perelgut (04/29/83)
2010: Odyssey Two
Arthur C. Clarke
Ballantine Books, New York, 1982 ($20Cdn)
This is book has been discussed before, but here is my $.02
worth. This is being jointly submitted to net.books &
net.sf-lovers as will future reviews. Consider this a
blanket apology to those readers at news-sites where you
have to see duplicate postings twice. The lucky few with
up-to-the-minute news programs will only see this once.
Clarke definately states that the book follows the movie
closer than the book for historical references. I don't
want to spoil too much of the book for anyone who wants to
read it, so I will only hit on a few points.
I found the book a disappointing experience. There are a
number of scenes which seem to be written only as filler for
the eventual movie. There is a whole episode with the
Chinese (bad-guys, but noble-savages who get their just
desserts) that is absolutely without merit in the book.
Clarke raise the suspense masterfully, then drops it sudden-
ly, completely, and in a very picturesque fashion.
Another very carefully crafted sequence has us all worried
about the potential for trouble with a resurrected HAL 9000.
HAL (very clearly not rot 1 on IBM) doesn't cause any trou-
ble at all. Another episode which leaves the reader feeling
cheated. HAL's eventual demise is rather interestin.
HAL's creator is introduced but seems to be a very stereo-
typed, two-dimensional character. For that matter, most of
the characters lack any real depth. The Russians are defi-
nately Russian, the Texan is a real-Texan, the dedicated
professor is a dedicated professor, etc. (Hint: SAL 9000, a
near replica of HAL has absolutely nothing to do with any-
thing)
And so it goes. Jupiter, Io, Ganymede, etc. will be abso-
lutely lovely in the movie. At least they had better be,
given the space used to describe them.
By now you have probably guessed that I was not overly im-
pressed with 2010. It was nice to see Clarke's idea of how
things will turn out. The book will probably make a good
movie. The book definately concludes the subject although I
am sure there could be many more books written in the same
future.
I would rate this book a 5. It wasn't spell-binding, and
the characters lacked depth. On the other hand, I have come
to expect similar from Clarke (with the exceptions of Rama
and maybe one or two others.) It does conclude the story,
and it is easy to read. Borrow this one or buy one of the
10 million paperback versions. Or wait for the movie.