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800slim's review
4.0
a very fine book.
short plot description: set (obviously) nine years after the events in "2001: A space odyssey" a joint crew of russians and americans are on their way to Jupiter to find out what happened to the first expedition...
In this book Clarke almost flawlessly integrates the concepts he wrote about in most of novels: space exploration, extraterrestrial intelligence and the development of mankind.
The science is typical for Clarke both accurate and neatly integrated into the plot and his enthusiasm for space exploration is highly infectious.
Minor flaws: this is not exactly an action-packed space opera and the characters could be better developed.
My advice: if you are new to Clarke read first "2001" and some of his short stories (where he really shines) then come back to this book, some parts do not make sense if you haven't read "2001"
short plot description: set (obviously) nine years after the events in "2001: A space odyssey" a joint crew of russians and americans are on their way to Jupiter to find out what happened to the first expedition...
In this book Clarke almost flawlessly integrates the concepts he wrote about in most of novels: space exploration, extraterrestrial intelligence and the development of mankind.
The science is typical for Clarke both accurate and neatly integrated into the plot and his enthusiasm for space exploration is highly infectious.
Minor flaws: this is not exactly an action-packed space opera and the characters could be better developed.
My advice: if you are new to Clarke read first "2001" and some of his short stories (where he really shines) then come back to this book, some parts do not make sense if you haven't read "2001"
billymac1962's review against another edition
5.0
The first time I read 2010 was around 1987. I know this because that was the year that 2061: Odyssey Three was published in hardcover, and upon finishing 2010, I raced out and bought the new hardcover to read next.
1987 was the time when I began a serious deep dive into science fiction, and reading in general for that matter. I was just out of a relationship that stopped just short of the altar, and my beloved grandparents had just passed away. Reading became an escape for me (it still is, whether things are good or otherwise), and after a colleague had turned me onto a couple of sci-fi favourites, I was severely hooked on the sense of wonderment that the genre could promise.
This series stands out as one of those, and one of my retirement plans was to revisit it. 2001: A Space Odyssey lost nothing over 40 years for me. The sense of wonderment was there in living colour, and I understood the book and movie much better than I had before.
Ditto for 2010. Something I found interesting, but had forgotten about, was the forward where Clarke explains that this book was a sequel to the movie, rather than his novel. Therefore, Saturn was out of the picture. This installment of the series focuses primarily on Jupiter, which now, is something that really enhances the story for me.
You see, I'm a bit obsessed with Jupiter. Always have been. But when the Juno spacecraft sent back mind-blowing photos of the gas giant a few years ago, I became a lot obsessed with it.
Arthur C. Clarke's vision of Jupiter's clouds and storms is of course dated, being 1982 when he wrote this, but despite that, the imagery and imagination he portrays here was something that easily fell in mind with what we now know about it. It's unfortunate that he is no longer with us. I can only imagine the picture he could paint with what those incredible photos show. Regardless, he paints some amazing pictures.
This is what I love about Clarke. I read sci-fi, as I mentioned for a sense of wonderment. But, there are authors out there who are so overly descriptive that it's difficult to get the scope and imagery in your mind before you glaze over. Clarke always had a gift of descriptiveness with a relative economy of words, and would use perfect analogies
that paints a perfect picture and a sense of awe. There have been many nights while in a Clarke novel that I have lain awake visualizing his scenes, particularly from this series and of course, Rendezvous With Rama.
There are still many books of his I haven't read. I have read all of his best, probably, but I believe I will dip into more of his stuff.
But, they will have to wait for my re-read of 2061!
Five stars for the second time.
1987 was the time when I began a serious deep dive into science fiction, and reading in general for that matter. I was just out of a relationship that stopped just short of the altar, and my beloved grandparents had just passed away. Reading became an escape for me (it still is, whether things are good or otherwise), and after a colleague had turned me onto a couple of sci-fi favourites, I was severely hooked on the sense of wonderment that the genre could promise.
