OFF: 3001

[QUEST]

At 16:14 28.04.97 BST, someone wrote:
> P.S. Has anyone read 3001 yet? Any reviews?

Yes.  IMO, it was terrible.  MAJOR flaws (internal as well as external),
the premise was poor, and it lacked a genuine plot.  A bit too much
recycling from the previous novels as well.

Examples of flaws:
1) It mentions Frank Poole's birthyear as 1996.  So he was 5 years old
when HAL killed him?  (He probably meant 1976.)

2) Everyone is bald in 3001.  (Read the book to find out why.)  Yet one of
the characters is described as Nordic with long blond hair.  There may
have been other characters whose hair Clarke described as well.

Clarke has been known historically for his basis in "hard science" (i.e.,
no "Hollywood physics" e.g. Star Trek).  I've always respected this aspect
of his work.  This time he let that slide quite a bit, despite what the
reviews on the cover indicate.

Damon C Capehart      | "Talent instantly recognizes genius, but
aka Le Monsieur Damon |  mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself."
dcapehar at utdallas.edu |    -- Arthur Conan Doyle

P.S.:  I also didn't like Clarke's ever-present religion-bashing.  He's
been on quite a soapbox lately, and the characters through which he does
the most soapboxing are REALLY annoying and rarely shut up.  If Clarke's
purpose was to anger non-atheists, he did quite well.  [On that note, some
of you will probably enjoy the book. :-) ]