A slick, tame sequel that extensively recaps and updates the
original 2001 - but betters it only in the nuts-and-bolts
department. The derelict ship Discovery, with disconnected computer
Hal aboard, is in a decaying orbit about Jupiter; joining a USSR/US
investigatory mission are, familiar from 2001, project expert
Heywood Floyd and Hal's creator, Dr. Chandra. But then,
surprisingly, a Chinese ship rockets past them and lands on Europa
to refuel - only to be engulfed by a plant-monster inhabiting the
liquid water beneath the moon's icy jacket. And soon Discovery is
operational again: Hal, his murderous memories deleted by Chandra,
wakes up sane enough; of missing astronaut Bowman there's no trace;
and the Star Gate (the enigmatic floating slab beyond which lurk
the mysterious cosmic beings who are directing human evolution)
proves impervious to analysis. Then Bowman himself, now the
god-like Star Child, bursts from the Gate and heads for Earth: he
is, however, still being studied by, and controlled by, the cosmic
paladins who transformed him into a disembodied intelligence (where
he's low man on the totem of galactic brainpower). So the Star
Child pokes about Bowman's old haunts on Earth, then surveys the
Jovian system - where he realizes what his masters intend and warns
Floyd to leave. And, in the finale, the cosmic brains ignite
Jupiter into a mini-sun, thus warming up the Jovian moons to
provide the struggling Europans with a more congenial environment
in which to evolve intelligence. Steady cosmic storytelling, then,
short on drama but delivered with Clarke's usual boyish panache;
and the many 2001 followers will regard it as compulsory reading.
(Kirkus Reviews)
The Leonov is beaten to Jupiter by a Chinese mission which lands on
Jupiter's moon, Europa, and falls victim to its unknown terrain.
The last astronaut to die on the alien surface broadcast a message
- there is life on Europa.
General
Imprint: |
Voyager
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
November 1997 |
Authors: |
Arthur C. Clarke
|
Dimensions: |
178 x 111 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Mass Market
|
Pages: |
297 |
Edition: |
New Ed |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-586-05699-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Science fiction
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-586-05699-8 |
Barcode: |
9780586056998 |
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