Reviews

2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke

800slim's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

third book in Clarke's Odyssey-Saga...

short plot description: set (obviously) 51 years after the events in "2010: Odyssey Two" we meet again Dr. Heywood Floyd, now 103 years old. Mankind has build bases on the moon and Ganymede (where a scientist makes an astonishing discovery about Europa) and advances in science have made interplanetary space travel economical feasible, which paved the way for private enterprises. One of them is Tsung Spacelines where Chris Floyd, grandson of Heywood Floyd, works on one of their space ships (named "Galaxy"). Tsung Spacelines has finished building another ship (named "Universe") and invited several celebrities, among them Heywood Floyd, to the maiden flight which includes a stop-over at Halley's comet. But things take a turn for the worse when the Galaxy is hijacked and crash-lands on Europa...

my thoughts: I felt a bit disappointed since the story dealt only marginally with the mystery of the Black Monoliths and their builders and the overall story-arc doesn't get advanced that much.
That out of the way we get some typical Clarke: enthusiastic and optimistic about space exploration, the science as always accurate. The characters are more varied than usual, instead only a crew of capable scientients and officers we get some colourful civilians on a pleasure cruise thrown into the mix.
But all that (including the plot sometimes) takes a backseat to Clarke's imaginative descriptions of some places in our solar system: Ganymede, Europa, Halley's comet and some developing lifeforms are brought vividly to life.
Add some funny musings about the problems on the more mundane aspects of future space travel (e.g. you can get an insurance policy from Lloyds but is hijacking covered?) and you have a good and actual believable book on the exploration of space.

my advice: can be read stand-alone (Clarke dedicates a couple of pages at the beginning of the book to get the reader up to speed) but it's better to start with "2001"

billymac1962's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Still great. I've yet to read 3001, but I'm holding off. Stay tuned.

chuan323's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-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

3.5

ischsi's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

jacobwayne's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

jacob_johnston's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

2.75

ultimatumman's review

Go to review page

2.0

I loved the first two books in this series. This one left me a little bored. There wasn't much happening and the story developed slowly. There were some cool concepts like in the other books, and there wasn't anything really bad about the book, but overall nothing really happened.

phuckstepp's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

"All these works are yours with the exception of Europa. Do not attempt to land there."

An excellent continuation and although some of the technology mentioned in 2061 was already out of date in 2000 (real life) it's still very technically clever and engrossing.

ammandee_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5

butchjadeharley's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

overall, this book was a let-down. 2061 is a confusing, muddled mess that feels more like a first draft than a finished novel. where 2001 and 2010 excelled in creating a sci-fi world that really sucked you in and left you wanting more, 2061- with its endless subplots, flat characters, and mindnumbingly slow pace- has almost put me off finishing the series.