2010: Odyssey Two

Slow burn, fascinating ending!

This was a slower read and less exploratory than the first book in the series. However, in Clarke fashion, the end is where all the drama happens and it was great!

This was always one I enjoyed. We finally get some developments regarding the monolith and why HAL seemed to break down in 2001.

This isn't my first time reading it but I learn something new every time. This time I noticed two of the characters are bisexual. The scene where it comes up is handled well in that it's not a big deal, other than said character being dense that a love triangle is beginning to form so the rest of the crew kind of wants to nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem. It would have been cool if it was a little more open, but hey, this was written in 82 when bisexuality just wasn't discussed as much.

Clarke comes up with some fantastic worlds here and the plot moves well, though it begins to drag for a bit when they accomplish one primary task and now want to investigate the floating monolith. Then again, it's reflecting what's going on at the ship, which is waiting and testing but no reaction from the object. Still, it is satisfying how it wraps up.

Great book. The story didn't feel forced and the author did an amazing job expanding the Space Odyssey universe even further.

FALSE

With 2010, Arthur C. Clarke's ability to write interesting, believable, and likable characters has improved dramatically, particularly compared to the cardboard cutouts from Rendezvous with Rama, and the similarly bland characters (with the exception of HAL) from 2001. The book also does a great job of answering the remaining questions from the novelization of 2001.

As far as the book to the movie goes, it's something of a 50/50 split. The book is better at providing the answers then the movie is, and there are some stupid decisions that the characters make in the film which aren't made in the book (like sending Max in a manned pod out to the Monolith, instead of using an unmanned pod operated by remote). Also, the book manages to be semi-prescient by having giving China a space program that would have been somewhat unimaginable when the first film came out. However, the movie manages to be more reasonable by increasing the danger to the Leonov when SpoilerJupiter becomes a star.

All in all, 2010 is one of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke novels, and is definitely a worthy companion to 2001.

Left me speechless... Really makes you think where it all started :)
“The Universe is not only stranger than we imagine - but stranger than we can imagine.” - J. B. S. Haldane

2.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary:

After David Bowman disappeared into a mysterious monolith, Heywood Floyd and others have set out to investigate what happened. At the same time, unbeknownst to them, Bowman has returned, as a mysterious and powerful being revisiting old haunts.

Review:

Arthur C. Clarke said for a long time that he'd not write a sequel to 2001. Sometimes, it's best to stick with the original intent. This sequel was decidedly underwhelming.

For one thing, Clarke has chosen to follow the film version of 2001 rather than his own book version. That means that instead of taking place around Saturn, the action is based around Jupiter. I suppose that he was acknowledging that the film reached more people, but even aware of the decision, I found it confusing, and had to keep reminding myself that this was a sequel to the film (which I haven't seen for decades) and not to the book I read last month.

Equally troubling, there's little real purpose to the book. It's an unfortunate exemplar of a bridge sequel, in that very little happens other than to lay the groundwork for another book. The sequence of events is at times asynchronous, and there are occasional long, jarring and – I'm sorry to say it – dull asides that add very little. There's a lack of clarity at one point about whether a scene is a flashback or just badly set up. And, to top things off, there are many and long quotes – retreads – from the previous book.

It all adds up to a nicely written, poorly constructed, and ultimately purposeless book that confirms Clarke's original plan to leave well enough alone.