the book, as to where the author is going with the story. Much better than a few of the other chapters in this series it deserves a read if only to complete the time you have invested reading the previous.

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Genre: Science Fiction

• The Light of Other Days
• Time's Eye (Book 1 of A Time Odyssey)