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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This one surprised me. Sci-fi and I are still in the early stages of getting to know each other. Some books in the genre leave me a little underwhelmed, and some just bore me. But then comes along 2001: A Space Odyssey and blows all my previous bad experiences to cosmic smithereens. I read somewhere that the novel has a lot of technical detail: movement in weightlessness, sensory reaction to hibernation, psychological impacts of being stuck in a tin can floating through the vast nothingness... I was fully prepared to be bored. Was I ever wrong! It was indeed full of such details, but because of them I was completely immersed into the action and had no problems picturing what was going on (a rarity in sci-fi).
If I learned something from 2001, it's that I adore science fiction that describes early years of space exploration. I'd rather read a novel about first settlements on Mars, or scientists' wild dreams of sending first manned ship to Jupiter, than trying to comprehend a universe where hyperspace travel is as common as taking a cab, and huge cargo space ships haul generations worth of inhabitants to the planets populated with alien lifeforms. I want the book to express the desire to know "what's out there?", same as we experience today, rather than giving the straight-up answers. I want the wonder of the unknown, not the fantastical theories. It's so hard to find fiction that would restrain itself from going completely fantastical.
This was a believable, scientifically plausible exploration of space and what might exist out there. And I absolutely adored it.
If I learned something from 2001, it's that I adore science fiction that describes early years of space exploration. I'd rather read a novel about first settlements on Mars, or scientists' wild dreams of sending first manned ship to Jupiter, than trying to comprehend a universe where hyperspace travel is as common as taking a cab, and huge cargo space ships haul generations worth of inhabitants to the planets populated with alien lifeforms. I want the book to express the desire to know "what's out there?", same as we experience today, rather than giving the straight-up answers. I want the wonder of the unknown, not the fantastical theories. It's so hard to find fiction that would restrain itself from going completely fantastical.
This was a believable, scientifically plausible exploration of space and what might exist out there. And I absolutely adored it.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ever wonder what the hell the movie was all about? There's a lot of explaining in this book, making it an essential companion to the film. There's some subtle differences between the two story-wise, but nothing too big .
I was surprised not only at how vanilla-bland Clarke's prose was, but also how none of the characters really stood out save for HAL. The book isn't bad by any means, but it also wasn't as 'deep' as I expected considering its film twin.
Spoiler
apart from the endingI was surprised not only at how vanilla-bland Clarke's prose was, but also how none of the characters really stood out save for HAL. The book isn't bad by any means, but it also wasn't as 'deep' as I expected considering its film twin.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"He was moving through a new order of creation, of which few men had ever dreamed. Beyond the realms of sea and land and air and space lay the realms of fire, which he alone had been privileged to glimpse. It was too much to expect that he would also understand."