Another great book in the series. Does not disappoint. ( )

Earlier this year I made a vow to read all of the Space Odyssey books before 2010. I was warned that I would be let down by 2061 : odyssey three. It took me two days to read and while I still consider 2010 to be my favorite I didn’t feel cheated. The story feels rushed, however and most of the chapters are a mere three pages long. If you are used to that kind of scattered Harry Turtledoveian kaleidoscopic focus shift then it will be merely a mild annoyance. I really suspect Clarke’s heart was not in this one. In fact, the best parts of 2061 were inported whole cloth from 2010. He was hoping the Galileo program would give him more cause to return to the Space Odyssey but it was delayed by the Challenger disaster. The pleasure trip to land on Halley’s Comet seems a bit of a swindle or a compromise. I liked having Floyd return however, though most of the other characters failed to move me. I won’t gripe about the ending as it seems to be well tilled ground at this point. I’m a big sucker for stories featuring colonization of near space and the Galaxy and Universe felt like real ships with personality and provable physics; as the Millennium Falcon and Serenity are in the "soft" science fiction genre. ( )

Jupiter sunshine results.

After Jupiter was turned into a small star and humans prohibited from landing on Europa Heywood Floyd, one of the survivors of the mission in Odyssey Two has lived most of his time on a space station.

He is invited to take part in a celebrity flight to Halley's Comet, but the ship gets hijacked and ends up on a moon, whereupon things get strange indeed.

More interesting than the previous novel, and the Bowman entity is again involved along with the monolith.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/11... ( )

At times this story seems out of place with the rest of the odyssey series. At other times this story seems to take on a special significance. We learn more about a burgeoning new race evolving right in our solar system and we learn more about the monoliths. The pacing seems a little off in this installment of the series, starting slowly and ending quickly. Overall I think it is the lightest of the series, the one book that doesn’t really need to be their except for the enjoyment of fans. Besides its slight flaws, 2061 is still an excellent read and part of one of the best series ever written. ( )

Slow to start, but once things get going the pace picks up, but the ending seems too weak as well. ( )