2061: Odyssey Three (Space Odyssey Series)

The economics of supply and demand, had Mt. Zeus been successfully repositioned to the proximity of Earth, would have effectively lowered its intrinsic value to little more than that of purified water.

The final chapter of the Space Odyssey is a great read. The book flows well like the previous two in the series. I only wish that there was more with David Bowman and Hal. Wish there was more but this definitely adds to the series.

Useless book that just seemed a little contrived in the "cutting edge science" department. There is too much information out there now via the web so we don't need to be spoon fed these facts as a plot crutch anymore. This approach seems so old fashioned now as does the diverse nationalities plot crutch - which as far as I am concerned is a boring and corny plot strategy to make foreign readers interested. In the future melting pot of the world we will all be the same neutral tan colour, we will be bald (recessive genes) and almost certainly speak one universal language which will be derived from Mandarin. Technology will vanish from sight, our mobiles will vanish into our clothes and skin or machine cloud. Communication, information and reading devices will disappear and their functionality will follow us about seamlessly no matter where we go via wifi or whatever that will be called in the future. Which is why Jack Vance SF books are so brilliant and so current even though the best were written more than 30 years ago.

It is good science fiction... but... (spoiler alert) the end is a bit weak and the author copies himself with pretty much the same descriptions from sections used in books 1 and 2. You could see how Clarke builds up the story by adding small plots here and there that finally come together in the end... which is excellent because the scenarios are very compelling and dramatic. However, the climax is very contained and not as intense as in books 1 and 2. Clarke does leave a couple of clues for the final odyssey book... For the most part, the book is entertaining but the end was a bit disappointing. Worth reading though.

This is not a great book. It's really more of an extended novella or perhaps part one of Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey finale, "3001". This story has none of the depth, nuance or scale of Clarke's classic original, "2001" nor its solid follow up "2010".

Clarke creates two focal points 60 years after modern man first comes across The Monolith buried deeply beneath the surface of the moon. One story thread follows Dr. Heywood Floyd, a centenarian whose medical condition forces him to live full time off-Earth. He's been asked to join a scientific mission to land on Halley's comet that's making its regularly scheduled swing near Earth. In parallel, Clarke explores the growth and evolution of the former Jovian moon, and nascent planet, Europa. Surrounding these dual tales is a weak mystery with weaker intrigue that ultimately brings the two threads together.

Clarke is at his best when speculating on a future culture enormously affected by the events in the first two books of the series. Equally as strong is Clarke's evolutionary ruminations on the biological progression of life on Europa - formerly an ice-harden snowball orbiting Jupiter, but instantly transformed when a billion billion monoliths exploded within Jupiter and transformed it into Lucifer, an intra solar system star (at the conclusion of "2010").

"2061" isn't a bad book, it's just bland. I've enjoyed the narrative development that began in the wonderfully broad and subtle "2001", and continued in "2010" which smartly built on the myth of The Monolith and its creators. "2061" provides a glimpse at the intervening years and sets expectations and builds anticipation of the finale. As a stand-alone, however, there's just not much 'there'.

The big idea behind Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 series is so good that just about anything he wrote within it would be good reading. This isn't a great book -- it really has an amazing amount of catchup-style narrative, telling us what has gone on over long periods of time in order to set the context for dialog and action in the present tense. John Barth derisively referred to such narrative as "corning the goose."

The other thing that Clarke does in this book is explain. He explains what's going on on Europa. He explains (more or less) what's happened to Dave Bowman. One of the great things, I thought, about 2001 was how little he explained. The enigma of the blank, black monoliths was great -- a power beyond our ken. Fortunately in this book, Clarke doesn't explain who made the monoliths. Even Dave Bowman doesn't understand who they are.

But I don't really care about what are arguably faults in the book. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed finding out what was going on on Europa, and I even enjoyed knowing a little more about Dave Bowman's fate. And I especially enjoy the way that Clarke puts us in our place, contrasting us with an inconceivably different and sophisticated alien presence.

Arthur Clarke revisita o futuro mais famoso já imaginado e por ele criado, dando ao leitor a chance de explorar e se maravilhar, neste livro em que duas expedições ao espaço se reúnem.
O Dr. Heywoood Floyd, sobrevivente de dois encontros prévios com os misteriosos monólitos, em 2001 e 2010, tem de confrontar novamente Dave Bowman, o super computador HAL, e uma raça alienígena que decidiu que os seres humanos tem de participar na evolução da galáxia, quer queira quer não.
50 anos após a mensagem proibindo os humanos de se aproximarem do satélite Europa do planeta Jupiter, uma expedição ao Cometa Halley tem de violar essa regra, em nome de sua própria sobrevivência.
Com a troca de forças da agora luciferina lua, a missão de resgate que deve ocorrer, a volta do espírito de Dave Bowman, e o segredo do misterioso monólito, o suspense é grande.
Mas, na verdade, 2061, não oferece nada de especial para a série, a não ser para sabermos o que tem acontecido em Europa - o leitor pode pular este livro e ir direto para 3001, sem perder nenhuma informação vital. Pode até confundir menos...
Não espere por respostas que você precise, a indagações sobre os livros anteriores.

Arthur C. Clarke is one of the greatest science fiction writers - no doubt about it. But 2061 is just plain boring. Not even close to the original Space Odyssey 2001 or Childhood's End. It's seems like the genius just whipped up a follow on to Odyssey 2 without much thought or imagination. 2061:Odysses 3 is a real disappointment. I expected much more from this renowned author.

First, this is an interlude story, sandwiched between the eagerly expected sequel "2010" and the eagerly expected finale "3001." Therefore, Clarke had some breathing-room to tell a tale without all of the anticipatory baggage. And this is what makes this book so much fun. He was free to tell a romping tale of science fiction, all the while using technology extrapolated from the headlines of today's science journals. You feel that the hardware portrayed in his books are just around the corner. And in some cases this is exactly what happened.

Like "2010," this book is a glide. It is free for the plodding self-consciousness that we found in "2001." After two novels, we can strip the set-up and back-story to a minimum, and focus on the complex plot. Clarke seems to be following Asimov's lead in writing a detective story, but in Clarke fashion, this is a detective story of cosmic proportions and grounded in hard and present-day science.

Oddly enough, this book almost does not feel like a "2001" novel, since the Monolith and Dave make bare cameos at the end of the novels. So it is like The Horse and His Boy,Masters of the Vortex (The Vortex Blaster),The Hobbit or The Children of Hurin, whose stories that do not fit in the overall continuities of their respective series, but are none the less part of the broader legendarium.

Primarily, this book explores the setting, and also ties up the loose ends with Floyd's life. And recheck the publication date--1987, one year after Halley's Comet made a rather pathetic pass at earths. I was alive at the time, and this book help sooth the letdown. Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake were more impressive.

The South African subplot germinated in the brainstorming session of "2001." The original preface to "2001" mentions "Kwame Chaka, supreme president of the African Federation" (The Lost Worlds of 2001, p. 13)

Sometimes Clarke's characters seem like Athena--spring fully-grown form his head, and without father and mother. This is not quite true: we see Poole's family wishing a happy birthday, and in The Lost Worlds of 2001, we can read the unused back stories of the crew of the Discovery. And we meet Dave's mother, mistress and his dead brother in "2010." So it is there, but the characters are usually focused on the task at hand.

