Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: 2001, A Space Odyssey concluded with
"For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something."
That's where it should have been left.
Rating:
Summary: An anticlimactic end to a great series
Review: Arthur C Clarke has produced some awesome works of
SF. Rendezvous with Rama, 2001 and Childhood's End
rank, in my opinion, with the best SF ever produced. This book is a major disappointment. There are a myriad of inconsistencies with the previous books of the series and the work reads more like a short story than a novel. Most of the key elements of the previous book have been discarded and some of the more trivial ones developed. As an optimistic speculation as to the state of the world in 3001 the book works well. As a novel it is rather poor. The Clarke fan would consider it substandard when compared to his other works while the casual reader would just find it dull. After the heights of 2001 the Odyssey series has come to a anticlimactic and perhaps even unimaginative end.
Rating: 
Summary: 3001: The Final Frontier for Mankind
Review: In 3001: The Final Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke shows
us the future potential of integrating the dreams
of man with the abilities of technology. 3001 holds your attention with the return of HAL and
Dave Bowman one thousand years after the epic
2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke once again helps us
to expand our ideas about mankind and its place
in the universe. Also read Clarke's The Hammer of
God for more thought-provoking yarn about the
future of mankind.
Rating:
Summary: Clarke too old to write new words
Review: Have read all the books in this series, and literally got to read them again in this one. Clarke is one of the few authors in the world unafraid to plaigiarize himself. Several of the chapters of this extremely slim volume are word-for-word lifts from the other books. If your memory is bad or this is the first work of Clarke's that you've ever picked up, then you'll probably enjoy this little read, but I'd wait until it comes out in paperback if I were you
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: The book was interesting as it started out then started to drag. When Frank Poole was going to meet up with Dave Bowman, I thought that this would be the highlight of the book. Instead Mr. Clarke only summarized what happened between the two characters. I also thought the disapperence of the monolith was confusing. I'm not sure what really happened. I also thought that disabling the monolith with an old computer virus was really streaching it. Also I thought HAL was destroyed in 2010. Mr. Clarke didn't explain how he was resurected and merged with Dave to become Halman.
A very disappointing book.
Rating: 
Summary: Living with old prejudices and no new science
Review: Arthur has flogged this pony longer than Frank Herbert beat up the Dune worm.
Unrealistic, unconnected, a needless assault on religion, a repeition of the space elevator, and a vision, I hope, that ignores human capacity to grow. A great charitable donation after a mistaken purchase, but a pitiful legacy from the author of Childhood's End.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the wait...
Review: I grew up on Clarke. His novels and short stories fuelled my avid interest in science, evolution, and academic pursuits. It used to be that I could not wait to read the latest Clarke edition. But the last good books Mr. Clarke has written were 2010 and Fountains of Paradise.
All subsequent books by Mr. Clarke, including 3001 have lacked the ingenuity and sense of wonder present in his earlier work (i.e. Childhoods End, Rendezvous with Rama, Expedition to Earth).
I thought that 2061: Odyssey Three was low point of Clarke's writing, but 3001 is nothing more than a "cut and paste" job from all the intruiging ideas explored by Mr. Clarke in previous books. The notes at the end of 3001 are more interesting that the actual story, and most of those notes appeared in the much earlier (and brilliant) Fountains of Paradise.
My advice to those that loved 2001 and haited 2061, give this book a miss
Rating:
Summary: Getting old is pigeon poop
Review: I experienced such a heartfelt disappointment after reading most of this book that I just couldn't force myself to continue to the end. Instead, I'm going to fantasize that the Arthur C. Clarke I remember will suddenly appear in the last chapter, blowing my mind with a strange, portentious, maybe even humorous ending that will leave me in a daze. Or maybe I'll just go back and read Childhood's End, or Rendezvous with Rama(none of the sequels, though!!!) , The Fountains of Paradise, or The Songs of Distant Earth. Or any of his myriad short stories from the same era. These are the books I remember from my awkward teenage years, when the world became too much to handle, and these books provided a delicious, intelligent, exciting escape.
3001 is derivative. Bringing Frank Poole back was such a reach that I wonder if the publisher didn't write this book himself and then get Mr. Clarke's signature at the end. And the fact that the author wasted two chapters that could have been devoted to new ideas basically plaugerizing 2010 made me angry. There didn't seem to be a plot or at least any of the beautiful scenes of distant places and futures yet unseen that made the aforementioned books so amazing.I simply can't describe the disappointment I felt after reading Cradle, Garden of Rama and the others co-written with Gentry Lee. I couldn't sense Mr. Clarke's presence in those books and I can't feel him in 3001, either. To sum up this rambling review, I would direct the reader to anything Arthur C. Clarke wrote in the Sixties and Seventies. These works are among the best, most readable science fiction ever written and, in my opinion, don't deserve to be grouped in with his later attempts.
Rating:
Summary: Bad
Review: This book is almost as bad as 3001. The first 25 pages are interesting. The rest is a waste of time, especially the non-climatic climax. Clarke has written a self-serving money maker to trap into adding to the value of his estate. Give it up Arthur. You're outdated.
If you want good Clarke, read "Tales from the White Hart" or "Childhood's End."
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read!!!
Review: From the minute that I started this book I was totaly hooked. Arthur C. Clark has to be the best science fiction wrighter in this century. He has so many good book that I have just started to tap into the wealth of knolage that he has to offer. The one person that I would belive the most in prediction of the futur, Arthur C. Clark would be the one. His book goes into great detial about the star city around Earth. He even has a section at the end of the book to explane how parts of the book are posibale.
From one science fiction reader to another plase read this book.
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