3001 The Final Odyssey [Anglais] [Poche]

The Odyssey of the Monolith and the Hal 9000 computer is among the most fabled stories in all of science fiction. The first in the series, the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction movies ever (although, I do not share opinion, even though it's a good film). It was followed up on book and on film by the successful "2010: The Year We Make Contact (Odyssey Two in the book)". "2010" was a more straightforward story, but it pushed for greater ideas about HAL's existence and the purpose of the Monolith. The third part of this series, the book "2061: Odyssey Three", reached the satisfying conclusion of the tortured Dr. Heywood Floyd's involvement in the Odyssey. It also helped expand the understanding of the purpose of the Monolith. "3001: The Final Odyssey" presented a tremendous opportunity to tie up all the loose ends and answer all the questions. Unfortunately, Arthur C. Clarke's choice in story direction answered all those questions incorrectly. Clarke does reveal the purpose of the Monolith, but what he reveals renders everything we knew about it in the previous three stories totally moot. I will not reveal what it is. You should still read it to find out. I just ended up being very disappointed by the resolution. The ratings given by other reviewers show that they felt much the same way.

The irony of the story is that it had great potential. After 1,000 years of floating in virtual suspended animation in the 'absolute zero' graveyard of space, astronaut Frank Poole's body is discovered in remarkably well preserved, and barely alive (!), form. Poole's amazing revival has provided humanity with an unbelievable to tap into the mind of the only living person to have had first contact with the Monolith. Poole doesn't have too much trouble adjusting the changes in the culture he knew and his newfound celebrity status. He comes to terms with the events of the past and tries to help humanity understand the Monolith as it impacts its future. This is actually quite an entertaining story arc and the reason I didn't give this book a one-star rating. It just feels right reconnecting with Poole. Alas, the book goes south when Clarke defines the purpose of the Monolith. It's very disappointing and leaves the reader flat. Still, for Odyssey completists, you need to read the book to see how it ends (regardless of the disappointment). At only 274 pages, you won't have risked to great a time investment in the process.

This novel begins when Frank Poole, the Discovery astronaut from the novel 2001, and who was killed bt HAL on the first mission to Jupiter, is found by a deep space crew, frozen. He is re-animated by advanced technology, in the year 3001, so all of his previous friends and acquaintances are long dead, dust forever. Poole is able to explore much of the human occupied solar system and later has contact with the mysterious black monolith on Europa, and also with what used to be Dave Bowman and HAL from 2001. This is the novel that concludes the four volume series that began with 2001 back in 1968.

Clarke includes a lot of foreseeable future technology in this book, including nano-assembly of a person from information stored in a memory device to braincaps that connects a person directly to the global information network and even allows a person to recieve in minutes knowledge that now takes years of study. 3001 is a very descriptive novel, Clarke has a lot to say about possible life and technology as it may exist in a thousand years, it seems he does an amazing job, but no one can tell for certain until the year 3001 is here, in the past just predicting things only 10-20 years in the future has been very difficult indeed.

3001 contains thoroughly modern thinking, typical of Clarke, and I am pleased that he wrote it himself without relying on a co-author. I also enjoyed the several pages of notes Clarke has at the end of the book. The major criticism I have for this novel is that the human relationships are only briefly sketched and could have been in more detail. All told though, a fun and easy read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in the Odyssey series. They each had one thing that this book completely lacks: Plot.

3001 seemed to have been slapped together in a week. The actual events that do occur in the story seem to have been thrown in as diversions to are long, dull, obsolete essays by Clarke on his perspective on religion and the moral state of the human race. These soapbox asides are clumsy, polemic, and not substantiated adequately. If you want to read a decent gripe about how self-destructive we are, read something by Kurt Vonnegut instead.

Clarke also seemed overwhelmed by the task of catching Poole up on 1000 years of history. Every character he talks to makes references to the 20th Century; it makes one wonder if nothing interesting happened over the 1000 years Poole was dead outside of improvements in space exploration and industry. Compare what you know about 1000 A.D. to what the characters in 3001 know about 2000 A.D., and the book becomes absurd pretty quickly (braincaps aside).

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).

If you really just want to say that you've read the entire series, get this from the library and get through it as quickly as possible. Don't pay a cent for it.