Yet this story takes family values to a deeper level. It focuses on the reconciliation, or reunion, of Heywood Floyd and his long lost son Chris. Of course, Dr. Floyd has had a very convoluted personal life (like many famous people do), and this book brings some sanity to his personal life.

And certainly there are friendships, which are an aspect of love. (Plato: The Symposium (Penguin Classics), C. S. Lewis: The Four Loves, Truman G. Madsen: Four Essays on Love).

This book has some drawbacks. The first is with the nature of Star Child Dave Bowman. The fact that the name `Star Child' does not appear anywhere in this or the next book tells us something: Clarke has neglected his theme "God made man in His own image" (Lost Worlds of 2001, p. 39). The Star Child is now "eBowman,"a lap-dog to the First Born, and later, a semi-used subroutine, akin to a Yahoo! Widget.

This loss of faith in his old idealism probably leads to the weird conversation that eBowman has with the newly "echoed" eFloyd. In it, Clarke via eBowman asserts that Compassion, Justice, truth are more important than love. First of all, how can you have compassion without love? And isn't Clarke/eBowman just saying that he LOVES compassion, truth, and justice?

Aristotle let the secret out when in "The Nicomachean Ethics (Penguin Classics)" he showed that a well-rounded life involves compassion, justice, truth, and love--all of these are essential for the constellation of character. Too bad early Christians listened to Plato more than St. John when they asserted that God was without body, parts or passions. Like the guy said, "That which is without body, parts and passions is nothing."

As I said, this book does not feel like a 2001 novel, since the monoliths do not play a major role, and the theme is not advanced. This is where the change in tone becomes patently obvious: "2001" is euphoric, "2010" is idealistic, "2061" is optimistic, but "3001" is sarcastic. The franchise ends with a crash landing as they crash the Cosmic Server.

*

I think there is a fifth novel possible, in-between this one and "3001." We could have eHal, eDave, and eFloyd map the monolith, explain where eFloyd went and why he does not appear in "3001," or retell the time when eDave met the First Born.

*

In addition to the text, I love the book's original cover. The illustrators are artists, not mathematicians, so the monoliths loose their 1x4x9 proportions, and are slowly becoming golden rectangles (The Golden Ratio). Them there is the ghostly figure of Dave Bowman emerging form the monolith, with a somewhat panicky look on his face. Over his shoulder looms the cycolptic Hal. I the cover artist deserves kudos for figuring out a clever way to show the ghost of Hal--the ever-familiar monocle camera. Beneath them is the Great Wal and Tsienville, with the budding Europans. Behind them, the smaller monolith hover like the flying deck of cards in Alice in Wonderland." Science fiction, yes, but also a touch of pre-adolescent fantasy.

In some ways, "2061" is the best book of the "Space Odyssey" series. It has the most complex plot of the four, moving back and forth between events happening in widely separated parts of the Solar System. The cast of characters is gigantic, and every one of them is excellently delineated. One is tempted to wonder if the celebrities with Dr. Floyd on the "cruise ship" are based on real people, but more likely they are just exaples of Clarke's wonderful imaginativeness in creating characters. One must say, though, that the gay couple who are Dr. Floyd's friends make no real contribution to the plot and serve only to express Clarke's support for gay rights--unlike the lesbian love affair between a psychiatric nurse and her patient in "The Ghost from the Grand Banks," which plays an important role in the resolution of that book's plot. Dr. Floyd's concern for his grandson's survival, and thus the perpetuation of his family name, packs a real emotional punch, and the big plot twist near the end possesses the awe-inspiring quality associated with Clarke's best work. "2061'"s one problem is that ultimately not much that happens has lasting significance to the "Space Odyssey" universe, or to the overall storyline of the four books. The few developments which might have such significance, such as Dr. Floyd (or a simulacrum of Dr. Floyd) joining Dave and HAL in the monolith, the aforementioned plot twist, or the eventual burnout of Lucifer, are primarily confined to the novel's last few pages and are generally ignored by Clarke in "3001." Indeed, it is actually unnecessary to read "2061" first to understand "3001." Perhaps Clarke did this so a movie could be made of "3001" without one being made of "2061" first. Still, "2061" is a fascinating, exhilarating book, and I highly recommend it.

Earlier this year I made a vow to read all of the Space Odyssey books before 2010. I was warned that I would be let down by 2061 : odyssey three. It took me two days to read and while I still consider 2010 to be my favorite I didn't feel cheated.

The story feels rushed, however and most of the chapters are a mere three pages long. If you are used to that kind of scattered Harry Turtledoveian kaleidoscopic focus shift then it will be merely a mild annoyance. I really suspect Clarke's heart was not in this one. In fact, the best parts of 2061 were inported whole cloth from 2010. He was hoping the Galileo program would give him more cause to return to the Space Odyssey but it was delayed by the Challenger disaster. The pleasure trip to land on Halley's Comet seems a bit of a swindle or a compromise. I liked having Floyd return however, though most of the other characters failed to move me. I won't gripe about the ending as it seems to be well tilled ground at this point.

I'm a big sucker for stories featuring colonization of near space and the Galaxy and Universe felt like real ships with personality and provable physics; as the Millennium Falcon and Serenity are in the "soft" science fiction genre.

If there are authors for whom I have the utmost respect, Sir Arthur C. Clarke is surely one of them. Every book of his I read in the past never disappointed me and most are among my very favorite fiction works. "2001: A Space Odyssey" was particularly fascinating and "2010: Odyssey Two" is a very worthy sequel which successfully extends the mythology of its predecessor.

"2061: Odyssey Three", however, leaves something to be desired and definitely cannot be regarded in the same light as the previous two books. Clarke's undeniable wit and especially his gift for writing prose are still very much present, but I find "2061" to be lacking a bit too much in the plot department. Forget the drama, tension and mysticism of "2001" and "2010", because unfortunately you won't find that here. More importantly, we are not let in on much more regarding the Dave Bowman mysterious existence - or lack thereof - and the few we get about that and Europa's secret is scarce at best and confusing at worst. And it's frustrating that every situation that could possibly lend itself to something interesting and dramatic ends up resolving itself in a banal fashion.

Even the under-achievements of Clarke are not bad books. And it's certainly hard for me to classify "2061" as a bad work. The problem is, the standard had been set so high that "2061" just doesn't live up to it. Perhaps the final odyssey, "3001", sets the record straight? No matter. "2010" and especially "2001" more than make up for everything else, even if they leave a lot of questions hanging in the air - or should I say, in the void of deep space?

Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Arthur Clarke... man they must have really enjoyed the sixties. The ideas and the writing... some far-out stuff. And guys like Heinlein went the other way, repressing instead of expressing (some would say his ideas were far-out too, but I found them creepy). Do we have scientists like Sagan and Feynman today? Where are they? ETA: mustn't forget Stephen Hawking... but past him I'm drawing a blank...

2061: Odyssey Three Arthur C. Clarke; third space odyssey novel, and the weakest one so far. Still a pretty good story if you can suspend your disbelief long enough to accept that South Africa became one of the world's leading economies (based on diamonds) after kicking out the Dutch exploiters... shrug... I guess the whole apartheid thing was big when Clarke wrote this story.

Anyhow, the whole story arc is moved forward, and, like all ACC stories, has a fairly trippy ending. One wonders how much he hung out with guys like Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman during the sixties.

