So, I’m done with 2001 and 2010, should I keep plugging on? I hated the end of 2010 the book. The film, although it was basically Cold War in space, was an enjoyable popcorn movie.
I’ll add that I enjoyed both the book and film of 2001. Now that I know more of what’s going on, they were quite enjoyable.
I enjoyed 2061, though it’s not exactly a plot-rich novel. I’ve re-read it and still enjoyed it. Nothing much happens, but it’s really another one of Clarke’s look-at-this-amazing-future books, and doesn’t take all that long to read.
3001, though, I will never willigly touch again.
This, a thousand times this. And stay away from anything else by Gentry Lee. Pel Torro (Lionel Fanthorpe) is Shakespeare compared to him.
I read a Lee book based on an idea from Clarke called “Cradle” which contains the worst sentence ever penned in the English language, and I’m including bad Hemingway contributions.
In 3001 Clarke first of all has to move the 2001 timeline which clearly never came true. Then he undercuts what we clearly saw at the end of 2001. My only excuse for him was that he was getting old. Asimov’s last Foundation book wasn’t exactly great either.
2010 is good. 2061 was forgettable but not horrible. 3001 while having a good beginning was a disaster.
I don’t know what sentence you’re talking about, but the only thing I can quote from Cradle is the line “Come vit us to paradise.”
The only other thing I remember about that book is that one of the characters is involved with a teenage girl at the community theater. A couple of other cast members catch them making out backstage, but they’re gay so they totally get it.
I don’t begrudge Clarke wanting to make some extra dough by putting his name on books he had little or nothing to do with, but Jesus Christ.
It has something to do with the heavily Catholic main character thinking about sex. It was a library book and I don’t have it, which is good, since my other 6,000 sf books would have to social distance from it and I don’t have the bookshelf space.