This series stands out as one of those, and one of my retirement plans was to revisit it. 2001: A Space Odyssey lost nothing over 40 years for me. The sense of wonderment was there in living colour, and I understood the book and movie much better than I had before.
Ditto for 2010. Something I found interesting, but had forgotten about, was the forward where Clarke explains that this book was a sequel to the movie, rather than his novel. Therefore, Saturn was out of the picture. This installment of the series focuses primarily on Jupiter, which now, is something that really enhances the story for me.
You see, I'm a bit obsessed with Jupiter. Always have been. But when the Juno spacecraft sent back mind-blowing photos of the gas giant a few years ago, I became a lot obsessed with it.
Arthur C. Clarke's vision of Jupiter's clouds and storms is of course dated, being 1982 when he wrote this, but despite that, the imagery and imagination he portrays here was something that easily fell in mind with what we now know about it. It's unfortunate that he is no longer with us. I can only imagine the picture he could paint with what those incredible photos show. Regardless, he paints some amazing pictures.
This is what I love about Clarke. I read sci-fi, as I mentioned for a sense of wonderment. But, there are authors out there who are so overly descriptive that it's difficult to get the scope and imagery in your mind before you glaze over. Clarke always had a gift of descriptiveness with a relative economy of words, and would use perfect analogies
that paints a perfect picture and a sense of awe. There have been many nights while in a Clarke novel that I have lain awake visualizing his scenes, particularly from this series and of course, Rendezvous With Rama.
There are still many books of his I haven't read. I have read all of his best, probably, but I believe I will dip into more of his stuff.
But, they will have to wait for my re-read of 2061!
Five stars for the second time.
d_a_kreads's review
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
My dad hated this but I thought this was fun.
ianbeck018's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
witherskeleton's review
4.0
Good overall! Very slow paced and character driven even compared to the first book but it’s very well done.
rampaginglibrarian's review
3.0
It seems i might be kind of hooked on this space odyssey thing (just like Arthur Clarke himself was, because even though he swore he had left it behind him when he finished 2001: a space odyssey {though Kubrick was the one to tear up his sets so no one could film a sequel~they did anyway~though i haven't seen it} Clarke ended up going on to write 2010: odyssey two~and two more after that~and i will probably end up reading the entire sage because that's just the type of girl i am...actually, i truly wouldn't mind taking a nice long space odyssey right about now...)
The trouble, sometimes, with books that seem to offer explanations for other books is that they might interfere with your self-made explanations which might have been working very well for you until someone came along and explained to you just how not-well they were working...
2010 is a bit different to 2001 in that the focus stayed more tightly on the journey of one ship, the Russian Leonov~sent to discover the fate of the Discovery, the failure of HAL 2000 (maybe he really should have been HAL 2001...), and also gather further information on the "black monolith" if possible. Clarke also went into deeper exploration of character relationships which made it a little more of an enjoyable and page-turning read for me. The character of David Bowman seemed to change direction somewhat from the last novel and there also seemed to be some plot discrepancies (though i didn't have the first book to check it out). As always, Clarke is a master of his craft and extremely well-versed in his science. I just love reading his stuff...
The trouble, sometimes, with books that seem to offer explanations for other books is that they might interfere with your self-made explanations which might have been working very well for you until someone came along and explained to you just how not-well they were working...
2010 is a bit different to 2001 in that the focus stayed more tightly on the journey of one ship, the Russian Leonov~sent to discover the fate of the Discovery, the failure of HAL 2000 (maybe he really should have been HAL 2001...), and also gather further information on the "black monolith" if possible. Clarke also went into deeper exploration of character relationships which made it a little more of an enjoyable and page-turning read for me. The character of David Bowman seemed to change direction somewhat from the last novel and there also seemed to be some plot discrepancies (though i didn't have the first book to check it out). As always, Clarke is a master of his craft and extremely well-versed in his science. I just love reading his stuff...
tonyababb_reads's review
5.0
These books make me wish I could have met Arthur C. Clarke...what an amazing mind.
chuan323's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0