I'm sad to say, Arthur C. Clarke's "2061 (Space Odyssey Book 3)" is nowhere near as good as the previous book in the series. First of all, the first third of the book is almost entirely filler. Some of it is used for positioning the pieces on the board. But, for all intents and purposes, it could have been cut entirely from the book. Second, the crux of the rest of the book is that a spaceship gets stranded somewhere. It survives its "landing," but can't leave without fuel. But, unless I'm mis-remembering some of the stuff from the filler third of the book, it's surrounded by the very material it uses for propellant. Third, the great mystery object that we're supposed to be wondering about is very obviously what it is just as soon as it's mentioned. Third, I can't come up with any rational reason for anyone to do the things they did that resulted in the stranded spaceship. And finally, though it's merely a bad frosting on a negative cake, almost the entire last chapter is lifted verbatim from the previous book. I have no idea what happened to Clarke to cause him to write this book this way. About the only thing I can say about it that isn't negative is that it isn't actively bad. So, instead of rating it at the 2-1/2 stars I was thinking about, I'm raising my rating by a half star to a Tolerable 3 stars out of 5.

The novels in Arthur C. Clarke's "Space Odyssey" series are:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. 2010 (Space Odyssey)
3. 2061 (Space Odyssey Book 3)
4. 3001 (Space Odyssey Book 4)

This was a mediocre book relying on the success of the other two books to boost sales. I don't think it would have gone very far on its own. The writing was much more shallow than most of Clarke's other books, and the characters were even more uninteresting.
One thing I really love about Clarke's books, especially 2001 and 2010, is the description. 2061 didn't have much of that; there was a sense that we had already seen these things before so they didn't need to be described again.
The book wasn't all bad. The redeeming feature is the premise. In the beginning Dr. Heywood Floyd (who I was glad to see again) was on a ship that landed on Halley's comet, which was an interesting twist. I've never read a SF book about landing on Halley's comet before. In the meantime, another ship is hijacked and ends up stranded on Europa, a moon of Jupiter that mankind has been forbidden to land on. The ship that Floyd is on is sent to rescue the other ship. It was an intriguing plot line and more could have been done with it. As usual the characters are uninteresting, and there seem to have been more useless characters in this book than in most of Clarke's books.
I certainly wouldn't call this a must-read for anybody. It's a fast book to read and somewhat entertaining while it's being read, but I doubt I'll remember it very long.

I'm finally getting to the final two books of the Odyssey quartet. I found this novel pleasurable but also light as air, figuratively weightless. It is like a leisurely, futuristic travel adventure with just a smattering of the quality found in the previous books.

The story is set around Dr. Heywood Floyd's trip to Halley's Comet in 2061, and his grandson Chris (who must be around age 50 or 60, but seems written as quite younger) gets to play a role. Much is shared about Europa, and what has become of that world since the implosion of Jupiter into the minisun Lucifer some fifty years earlier. Clarke moves the story along with a series of plot devices to provide reasons for delving further into Halley's Comet and the mystery of Europa.

Clarke is always fascinating to read, especially if you enjoy his fondness for prescient predictions. His dry humor is also evident in some places. I thought the "car wash" scene in particular was pretty amusing.

While the story is never tedious, I could imagine many readers asking themselves when we'll see HAL and Dave (there's almost as much said about Dave on the back cover as in the prose itself) and learn more about how we got to this book in the first place. But it never quite happens until the very end, and then it's over before we really get to savor the moment.

Nevertheless, I thought the climax, including what happens to Heywood Floyd, was quite well written and satisfying (especially considering HAL's fate), and despite its extreme brevity, I felt it almost makes up for the rest of the novel.

This obviously isn't Clarke's most serious novel, so it's almost unfair critiquing this against his best work. Just leave your thinking cap on the desk and enjoy a different kind of odyssey.

2061 is the third book of the odyssey series, and it doesn't live up to the previous two, but those are tough acts to follow. 2061 is decent, lively science fiction suceeding 2010, and picks up 51 years after the story. We catch up with Heywood Floyd, age 103, who has been exiled to space because of a fall on Earth. Floyd has been selected to go on a mission to land on Halley's Comet. The mission just begins to get interesting as the team is pulled out to rescue another ship which has crash landed on Europa, the forbidden planet. The things that bring this book down are the fact that Hal and Bowman only have a cameo appearance. When the rescue attempt itself is mounted, there is no fighting from either being. This book is slower than 2010 and does not have the same feeling of adventure and excitement that the others had. There is an explanation about the strange Mt. Zeus near the end, but what about the lights on Halley's? That could have been really interesting. Overall, this book manages to stay a fine sequel to 2010, definitely not better, but not as bad as some of the other reviewers say it is.

I really loved the first two Odyssey books by Arthur C. Clarke but the third was a bit of a let down.

I feel that the whole book really lacks any climax within it's 300 pages. Certainly nothing worthy of 2010's page turning countdown to day 15! 2061 is like an episode of your favourite TV show when nothing really happens, it's just a closer insight into a major character.

Instead of providing excitement, the complications just serve as devices to get characters together so they can communicate and THEN it's the talking that drives the story forward.

The story itself is really just taking us through what Haywood Floyd is doing with himself in the year 2061. They mention Dave Bowman and HAL on the back of the book's cover but they only appear in what would be cameo appearences and have no bearing on the actual story. It's interesting, but you can miss this book if you'd prefer to read 3001.

And anything you want to know about the Europans is detailed a lot better in the epilogue of 2010 which was titled '30,001'.

Another quick tip, don't think Lucifer goes nova (ie. blows up) at the end of this book, it just gets less bright. Not sure why yet since I'm only half way into 3001 - but it's NOT an error Clarke has made which one previous review has stated. Clarkes only changes which he alludes to in his Author's Notes are just things like the names or workings of technology to keep up with modern discoveries.

Of course it would be better if it wasn't "ABRIDGED". But still - this is a very good story (written by Arthur C. Clarke) and told by a very good narrator (Frank Langella). Definitely get this audio. You won't be disappointed.

It's not a bad read, but it definitely doesn't measure up to the quality of the first two books. Most of the time it feels like it's just filling in backstory and/or having some lighthearted b-roll situations before it gets to the main plot. Unfortunately by the time the main plot arrives (which feels a tad predictable) the book is already almost over. It felt more like each chapter was a different short story in the space odyssey universe and then there was a central plot added on at the last minute. All that said, I still love Arthur C. Clarke and it's definitely worth the read if you plan to finish the series.

I am writing this review on a whim. I was browsing through the links for Kubrick's masterpiece and stumbled upon the page for Clarke's continuations of the 2001 saga. When I came to this book, I realized that I had read it but could not remember a thing about it. The title triggered no forceful images or ideas, and even by cursorially glancing at the synopsis and other reviews, I was still left a blank. I've read some of Clarke's other works, Rama and Childhood's End among them. He is not necessarily a bad writer, and does come up with some intriguing ideas (the Sentinel short story among them), but he suffers from the problem rampant among so many science fiction writers. He can't write people. His characters are at best archetypes, and at worst bereft of believability in behavior and voice. And that's from the books of his that I do remember. It's hard to forget Flaubert's Emma Bovary or Dostoevsky's Alyosha Karamazov; it's hard to remember any people who populate Clarke's visions. Is it fair to compare Clarke with the above two masters? Probably not. But I offer you the chance to learn from my mistake: don't waste your time with 2061 when these other books are around.

