Trouble began brewing in the Odyssey series with the release of 2010: Odyssey Two, in which Clarke decided to abandon all differences between the previous book and the movie version, and act as though only the movie events had occurred. As someone who greatly preferred the book, this disturbed me, in much the same way that George Lucas' constant tinkering with the Star Wars universe irks those fans. The third book brought further unexplained changes, and 3001 continues this tradition; including its protagonist, Frank Poole, having been born in 1996--he went on the Jupiter mission at 5 years old?? Regardless, the story within the novel is the important thing, yes? Poole discovers a world of human minds interfacing directly with computers, genetically engineered dinosaur servants, and massive space elevators built around the equator. He also discovers an impending threat to humanity lurking within the enigmatic monoliths. To fight it, Poole must join forces with Bowman and HAL, now fused into one corporeal consciousness—and the only being with the power to thwart the monoliths’ mysterious creators. ABOUT THE SAGA: The entire Space Odyssey saga is about Man's adventures and hardships in space, our Solar System: the odysseys that he undertakes, thus making the four books Chronicles. And it is definitely about making mankind come face-to-face with the awesomeness and the wonders of the solar system, the ultimate grandeur of nature and evolution, and extra-terrestrial life-forms & intelligence. the Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke is a science-fiction novel that is ultimately compelling. The story, unlike some science-fiction novels, is not too strange or too creepy to get into or understand. The main reason that 3001 does not seem too strange or unrealistic is because it takes place in the future. When playing with the future, the author can make anything sound as if it could be a real thing and suddenly nothing is out of the range of "normalness" even for a fiction novel. Clarke's style is very simple, (the reading level is probably Junior High) but it is filled with some symbolism, many allusions, and a few too many clichés. While Clark's style is simple, it does not take anything away from the story. In fact, I believe that it assists the author in his descriptions. Describing the human race one thousand years from now would seem like such a hard thing to do, but Clarke truly possesses the mark of a great writer and possibly the greatest science fiction wring of his time.

Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: By the year 3001 all the familiar organized religions of the 21st century have died out, having all been discredited by the discovery that aliens had "jump-started" human evolution and that the monolith in Africa was humanity's first object of worship. That said, they aren't entirely disbelievers: they are generally either "Deists", believing in not more than one god, or "Theists", believing in not less than one god. The distinction is somewhat lost on Poole, who is Jewish, and is not elaborated on further. 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).Portal Crossroad World: The Star Gate leads to a hub system at the center of the galaxy with portals leading everywhere else. Written very vividly, it actually puts the reader in the middle of the situations describing almost everything that is necessary. Some parts of the text were edited repeats from Book 1 and 2. However, I felt they were interesting to read again.

Frank conscripts Bowman and HAL, who have now become a single entity—Halman—residing in the monolith's computational matrix, to infect the monolith with a computer virus. More disturbing yet is the peculiar Professor Theodore Khan of Ganymede whose field of interest is the "psychopathology known as religion." His--and obviously Clarke's--ravings against religion and reveal a profound ignorance of religious feeling. He describes some of the cruelties perpetrated in the name of relgion, failing to mention many of the worst. But, he completely ignores the murders of atheism. Let's see--Lenin and Stalin, 40-50 million, Adolph Hitler, 20 million, Mao Zedong, 100-120 million, Pol Pot, a trivial 3 million. Just counting these we a have a total of 173-193 miilion people. That is far more than fell to all the Inquisitions, Crusades, and Jihads combined. Millions slaughtered to produce a world free of God. The main character of the show is Frank Poole, a former astronaut who was killed in the first book of the series. He is revived in the year 3001 and finds himself in a world that is vastly different from the one he remembers. Poole is a curious and adventurous character who is eager to explore the galaxy and discover new life forms. So much for the hokey and the lame; on to the derivative. No kidding, a significant portion of "3001" appears to have been lifted directly from the film "Independence Day." In the book's epilogue, Clarke himself vehemently denies ever seeing or knowing anything about "Independence Day," but I call b------t. Either way, I'm not sure which is worse, a respected author ripping off ideas from one of "The Fresh Prince's" movies or coming up with those inane, B-movie ideas on his own. Well-paced and absorbing . . . It is as a flight of fancy by the master of science fiction that 3001makes its mark.” — The TimesI snorted when I recognized the man who was to be the main character, but went with the idea since it was a way for Clarke to 'prove' a theory he mentioned briefly in 2001 but which I very greatly doubt could really be possible. But truth is stranger than fiction, so who knows, this event might happen. Not sure I would want to be the person to experience it, though. One millennium later, Poole's freeze-dried body is discovered in the Kuiper belt by a comet-collecting space tug named the Goliath, and revived. Poole is taken home to learn about the Earth in the year 3001. is the 4th and final volume in Arthur C. Clarke’s “Odyssey” series, starting with “2001”. The other 2 books are “201o - Odyssey 2” and “2061 - Odyssey 3”. I have to admit to not having read the middle 2 books, but since Arthur C. Clarke himself regarded this group of novels as not a linear series, or even sequential in the traditional sense, this did not seem to matter. The author tells us we should view the book as having some of the same characters and situations, with “variations on the same theme…. but not necessarily happening in the same universe.” Hmm. 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.

Precursors: The mysterious race only know as "The creators of the Monoliths". The prologue of 3001 gave them the name "Firstborn", but it is never used by the characters in-story. I grew up on Clarke. His novels and short stories fuelled my avid interest in science, evolution, and academic pursuits. It used to be that I could not wait to read the latest Clarke edition.So. It's still a decent read, but far from a 5-star effort. Sir Arthur's windup of his Space Odyssey series is still fun, decent SF, and worth reading. Reread rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up.

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.Rides his usual hobby horses—anti-war, anti-religion, anti-government, anti-anti. His ideas aren’t necessarily logical, but he presents them well. Not terribly interested in facts. When writing a book set in 3001, who can say what they know about the world of 2001? Again, instead of ending it just frays away. What plot there is ends, but it's an unsatisfying end. This was my experience in 1977, nine years after the film’s release, and I had already seen both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which were special effects wonders in comparison. There was just this weird feeling that something happened. The 11 year old that I used to be had just had the second of only two real theophanies I would ever have…the first one occurred when I was six years old. Then ending of 2001 indicates that the Monolith can act as a wormhole and it transports Bowman to another solar system, apparently that of its builders. The sequels do not include any form of faster-than-light travel or communication and Bowman is said to have been "absorbed" by the monolith rather than transported anywhere. Halman: a merging of the entities that were once HAL 9000 and Dave Bowman, Halman communicates with Poole at various points throughout the novel, warning Poole of the possibility that the monoliths may issue negative judgment against humanity.