I just realised I typed his name wrong in my post. That what happens when the b is next to the v. I have two more of his books waiting on the shelf ready to be read. There are Time Gifts - which is only 4 stories and only 81 pages - long and Steps Through the Mist.
In Time Gifts three people who are imprisoned, either real or figuratively, are visited by a mysterious stranger and offered a chance to travel through time. The fourth story explains who the stranger is. On Amazon Steps Through the Mist is descibed as "Five women in various stages of life—all connected by a mysterious, obscuring mist—face the deterministic trap of fate in this mosaic novel".
I finished the Autobiography Long Shot by Mike Piazza. I'm now starting on my first Star Trek book in a very long time. In fact it has been so long, I can't even remember the last time I read a Star Trek book. It's Star Trek: Cast No Shadow and its a follow up the events in Star Trek 6 and what happens to Valeris. I'm looking forward to read it.
Recently finished 3001: A Final Odyssey. Quite disappointing end to a series. Now Reading: The Son by Philipp Meyer
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. Fascinating! Very well researched and written.
That is on my wishlist. I am just about to start Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason which was released on Kindle today. A crime mystery set in Iceland, the 9th book in the Reykjavik murder series and I have been looking forward to it for months. Detective Erlendur has been missing from the last two books in this series so I am happy that he is back in this book as he is my favourite police detective of all time.
I had a feeling you'd be disappointed. I was disappointed, too, although I still loved it-- Clarke's my favorite, after all. My major disappointments were the abandonment of the Trinity storyline, the Halman business, the retcon of the Stargate and the fact that, far from being the "final" Odyssey, it ended on a cliffhanger.
Yeah, I can see why you were telling me it was a disappointment. What makes it all the more disappointing is how strong it started out. 2061's epilogue had set up some great potential that never really amounts to anything more than a passing mention. I'd have thought that the discovery of the monolith on Earth would have done something significant for humanity, giving the story a philosophical note. It's as if the story was relying too heavily on the technology to dazzle, and I know it sounds ironic in terms of a sci-fi, but the story seemed to be more about the technology surrounding them rather than their affected lives. I felt the end was a bit too neat and tidy. I think he fumbled it, but on the other hand, it's difficult to end such an iconic series that started out as a single story. And I don't really understand Clarke's comments about the stories not really being direct sequels, and more as stories taking place in the same universe, as they certainly read like direct sequels to me.
Well, he kept fiddling with the timeline. If you look at his description of Poole's life, it's clear that the events of 2001 couldn't have taken place in 2001 and so forth. And then there was the retconning, such as with the Stargate. I think the term he used was "variations on a theme." I didn't like that aspect, either. But he was very old when he wrote it. He could still come up with the ideas, but didn't seem to have the focus or energy to develop them. My favorite aspect was bringing back Poole, giving the series a feeling of circularity. But I really wished that he would have brought back Clindar and Eos from Lost Worlds of 2001 and given us a real epic finale. Instead it turned into a confrontation and was put off for another 900 years.