2061, Odyssey Three, stands on its own as a fairly decent story of space exploration. It manages to convey the wonder of the astronomical void quite effectively (with stunning portrayals of the new Europa), but here, the final frontier has been tamed. Rather than a haunting place, full of as much horror as hope, space has become a place for a voyage of a few weeks, and for swimming pools on luxury liners. Gone is the danger, and gone, too, is the conflict. There are many "threats", but none feel truly credible.

Returned, unfortunately, are the long verbatim renderings of pages from the previous book. Here, they are not so annoying, but they still feel misplaced in a book which, though lacking in tension, is otherwise well written. In the Kindle edition, there are also a few awkward typos, notable because they are largely absent in the previous two installments.

This book reads more like the worlds of Jules Verne, stripped of some of their conflict, than like Homer 's Odyssey (or, for that matter, 2001). Clarke is an excellent author, whose death marked the departure of a great contributor to the arts of mankind. Unfortunately, however, this book does not match up to much of his body of work.

Despite its title, "2061" is no odyssey. Though "2010" was a worthy successor to the original "A Space Odyssey", this third book in the series is inferior to it in every way.

RECAP: the series concerns itself with a mysterious and never-seen race of aliens use living computers to stimulate the growth of intelligence in primitive but potentially productive life-forms. In "2001", one of these computers - contained within an enigmatic monolith - targets hominids, early men 3 million years in our past. Ages later, a second monolith is discovered on the moon by advanced humans, and signals this discovery by beaming a message to a third, and much larger monolith, floating near Jupiter. Working in secrecy, Americans dispatch a spaceship, "Discovery", crewed by astronauts having no idea of what their mission is about, and helmed by the chatty-yet-psychotic computer HAL-9000. By the end of the book, HAL has been terminated, and Dave Bowman - the sole survivor of the mission - confronts the monolith, never to be seen again. In "2010", Heywood Floyd, the boring scientist from the first book, accompanies a Russian expedition to recover "Discovery" and solve the many mysteries left over from the last book - like what happened to Dave Bowman and HAL, and what's up with those monoliths? By the end of the book, the monoliths have converted Jupiter into a subscale sun, turning its many moons into a miniature version of our own solar system. All of these new worlds are ours, except for Europa - the watery moon that likely harbors life.

In "2061", man has colonized all of the Jovian moons, save Europa, and space travel has evolved dramatically. Heywood Floyd, now over a century old, plans to spend his next vacation on a trip to Haley's comet. Looking and feeling well for his age (though prolonged time in zero-gravity means that he can never return to Earth), Floyd is decidedly upbeat. Meanwhile, Floyd's grandson finds himself marooned on Europa when a spaceship he's on is hijacked. Clarke tosses in dissident Afrikaners, a mountain-sized diamond, and the possibility that the monoliths may have been damaged in the fiery creation of the new Jovian sun.

So why doesn't this novel boldly go? With "2010" being a welcome surprise follow-up to the iconic "2001", Clarke may have missed how difficult it is to flesh out a franchise. Nothing much happens in the first half of "2061", and it's soon clear that nothing is going to happen. Clarke maintains the same air of enigma to the monoliths that made the first books a lot of fun, but he gives them little to work with - they loom, boding some dramatic event, but otherwise do nothing. The "action" of the book has Floyd's grandson trying to stay alive on Europa, while Heywood commandeers his space-cruiser, using ice from Haley's comet as fuel. Bowman returns, this time accompanied by a transformed HAL-9000, now also an advanced being. There is talk of Europa and the monolith's experiment with Jupiter being at a crossroads - interesting, given that it's been scarcely more than 50 years since Europa was thawed out, and what's that to the cosmos? (How and why the Europans survived the radical change to their environment is never explained.) Little actually happens, and there are none of the fun characters of the second book - Walter Curnow doesn't appear, and Dr. Chandra did not survive the return trip in "2010". At best, "2061" is a passable novella, but hardly a novel, and certainly not an adventurous one.

Non Spoiler Section:

This book is the third in the monolith series (2001/2010). It continues 50 years after the climactic and brilliant end of 2010. My problem with this book is that it is pointless and doesn't fit the series. The story isn't overly coherent or seemingly complete, almost as if A.C.C had a 300 page limit and had to quickly wrap things up. The writing style is very different, much shorter chapters, every one with a little cliffhanger or reveal. It has some great ideas, but that does not warrant this book. I have yet to read 3001, if it has good reviews then get this to complete the series, if not I'd stop at 2010.

Spoilers:

Ok, so what's wrong with it? Hal and Bowman turn up for approx 2 pages. Heywood has no real relation to the story, in fact his trip to the comet never recieves a pay off later on. His becoming immortal made little sense in terms of the how, the why or the when. The plot involving Europa, while more interesting, is closer to a thriller than an adventure. There's little climax to it all, the rescue is glossed over in a few words, the 'diamond' revelation appears early on in the script. The USSA 'intrigue' is not resolved. It's poor storytelling. In regards to moving on the series plot, the cliffhanger is AWFUL, it's a sloppy one line at the end that has no reference to events before or it's ramifacations. The monoliths don't actually do anything at all in this book.

This story, to me, would make far more sense as a stand alone book than a "2010" sequal.

Though this sequel does not compare to Arthur C. Clarke's original, 2061 offers much suspense and some enjoyment throughout. Our 7th grade class was told to read this for a Language Arts assignment. An average read, but very slow to finish. The story is about Heywood Floyd, now 101 years old in earth years, who has volunteered to ship aboard a spacecraft traveling to Halley's Comet. In his way, Floyd is embroiled in solving the mystery of a freak landing on Europa by the ill fated spacecraft "Galaxy". His son, Chris, also percieves to investigate the emergency, since nobody has landed on Europa since the warning in 2010. Heywood Floyd attempts to contact Dave Bowman for desperate advice. The result is very climactic with the monoliths and the Great Wall.
A slow paced novel, though a nice entry by Clarke. Takes a long time for the story to get going, the first 5 chapters or so. Do not read this before 2001 or 2010. Worth the very low price, which is about a dollar! The story has a nice twist, and Floyd meets an interesting fate here. Recommended for hardcore fans of Arthur C. Clarke.

This book is not at all bad, but it pales in comparison to the two great novels (two of the best of all-time) that preceded it. It is a fairly interesting book, but does little to advance the Odyssey series. Actually, the best part of the book is the first half, where a landing is made on Haley's Comet. Sure, it has nothing to do with the rest of the book (or the series, for that matter), but it is undeniably cool. It almost makes you wish that Clarke has extended it to a different novel of it's own, outside the Odyssey series. About the only interesting development in this book as far as the series is concerned is that Heywood Floyd joins (or appears to join) Bowman and Hal in the monolith. However, this fact is contradicted in 3001, so one could actually read 2001 and 2010 and skip over this book to 3001 and lose nothing as far as continuity was concerned. If indeed, one felt the need to do that.
Read this is you are a fan of the series, but don't start here.

This is a "must read" for any Arthur C. Clarke fan. I really like the way he connects the stories, even though technology has changed (a lot) since the original one, 2001. Currently reading the last book (3001) and like it even more than the others.

I resisted reading this book for a while based on the overwhelming negative reviews but it deffinately is a worthy sequel to the odyssey series. As usual Clarke uses lots of science fact to paint a possible fictional story as to the next step in how Europa fits into earth's future.

In the book, humans have stayed away from Europa as per the last message sent from Discovery by Bowman or the ETs who made him. But something has appeared on the "night side" of the planet and someone hijacks a ship forcing it to land on Europa.

