Frank Poole, the astronaut killed by the computer HAL 9000 in the first installment, is recovered from the vacuum of space a millennium later. Reanimated by medical technology in the year 3001, Poole navigates a solar system reshaped by the monoliths. Humans now live on a giant orbital ring connected to Earth by space elevators, while Ganymede and Callisto are inhabited colonies. The narrative follows Poole as he learns that the monoliths have received a command from their distant creators that threatens the survival of the human race. He must reunite with the digitized consciousnesses of Dave Bowman and HAL 9000 within the monolith network to sabotage the cosmic hardware and prevent planetary extinction.
Readers of hard science fiction and long-term fans of the series choose this conclusion to see how Clarke resolves the mystery of the Star Child. It appeals to those interested in speculative engineering, such as the logistics of asteroid mining and orbital habitats. The reader finishes the book with a technical vision of how humanity might outlive its biological constraints and a specific explanation for the monoliths' presence in the solar system.
- Published
- 1999
- Language
- EN
