Millennial Man

Actually several weeks ago I finished 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. This is the final book in the four book Space Odyssey Series by Clarke. After reading this I understand why Stephen Baxter called the Time Odyssey books orthogonal to the Space Odyssey series.

This book starts with our short lived friend Frank Poole from the first book. Frank was the guy who went out to fix the antenna only to have HAL ram him with the Pod and send him flying off with his oxygen vented into space. Well 1000 years later he’s picked up and brought back to Earth and revived. This book focuses on Poole adapting to the new world. Imagine taking someone from 1007 AD and dropping him in modern society. Yeah it’s a big shock.

Frank makes contact with what is left of his friends Bowman and HAL, that reside in the inner workings of the obelisk. They tell him of a dark secret that threatens to destroy all of humanity. Frank must rally influential people to stop the danger, but how does one fight a device of almost infinite power. They have to use the most dangerous weapons mankind has ever created. The question is will it work.

This is a fitting end to the series. It tells a lot and brings home the differences in the aliens in the Time and Space odyssey series. I liked it.