Why would someone want to land on Europa after the warning? Will there be any consequences for landing? What do they find on Europa? What life? Does the hijacker find what they were looking for on the surface of Europa?

Read and find out!

In 1987, Clarke could safely predict a mission sending astronauts to Halley's comet. Sure, Chinese were the first on Europa, and met with disaster. They left the moon alone after receiving a warning message from extraterrestrials. In the meantime, humanity moved labs into orbit, sent spaceliners to other planets. Now, in 2061, Heywood Floyd, senior astronaut, wants to go exploring again on the liner Universe. They go to Halley's alright, but are interrupted by an emergency call.
Another liner is stranded on Europa.
Two dimensional characterizations and shallow relationships mar this book.

SPOILERS INCLUDED
i was incredibly disappointed with this book. it is essentially a giant pitch for the theory that diamond is found at the core of gaseous planets. the characters were all incredibly cheesy, especially the afrikaan character whose "south africa diamond mining heritage" compels him to hikjack a spacecraft and crash it into europa, violating the warning of an omnipotent intelligence in order to make sure that "mt. zeus" is really made of diamond..this is both very unbelievable and incredibly cheesy..And it is the central theme of the story - is Mt. Zeus really a giant diamond?!?! This is in some way supposed to be as profound as the concept that human intelligence is the result of an all-powerful alien intellgence shepharding us through the deep past? the only redeeming qualities of this book were its descriptions of alien life, some of which were directly transcribed from the book 2010. If you were a fan of the movie 2001 who was looking to read the books, i really would not bother to read any except for 2001, and would REALLY not bother reading 2061 or 3001, which are especially horrible.

So I loved the first two books in the series. I especially had respect for the idea that Aurthur changed things between the books to make the storyline better to which he let us know about in the introduction. That was great, at least better than some writers who want to change things and just make weird unbelievable ways for those changes to happen.
...but this book overall I found kins of boring. I mean, the premise was good with the story of Europa developing more and more, and I will tell you that I loved the ending, but I also will warn that then ending of the entire book gives you a scenario that you are looking forward to in the next bok, 3001, but then when you get to 3001, they did not play on that scenario at all and that was a little disappointing.

Overall, if you like the first two books, you might as well finish the series and read this one and 3001, but at literature, this is not the best or most inventive. If you were not the excited about the first and second books, go ahead and pass on the last two, don't waste your time.

This was an entertaining sequel to 2010 but it is not as good a story as the first two books. I think that the primary reason for this is that there is not as large a problem as there was in 2001 and 2010. Even the challenge that the characters do face does not seem all that bad and the reader gets the impression that everything will be alright in the end. Without a really compelling plot the book really seems like filler to give the reader an update on what is happening on Europa. All in all it was an entertaining book ( I especially like the fact that characters from the previous stories were used) but it is the most forgettable of the first three books.

A great deal is spent on a mission to the Halley's Comet, which is interesting but have no connection with the "Odyssey realm", and then, some more novel information, perils and mysteries regarding the monolith are presented on Jupiter's moon Europa with our old "friends", Floyd, Bowman and HAL.

This third book is a reasonable addition to the series and worth reading if you liked the previous ones, but in my opinion, is the weakest of them (but it is good enough!).

I bought this book because I was interested in following the saga of David Bowman, Heywood Floys and HAL beyond what was available in the movies.
It is 50 years after Jupiter has imploded and people live in a highly technological world where the Chinese space program sets the standard. A mishap in space, followed by starnge events leads us on an unforgettable adventure where we begin to learn what the monolith's peurpose is.
The reason I state that you should also buy 3001, is that this book, while important to the story, does not provide the answers to the monolith's mission, but serves as pre-text to the final story where everything is revealed. While I am not an enormous sci-fi fan, I truly enjoyed Clarke's description of the future.
If you are looking for closure, read the last two books, it is a wild ride, very informative and in the end everything will beceom a whole lot clearer.

When I say Odyssey 3 is different than the first 2 books, I mean different. This book reads more like a Mark Twain travel journal than another Space Odyssey. Honestly, Clarke has nailed this new style down completely, and 2061 is an old-fashioned romp through the solar system in a metal stagecoach. Space has become a playground for the rich and famous, as seen when mankind first lands on Halley's Comet - aboard a luxury liner full of actors and composers! They are subsequently forced into an emergency search and rescue mission on Europa, and the required encounter with the monolith jumps in. However, this time around the alien encounter seems like an afterthought, and the book ends right when it seems to get started. The startling discovery this time around just isn't that startling.

When I read the previous two books in this series, I was impressed by Clarke's imaginative use of real science and science theory. The key factor that made the books come alive for me was that it might have plausibly happened. This book just did not seem realistic at all. The science seemed to be speculative in the extreem. The general feel of this book was that of a cheap science fiction thriller, and not the artistic work of high science fiction.
Many other parts of the book were dissapointing as well. The story was just another bland rescue mission with no sense of danger at all. The characters just seem to be cardboard cutouts of the various roles they played. The promise of developing relationships between characters like Floyd and his grandson or between HAL and Dave Bowman is almost completly neglected.
The greatest tradgedy to me was the ending. It seemed to come out of nowhere and was completly unbelievable. Also, many lose threads are unresolved and just left hanging.
From reading the RAMA series and the other Odyssey books, I have come to expect much more out of Clarke's work. I was sorely disappointed by this book and could only recomend it if you really must read everything he wrote.

It's true that 2061 doesn't add much to the series in terms of learning about the monoliths or Bowman -- in fact, it would probably be LESS confusing to skip this book and read 3001 instead (the "Trinity" and "3001" chapters don't mesh well with what comes later). But if you truly appreciate Arthur C. Clarke's writing, you'll probably enjoy this book. Just like with 2001, 2010, 3001, and Rendezvous with Rama, Clarke takes you on a voyage into a world of his creation, giving you the chance to explore it and marvel at it. Although the voyage to Halley's comet is completely unnecessary in plot terms, it is a classic example of Clarke acting as a tour guide on a fascinating voyage through his world. Also, this book is another milestone in Clarke's progress as a character author -- a change that can be seen as you move through Clarke's 2001 saga. Don't expect any answers to questions you may have about 2001/2010, but if you enjoy Clarke touring you through the universe, it is definitely a worthy read.

Arthur C. Clarke's "2061: odyssey three" is the third installment in one of the most successful science-fiction book series ever written. While the narrative doesn't flow as steady as it did in the previous two entries, it is still a fascinating novel with great and unusual characters. The novel also captures both the loneliness of men stranded on another world, as well as the fears of those who are coming to their rescue, wondering if they'll get there in time, or if the planet's population will pose a threat to them.

The main story of a rescue mission sent to retrieve a crashed ship from Europa is told with great attention to detail. But then, we soon learn, that there is more to this story than just a "rescue mission," as it is all part of a plan to involve a part of humanity in the evolution of Europa, whether they wish to or not.

