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Title: Just barely OK
Review: I figure if you're a Clarke reader you come to his work tolerant of his short-comings as a writer: weak characterization and weak dialogue. You come to Clarke for his speculative ideas and interesting plots. 3001 begins well enough; the ideas are abundant and the plot builds, albeit, a bit slowly. There is a bit too much of revived Discovery astronaut Frank Poole's recovery time devoted to the minutiae of fourth millennia technology. When Poole finally gets back into space and pursues the continuing mystery of the monoliths the book really gets rolling. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, Clarke rushes the conclusion, and I believe undercuts the powerful image of the Monolith he has challenged our imaginations with from the beginning of the Odyssey series. The supposed conclusion to the series leaves readers more confused than ever and trivializes one of the most potent images in sci-fi lit. Very disappointing and unsatisfying. I wish he hadn't even made the attempt.
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