Rating: 
Summary: Nobody's perfect
Review: First of all I'm an ACC's fan and I think that his contribution to the world of fiction and the world of science is tremendous. This book has some interesting ideas like a belt around the Earth with inertia-less elevator inside the towers (it's kind of strange though that the civilization that builds inertia-less elevators doesn't build inertia-less spaceships) and so others. But I just cannot believe that Clark who was known to always consult the best of the breed scientists before publishing something allowed something like the idea of destruction of monolith by sending a computer virus... This could be only written by someone who has no knowledge whatsoever about computers and computer viruses. The better idea probably would be sending an army of sims armed with maces and shattering the black beast by knocking on it. ;-) The idea of a braincap, made of metal(!), and shaving your head "once in a couple of month" is just almost as outrageous as the virus. Also inspite of the cap all kind switches, voice control devices, screens and other non-direct devices interfaces were reluctantly left in the book. Poor Dave from the immortal superman is being changed to something like an exhibit in the alien zoo. Destruction of the Jupiter become basically a mistake because it didn't change life on Europe. I can continue this list forever. To summarize all of the above I would say as many people already said on this page: This book is unexpected disappointment for every ACC fan. It just proves the simple fact that nobody is perfect and it won't stop me from reading his novels.
Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD BOOK GONE BAD
Review: I picked up this book for a good price and just because i knew the author was a good one. I can't say that i've read his other novels, but i hear he can do better. As it started I was intrigued and read the first hundred pages non-stop. It portrayed in good and facinating detail the ways of life and the culture shock that Poole tried to avoid in 3001. As i read i became less interrested, but kept reading hoping that since the beginning was excellent that it would end w/ a bang. I was sourly dissappointed at a boring and mildly eventful ending For the diehard Clarke fan its a must, though dissappointing, I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone as a first impression of good Sci-fi.
Rating:
Summary: HO! HUM!!!! JUST LIKE 2061
Review: Prepare to be disappointed again. 2010 was science fiction at its finest. It was passionate, intriguing, and left me breathless for more.2061 was not very good and neither is this one.Clarke seems to have lost his interest in this story and wanted to just shrug it off like a coat no longer needed or wanted' The book is short and has a large font, as well as copies of previously released chapters. The only remotely interesting thing is Clarke's portrayal of future gadgets. But that does not save it from being a big waste of money and very little time!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: No character development
Review: I expected better coming from Clarke... I was sorely disappointed. There seemed to be a total lack of character development. I've seen better development in short stories. I only paid $4 for the paperback edition, but I do not believe it was even worth this amount. I wonder if it would have even been possible to get this one published if it had not been with Clarke as the author. If this is an indication of how his abilities have slumped in his later years, I believe that it is time for him to give up writing and take up gardening. If you are a Clarke fan, you will have to read it solely because it was written by him, but don't expect too much... Borrow the book so that you don't waste any money on it...
Rating:
Summary: We expect more from Mr. Clarke
Review: I read the book. I read these reviews. In my opinion the reviews are far more, imaginative, entertaining, amusing, and enjoyable reading than this (hopefully last) of ACC's books. You can't please everyone. Ever! But look, Arthur, there are a very high percentage of reviews written here where your fans are not just disappointed. They really are angry with you for presenting them with such trash. We expect more from you because, in the past, you have provided us with so much more. There is an abundance of trash to read, we neither need nor expect it from the likes of you. Yes, we hold you to a higher standard and that is because your standard has always been so much higher! There is a link below these reviews. It is underlined. It says "I am the author and I want to comment on my book. " Please click on it and explain yourself. Tell us it was just a joke. Tell us you had a brain-fart. Tell us you apologize and will do better next time. Most of all, tell us you are OK because, as avid fans, we are concerned about you. And rightfully so. Admittadly though, you've got us on one pint: you've figured out what that icon with the ABC & chekmark on your toolbar is fer.
Rating:
Summary: Why Didn't Clarke Just Let Well Enough Alone
Review: 2001, 2010, and 2061 were all great books. 3001 however, wasn't good enough of the title Odyssey. Frank Poole's a likeable guy and the first part of the novel is great. The rest is all and all bad. Clarke is a great author. It's almost impossible to think that this novel is his.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting read, but not fully satisfying.
Review: If you have read the rest of Clarke's Odyssey series, you have to read this book--but be prepared for a let-down. The return of Frank Poole (murdered by HAL in 2001) is a promising start to the novel, and the tour of the worlds of 3001 is interesting, even stimulating in some parts, although it is done in Clarke's now-familiar style: more akin to reporting than conventional novel writing. Like some of Heinlein's later works, I think it shows a decline in his storytelling abilities--but, also like Heinlein, a mediocre Clarke story is better than 75% of the rest of the stories out there in this genre. I am troubled by the anticlimactic ending (it's as though Clarke was keeping an eye on his page count, and when he had enough pages to make a book he decided to wind it up as quickly as possible), and also by the absence of Heywood Floyd, who in "2061" became part of the Europa monolith, with Bowman and HAL. Maybe that will be explained in "4001;" or maybe "Halwoodman" would have been too cumbersome... It's a quick read, and I'm glad I read it--but I hope his next book is better.