"2061: odyssey three" is a great adventure tale that takes us back to the moons of Jupiter (or Lucifer, as in the case of this story), and should satisfy both the "Space Odyssey" fans and fans of all science-fiction. Grade: A-

Between 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two and this one, this one is my favorite. I enjoyed seeing the character Heywood Floyd again, I enjoyed the new technology, the adventure, the description of Europa and the other settled planets and moons. There was more action, more dialogue and less verb age about philosophy and the nature of humans. My only complaint it the ending. It sort of just - ended. There was almost no explanation as to how things happened or what the hell David Bowman or HAL had to do with anything. I would have liked more. I suppose that means I will need to read 3001, although, from the description of that book, it doesn't seem like any of my questions will be answered

That's about all 2061 is: a nearly 300-page segue into the next book in the series and not enough to make a novel on its own. 2001 is a classic and a pretty good read. 2010 was a very good read--enjoyable, well-paced, engaging with interesting and surprising characters, etc.
2061 is a big disappointment. It's almost completely devoid of plot or point, centering on an implausible twist with no bearing on anything else going on in the series--and that one simple twist is all that's here. What there is of suspense and adventure is flimsy and doesn't support a whole novel.
This is just scientific (and pseudo-scientific) exposition about Europa, Jupiter (nee Lucifer), Earth and the rest of the Solar System and it's pretty boring exposition at that. Not at all up to its predecessors. Presumably it leads up to something in 3001; this whole novel should have been maybe two chapters at the start of that book.

Admittedly, I may have been influenced by 2001 and 2010 in grading this book with an 8 (maybe it doesn't really deserve it). However, it is quite a pleasant book to read. It doesn't add much to the story; the book it is more of a tour around Lucifer and its moons. ACC has amply sprinkled most of the book (and especially the begining) with chapters apparently irrelevant to the main story, but I found them quite pleasing and sometimes interesting to read. These digressions concern the economical, political and scientific development of the world (or should I say solar system?) in 2061.
Though I wouldn't recommend it as strongly as the previous two books, if you've read 2001 and 2010, what the heck, get this one too...

I resisted reading this book for a while based on the overwhelming negative reviews but it deffinately is a worthy sequel to the odyssey series. As usual Clarke uses lots of science fact to paint a possible fictional story as to the next step in how Europa fits into earth's future.

In the book, humans have stayed away from Europa as per the last message sent from Discovery by Bowman or the ETs who made him. But something has appeared on the "night side" of the planet and someone hijacks a ship forcing it to land on Europa.

Why would someone want to land on Europa after the warning? Will there be any consequences for landing? What do they find on Europa? What life? Does the hijacker find what they were looking for on the surface of Europa?

Read and find out!

Being a HUGE fan of the 2001 saga I had no choice but to read this book. It was a solid overall read and did have some very cool concepts and discoveries in it. The actual mission was a little "light" and there was some definite filler material in here but I still felt that this book belongs in the series and does get to some more details regarding the elusive monoliths and the worlds around Jupiters Moons. I say this book is worth a read, just don't expect to be shocked or awestruck like the original 2001 or even 2010 which are my favorites.

Go ahead and get the book, especially if you are a fan of the series....

Solid edition to the series. It has all the wonder of space travel & exploration and is a really quick read to boot. I enjoyed it more because there was less about the mysterious forces dabbling in the development of the solar system and more about the human characters living and working in space. Those mysterious forces do make their appearance, however, because after all this is the Space Odyssey!

"2061" is sort of the beginning of the decline of the series. "2001" sort of defeated the purpose of the story, but it was interesting to read (for someone who saw the movie, that is). "2010" was a fascinating, albeit unneeded story. Though "2061" is a relatively interesting book, it's kind of stupid. What motivation ($?) did Clarke have for the story. If Clarke had been a no-name trying to get something like this published, it never would have happened. It goes around in circles for about 200 pages, with only the last fifty-some to give it some salvation. For die hards ONLY.

Fifty-one years after mankinds last encounter with the little known alien civilization with monoliths, space exploration has become a booming industry. Among one of the things people can now do is visit Halley's Comet. Dr. Floyd, now over 100 years old, is invited to join a mission to land on the famous comet. They're mission is cut short when another ship crash lands on forbiden Europa, and the ship Floyd is on is the only one that can save those stranded. I think this is a remarkable book that gives sci-fi lovers hope for what the future can become, and is a remarkable sequal to 2010.

This series is SOOOO typical of Clarke. He astounds us with a mind-blowing idea then, because of his inability to develop characters with which we can identify, he must rely on the original story or variations thereof. The same thing happens here.
2001 was a masterpiece of writing (and a cinematic jewel to boot). Then came the almost as good 2010. No novel characters were added, though, and we are stuck with the original plot only it's fifty years later. This might have been a good story if it had not tried to be a sequel...the story of the flight to the comet, the message from Dave, the rescue - these are all good in themselves IF - and this is a big if - there are interesting characters. There aren't and it fails in this respect.

Jupiter sunshine results.

After Jupiter was turned into a small star and humans prohibited from landing on Europa Heywood Floyd, one of the survivors of the mission in Odyssey Two has lived most of his time on a space station.

He is invited to take part in a celebrity flight to Halley's Comet, but the ship gets hijacked and ends up on a moon, whereupon things get strange indeed.

More interesting than the previous novel, and the Bowman entity is again involved along with the monolith.

3.5 out of 5

2061 is nowhere near as good as 2010. I think that the story was fairly good, and of course I think that ACC is a great author, but really we still don't see much of why the monolith is what it is, and we just continue the adventures of Dr. Floyd, and now his Grandson. The first few chapters in book deal with a landing on Haley's comet which I am sure was probably real fascinating back in 1986, but here in the year 2000 it really is just his shot at current events like always. Speaking of which it never ceases to amaze me how many times ACC brings up either current events, or events not that long ago, that I am sure no one will even remember let alone care about in the future. If you read 2001 and 2010, I say, either read 3001 and just end the story now, or just stop, because there are really few surprises left the rest of the way.

This book is pretty bad. Halfway through, all I could think about is hurrying up and getting the torture over with so I could start 3001. In retrospect, this one book isn't even essential to the overall storyline - it's barely related. The book is basically a thought experiment for "I wonder how mankind could land on a comet someday? Hmm, I think it would go like this...." Clarke has an insufferable tendency to create a conflict in his stories and solve the issue immediately. All the corny dialogue doesn't help either. Honestly, I have read better stereo manuals. I recommend reading 2001 and 2010.

I bought this books at the same time I bought "Childhood's End", "2010: Odyssey Two" and "Rendezvous with Rama", having read these three pieces straight, one per day, and being left with a sense of absolute wonder at the pondering the brilliant mind of Mr. Clarke makes us travel through, I was expecting to read this book uner the same vein.
Unfortunately, that did not happen, at least for me. (Note that just because one does not like something, does not mean the object in question is bad)
2061, has nothing new to offer to the series, and although we have a chance to take a look at what's going on in Europa, you could skip this book and wouldn't miss any vital information. As a matter of fact, at the end of the book I was so uninterested at the situation, that I no longer remember the ending.
If you, just like I used to, think that you need to read this book in order to understand 3001, just as you need to read 2010 to understand 2061 and 2001 to realise what's going on in 2010, the truth is that you don't have to.
Of course, someone out there might like this book, just like some of the reviews below show, so, give it a try, you might like it after all.

This wasn't the best of the Arthur C Clarke 2001 series, but I enjoyed his idea to explore the next event, returning to Jupiter which is now a mini-sun named Lucifer. It wasn't until literally the end when the reasons were revealed for this story.

I think 2061 was a good way to end the "Odyssey" series. It certaintly is a better written story then 3001 was. Many unresolved plots were resolved in this book which make logical sense. The Monolith being on Europa to safeguard the new life forms evolving there, the ultimate destiney of Dave Bowman, HAL, and Dr. Floyd, and at last the resolution of what the Monolith really is. (Or at least as much as we will ever know about it). 2061 should be considered as the 'Final" Odyssey story and not 3001.

