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Arthur C. Clarke


Timstar

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Just finished reading 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, the book is based on the film written by Clarke and Kubrick. The film is obviously one of the best sci-fi films ever, which inspired me to read the book.

 

The book was great, lots more material with more explanations and a much bigger scale. I bought the three sequels Clarke also wrote. Just wondering if any has read any of his other stuff and can recommend any? He did quite a lot!

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2001 is mentioned here. I did a search, and was amazed we don't have a specific thread for him.. but it looks as if lots of people have mentioned him in their threads, so you might get some response.

 

Personally, I know I've read a few of his, but I can't remember exactly which ones. Apart from the Rama series, which I thought was brilliant.

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It's been years since I read most of ACC's books but Rendezvous with Rama (the original 1972 novel) is one of his best. The follow ups were clearly written by a co-author with a different more conversational style I personally couldn't get into.

Another favourite is the short novel called A Meeting with Medusa, about the first exploration of Jupiter's atmosphere by a lone astronout Howard Falcon, in an airship, the Kon Tiki. Like all ACC's stories its based on scientific knowledge at the time.

The Fountains of Paradise (1977) is set in Sri Lanka and is about building a 'space elevator', literally a cable lift up to a satellite in orbit. Such a 'space elevator' would make tradtional rockets redundant. You still hear of this idea in science news nowadays as being theoretically possible when a strong enough material exists to be used for the cable.

A Fall of Moondust is one of his early stories, a kind of 'disaster novel' about a passenger vehicle on the moon that sinks in deep moondust. He must have written this story in the 1950s when scientists thought the lunar seas were deep areas of dust that wouldn't support the weight of a spacecraft.

Don't forget the short story books also. There are about eight and include Expedition to Earth that contains the short story The Sentinel, that '2001' was based on. Also The Wind from the Sun.

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Oooh - I read the Space Odyssey books years ago (each book I found better than the previous one) and I think I read a couple more but can't remember their names so this thread is great, would love to try a few more......

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of my favourites is The City and the Stars. Childhood's End is also very good.

 

I really highly recommend all of Clarke's short stories. I own a collection of them all, which runs to around 1000 pages with small print. It is simply glorious. Many of the stories are collected in shorter collections as well, and I'd recommend starting with Tales from the White Hart, where the stories are recounted in a pub and have humorous dialogue between the characters.

 

There's also the Time Odyssey trilogy that he co-wrote with Stephen Baxter. I've only read the first two so far, and they're quite interesting. Not my favourites, but they're worth a look.

 

I also second the Rama series. The first one is the best and much more 'sci-fi' than the rest of the series. Books 2-4 are much more character-driven. I still quite enjoyed them, but I think a lot of people don't.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished Odyssey Three. Didn't think it was as good as the first two but I still really enjoyed it.

 

I also second the Rama series. The first one is the best and much more 'sci-fi' than the rest of the series. Books 2-4 are much more character-driven. I still quite enjoyed them, but I think a lot of people don't.

 

I ordered Rendezvous with Rama. I found out that Clarke only wrote the first book of the series then consulted on the rest while Gentry Lee wrote them... they were a lot less acclaimed. So unless I am desperate to read more of the same series I won't bother with them.

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I never liked Arthur C. Clarke. I always thought his writing was a bit stiff and boring even when I was a kid. But he was a clever fella no doubt. He invented the geo-stationary satellite.

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