Rating:
Summary: A sad commentary on how far Clarke's skills have declined
Review: In "3001", Arthur C. Clarke attempts to wrap up his increasingly incoherent "2001" series. It is a very limited success at best. As has been true of other "Clarke-only" works, the word count in this latest effort has decreased, the font size has increased, and as a result what we really have here is a glorified novella, not a novel. Clarke reuses several chapters from previous 20x1 novels in an attempt to flesh the work out. In addition, there is an "acknowledgement" chapter, a "why I wrote the series" chapter, and a two-chapter preview of a totally unrelated novel by someone I've never heard of. Actually, that preview might be the most interesting reading in the book. Clarke pats himself on the back more than once in the former chapters; give it a rest, man! The plot synopsis is terrifyingly simple: Frank Poole's body is discovered and he is miraculously brought back to life. The first part of the book focuses on Poole becoming accustomed to life in the "fourth millenium" and introduces a couple of gee-whiz devices to further the plot on down the road. At this point he's told about the whole series of events that we know about from the 20x1 novels. After Poole develops a relationship with a 20th century historian, he hops on a ship to Ganymede and enventually decides "Gee, it would be cool if I tried to see if my buddy Dave will talk to me on Europa." Of course he does, and Dave/Hal turn out to be very apprehensive about what the TMA monoliths might be doing next - seems that TMA's big daddy is just far enough away that, having seen what was happening at the time of 2001, instructions were coming back as to what TMA should do now. At this point the "Committee for Europa" decides that it's time to figure out a way to shut down the monoliths. The fact that nobody has a clue about how the monoliths work isn't a problem - hey, we have Hal/Dave! So, Clarke uses the old "computer virus ex machina" to disable all the monoliths, which vanish. The barely touched-upon Europans are left to struggle on on their own. Frank lives happily ever after. End of story! Clarke comments "Hey, I found out that Independence Day also used the virus idea, it was mine first" but that doesn't change the fact that using a virus on a totally foreign architecture and operating system is incredibly unlikely to do anything other than make the system say ???. There is a small amount of the "Clarke Magic" early in the book when Poole is exploring his new habitat - on a space elevator which is also used to get goods/people from earth to geosynchronous orbit. It's the only thing that keeps my rating from being a 1, and it's not enough to redeem the work. I almost bought this in hardcover. Thank "Deus" (if you read the book, you'll understand) I did not. Clarke's time, like Asimov's before him, has passed.
Rating:
Summary: Be sad, be very very sad.
Review: It was with great anticipation that I picked up the book from the library after having reserved it. I was looking forward to a typical AC Clarke novel of imagination, excellent writing, futuristic imagery, etc.(AC Clarke readers know the rest) I was shocked, disapointed, dismayed and angry. I was angry at ACC for allowing a book of this importance to be written as if a team of 12 year- olds had assembled for a writing assignment. No, I take that back, 12 year olds have more imagination than is evident in 3001. I suppose the thing that angered me the most was the writing style. It was flat, with little use of imagery, and did not evoke any emotion or wonder. I am very sad. This should have been a glorious culmination of a series. Instead it is a waste of our dwindling forest resources.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer disappointment
Review: I read this book just after re-reading 2001. I must say it was quite a shock, as 3001 just didn't take off. The story line is concentrated on Frank Poole's leisure activities until the time for the Gannimede trip. And both Poole and us are kept quite blind from what is human society in the fourth millenium. I guess it's because Clarke intentionally wanted to make just a few predictions about the future, the surest ones, so that he will get many of them right. Anyway, what transpires from Poole's routine sounded quite unexciting to me. And just up to the moment of the trip to Gannimede, I found the book quite boring.
After that, there is some tension in the air. But again, long discussions about religion (as in Sagan's Contact) rather slow down the narrative. But it was the unfolding of the story that mostly disappointed me. Now Bowman and HAL are trapped inside the Monolith. As I understand, Bowman had been given a semi-god existence, having immaterial conscience to travel through time and space at will. How could he have been trapped like that? And the Monolith, in the end, is just a dumb machine, much more stupid than HAL was in the second millennium!!! And finally, where are all those tricks alluded to in 2001, where faster-than-light travel and communications seemed obvious? All of a sudden, the "Lords of the Galaxy" are stuck to radio waves to communicate and make decisions based on 450 years-old "news", that it their turn, take another 450 years to be in effect!!!! The odd points are much more numerous, but I'll stop here. Sheer disappointment is my feeling about the book. Thanks Deus the series is finished.
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