Overall, the book really isn't that bad. However, when stacked up against such an ingenius work as 2001, it is extremely paled. Here we are not taken on a wild ride in which the very limits of our minds are expanded, such as I experienced with 2001 and Childhood's End. There are no incredible shockers in the plot (just one big secret that I think Clarke gave away too early). Also, this isn't so much Clarke's fault as the editor's, but I noticed a lot of grammar and spelling errors in the text. Really, if I can catch so many on the first read, I don't see how an editor could have missed it. Did they not read over the book before it was published?
All this being said, I think 2061 lacks the material to be a really astonishing masterpiece (which I have taken for granted with Clarke) but not does not really make it a bad book. I thought Clarke made some interesting notes about human scientific and social prospects. The plot was fairly intriguing as well. It's just that I expect more from Clarke...

This book is best read on its own merits and not as a continuation of the 2001 series. It has a fun little trip through Haley's comet, an interesting idea about what is at the center of Jupiter, and what should be done with it. However great an author Clarke is, there are many concepts which he plainly doesn't grasp - human nature, religion, and pop culture. His contention that the Beatles will be completely forgotten in a mere sixty years reveals him to be hopelessly square. It's not his fault, a man's just got to know his limitations.

This is the third book in a 4 part series (I accidentally said trilogy in my previous two reviews). It does a great job of filling where 2010 left off with the new life developing around Jupiter on Europa. The book offers a good social commentary on things happening on earth (apartheid) while posing a variety of quandaries for the main characters in the book.

Definitely 2061 was a little disappointing. We have an aged Heywood Floyd landing on Haley's Comet, then trekking through the solar system just to save some stranded passengers from a downed spaceship. He goes off on a couple tangents definitely, and I don't think it was necessary to have the plot with the diamonds and South Africa.

Not a worthy successor to 2001 and 2010. The characters from 2010 are long since gone and the new characters are disappointing in their presentation.

2061: Odyssey Three is a good book in its own right but it isn't nearly as good as 2001: A Space Odyssey. When I read 2001 I spent months pondering the various issues it raised; the conflict between man and machine; the nature of humanity; etc. I enjoyed reading 2061, but two days later when I sat down to write the review I couldn't remember anything about it. I would only recommend this book to someone who is a science fiction fan; it is a good story but it is not really very deep.

The characters from before return including Dr Floyd and HAL. Political intrigue from earth alters space and time and disobeys theatre great commandment to leave Europa alone and "attempts no landings there". Visits from the unknowable and the unethical develop. Read for fun only.

The science is dated but more fun for it.

Before I read 2061, I read all the reviews of it here. And they made me believe that I was about to read a horrible, horrible book. But, since it is an Odyssey book, I figured "why not?" and I bought it used for 70 cents. 2061 is not a great book. It is no where near as good as 2010 or 2001. However, it is not a horrible book either. It probably seemed a lot better to me than it does for most, because I was planning on reading the worst book ever written. It tells the story of Heywood Floyd, who is now 103 years old, and other "celebrities" who go on a luxury "cruise" ship, the Universe, to Halley`s Comet. However, while they`re there, Galaxy, Universe`s sister ship, crashes onto the forbidden moon of Europa, who has suddenly seen the birth of a giant mountain.... While 2061 does not continue the story of monoliths and the Star Child as well as 2010 did, it has a fun story of its own. And don`t wait for the Dave Bowman or Hal to appear. We don`t actually see them until the very last chapter. The ending, in my opinion, was very well done. However, it sets you up for something great to happen, but, from what I`ve heard, only leads to dissapointment. What I don`t get about the book is that people on board Universe all remember the Star Wars movies, but no one remembers the Beatles, although the book itself will bring a nice, little grin to any Beatles fan reading it. Overall, I`d have to say that 2061 is a fun little book that is at least worth a read.

While I thought that the book version of the 2001 film was ok and 2010 one of Clarke's best novels, I was extremely disappointed by this add-on. Clarke is running out of ideas, yet must have been enticed to write this extension with a good contract. He really has very little to add here, so he recycles the characters of Bowman (transmogrified by his absorption into the obelisk) and Hayword, who was a plot device in 2001. Thus, the drama of what is going on is pretty forgettable, which is exactly what I have done. Clearly, Clarke was losing his unique powers when he wrote this. I just wish he had had the sense to stop, because this is a mere shadow of what he accomplished in better novels.

Not recommended.

I read this book without reading the others in the series but didn't have a hard time grasping what was going on. The book doesn't have a definitive ending since it is left open to the next in the series but it was enjoyable. It is complete science fiction in seemingly every way. Space ships, the fact that a person can extend their life by living on a planet other than earth, a computer that has taken on a consciousness, and extraterrestrials, although these creatures aren't ever seen. Very interesting book but only if you can wrap your head around the impossible facts provided.

I tell you that this book is not bad. But it is so poor when compared to the first two books, especially the magneficant 2001: A Space Odyssey.I couldn't understand why Halley appears in this novel. I first thought that a monolith will be found on the core of the comet, and using Helley as a moving satellite of solar system. Well... It wasn't. And what is HAL? He is no longer a computer anymore. I really loved HAL, the arrogant.

Typical of Clarke, he begins a series with a powerhouse, but the quality of the series decays over time. This is a fun read if you've read the prior two, and the period of time spent on an asteroid (!) makes for good sci-fi.

However, this is tripe compared to 2001, and by all means stop at this book. Whatever you do, don't read 3001 - it will just make you cry. Some authors need to learn how to quit while they're ahead.

This book was okay for a read as it was lite and entertaining but not up to par for ACClarke. The tale takes us fifty years past the last encounter with Floyd and in his final voyage more bizarre things start to happen, with the Monolith at the center of the trouble. Read if you want to find out how the story progresses past the last episode and if you like a lite sci fi journey. But otherwise I don't really recommend it.

This is a pretty boring read. There is really no suspense whatsoever. I think the main thing that Clarke wants to impress upon the reader is the technical things about space travel. He did this in the first two books in the series as well. Kinda disappointed.

This book is a great extension from the others in regards to the "great monolith" and the unseen-but-advanced race that keeps getting Heywood Floyd and humanity in general involved with the evolution of life elsewhere within our solar system and more. A great addition to such sci-fi books as: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.

Although not as good as 2001 and 2010, this book is still a worthy sequel. I agree that the last few pages is all you need to understand the book, but it's still a good sci-fi book, with many interesting parts like the landing on the comet, or on Europa. It is also interesting to see what is happening on Europa. All in all it's a good book, and it's best to accept this one as the ending of the Odyssey series, because 3001 is a disaster...

The book is good enough to have read it 3 times or so and as I'm reading it again but I had to laugh at a glaring error. On page 120 we have a character named Rose McMahon and on the very opposite page (not the flip side) she suddenly has a name change to Rose McCullen, and again on the same page she is named McCullen.

I chose this because of the author & I hadn't heard of it before. I am so glad I found this book. I found it well worth the read. Mr Clark is an icon for good reason. You can absolutely count on him for an engaging & well written story. This has left me wanting to read the rest of the series again.

Don't believe all those negative reviews, this is trully a great sequel to 2010. When I read the previous books I really wanted to know what is going on on Europa and what are the monoliths. I bought this one, and I was blown away. Although it doesn't explain everything, it explains a lot, but it leaves something for the conclusion.
Clarke takes us on another voyage, this time through the mysteries of the Halley Comet, then on Europa, which was the most interesting part. I just couldn't put the book down, because it was really interesting to read about what is happening there.And the book ends just as it should. Some mystery is left, so that we can think about it and figure out the answers by ourselves.
Great book, you should definitely read this one and the last one.
Clarke is a genius, and this is sci-fi at it's best!

It was a bit odd that the first trip to the Halley comet (the reason why the story is in 2061) was in a space ship full of tourits instead of astronauts, but it was interesting anyway. The depiction of the new melted Europa were good as well, and the adventures happened there fun as well.
But as a continuation of 2001 and 2010, it is a bit disappointing. It lacks the uncanny riddles of 2001 and simply repeats part of the ideas of 2010. The end of 2010 made buy 2061 in the following week, but 2061 didn't make me buy 3001 that fast.

I was excited to read this book at first. it seemed to promise a lot but didn't deliver. There was a lot of repetition. He repeats the parts of past books constantly. And 3001 starts with that same segment. ugh.

I was partially disappointed at this book. The first two odysseys where far better than this. The good side of it was you get to meet Dave again or whatever he has become. This is an intriging book. The only thing that disapointed me was the ending, But now with the release of 3001 I think it will be a lot better and it will close the ending

I loved the first one, liked the second and really thought this one would finally get to answering the questions floating around after the first two books, not so. With a little mystery surrounding the actual fate of HAL and Dave Bowman raised towards the end of the book there appears to be little else from this book that actually contributes to this universe. I thought this book was disappointing.

Although very well-written in parts, I found myself lost in this book and caught in a trap of technical mumbo jumbo. I still am not sure what happened in this book or what it is about. It is hard to write in such technical terms and Clarke makes an honorable attempt, but it just seems to lack any vitality overall.

Another great bit of writing from a great author purchased from the store. This is the continuing saga from "2001". For those who enjoyed 2001and 2010, you will wanr to continue on with this one, as well.

Odyssey Three is a very well-written and thought-provoking novel. The characters are well-developed, the ideas are intriguing and somewhat original, and the plot is intricate and well-planned.
While 2061 is entertaining and stimulating to read, it has nothing to do with the remainder of the series. The monoliths are slightly involved and Heywood Floyd is one of the characters, but Odyssey Three has no connection to the central theme of the series. Read it, but do not expect it to contribute to the series.

I love the series of stories about the monolith, and I began the story with excitement, but in the end I felt unfulfilled. At the beginning, I thought, "How cool, landing on Halley's Comet. How cool seeing some of the steps to figure out what Mt. Zeus is."

(Beware: Spoiler here...) This is a story that is ultimately about a rescue mission to Europa, but at the end of the book, he doesn't even talk about the actual rescue! He skips to Ganymede base, after the crew of Galaxy is rescued. Clarke was a great writer, and you can see it in the prose, but he lets you down at the end.

His discussion in the final chapter about the place of Europa and the monolith is clarifying.

A visit to the newly formed planet proves to be a facinating voyage. Some new characters interact with some old ones in this Science Fiction Odyssey to make an intriguing story with very interesting results. If you read the first two books, then this one is a must

I enjoyed entering the Clarke universe after being away for about a generation. His optimism keeps getting thwarted by history. The physics is good. He was a good story teller. May the saga inspire us to keep looking up to the stars and struggle with the moral law within. (An allusion to Immanuel Kant).

i cannot believe i have wasted my time to finish this book. thank goodness i picked up this book at the library and did not waste money buying it. save yourself. read anything else. clarke is considered a great writer however if this would have been his first novel he never would have written anything else. i feel abused.

Unfortunately there nearly no new ideas for the story. It's only a repeat of 2001 and 2010. There are too much parts taken of the first two book. But when you are a fan of Clarke then it's a must read and better than much other SF books i've read.

I keep waiting for Clarke to produce works of originality and substance, but this one was, unfortunately, a bad attempt at what Delaney did much better in "Nova."
Though I respect Clarke tremendously, this was not his best work.

I have just finished reading this book and thought that ACC did a fairly good job in writing it. Like most others I enjoyed the first two books very much, but this one seemed to lack the spirit of those first two books. It is a good read none the less and I would recommend the reading of all four of the books in this series. I have one question however that I don't remember being resolved. When Universe was on the comet and Dr. Chant was investigating one of the caves, he was stunned to find a glowing light. He theorized that it might be many things but settled upon a theory stating that the glowing light may be bioluminescent organisms living in the comet. Was there ever a definte explanation for this glow? Again overall good book!

This book tries to string out the story from the earlier books. It's over long, and not very exciting.

Read 2001 and 2010, and watch the excellent films, but avoid this book.

Sorry ACC it's just not good enough.

This book is pretty good but a bit weak and confusing. I also read 3001, and ACC has redeemed himself over this one. This book is great, far greater than I could ever have done, but not as good as his other three books

I would lie if I say that it's a bad book and an awful story. The fun fact is that it isn't. This book is highly informative and has a good story. But the book by itself is too slow, it can't be compared with the last two. Action? , well, the important thing is that all of us who have read this book are still alive. But despite all this, it's worth reading. What I just didn't like is Bowman's position. He supposedly became an omnipotent and omnipresent entity, just like a god. But instead of that, he asks for help. But never mind, if you enjoyed the last two books, you'll like this one.

I was thoroughly dissappointed by this book. This is one of those books where you keep reading it because you think any minute somehting might happen but let me save you some trouble. Nothing ever happens. OK Ill give away the whole climax. They find a huge diamond the size of a mountain on europa!
I read the last few pages of this book on a bus and when I was done I just threw the damn book out of the window for the next sucker. Did I mention this book is bad? Arthur C Clarke usually has a mystical visionary element in his books. I think when he wrote this book he just wanted some extra cash or something because its very shallow unlke say, Childhood's End.

This entire story is a waste of time. Fortunately for a novel it is short, so you don't waste too much time one it. The story has minor (but somewhat predictable) plot twists that culminate in two paths merging. The real downfall for this book, however, is that Clarke sets you up for a climatic rescue attempt that is scarcely mentioned once you get there. Literally, what should have been the climax of the story is dealt with within 3 sentences. Before I knew it, all the characters were safe and on their way home without any disasters/ narrow misses/ or complications that would have made for a REAL story.

The year is 2061, and the economy is truly global. Aerospace companies offer cruises to exotic destinations and Floyd is on one that will take him right to Halley's Comet! Floyd is now towards the end of his life but is in for one more adventure that will leave his grandson strandon the forbidden Europa. This is a great book full of action, adventure, and enigmas that leaves you hoping for such a hypothetical future.

This book left me thinking I was in a class room. The whole book seemed like a text book than a science fiction novel. 2001 incorporated a great plot packed with suspense and intrigue. This book was crap. I fell asleep 3 times while reading it. When I finally concluded the text book, I realized the entire tedious process took nearly a month.
This book left no impressions on me, save a horrible headache.

This book wasn't anything special. Personally I didn't see its purpose. Its plot was meaningless. We had to read an entire book just to understand that the monolith is only a tool. I didn't see why Clarke wrote this.

Ok, for all of you reading all of the other reviews that says this book isn't worth reading don't follow their advice. This book may not be his best work, but to completly understand the universe the author is trying to create, this is a must read. Also, if you want to read 3001, you had better pick this one up first.