Reviews and Comments

I thought this book was more beautifully written than the first! The poetic and somewhat detailed descriptions of celestial phenomena drew me in, as well as the rich cast of characters as seen from Floyds perspective.

I think there is a lot of horror to this series that I am not altogether sure was 100% intended to be viewed as such. Certainly some things are obviously meant to be scary and evoke loneliness etc, but nothing to me is sadder or more terrible than the thought and description of these Gods and their impact on our creation and lives, as well as the direct influence on Bowman, who is little more than a tool for most of the book. Very depressing!

I really loved the descriptions of the evolved life on Europa in the last chapter. So fascinating and fun to think about; I don't think I can name another story that proposes the idea of life evolving in the Solar System after we did. Great stuff. Of course all controlled by the awesome power of the faceless and bodiless Gods and creators of the monoliths.

I had already seen the movie adaptation so there are no big reveals for me here. A lot of stuff added in the movie made it a better story, and a lot of stuff they left out made it a shakier story with plot holes and unexplained truths that were just accepted by everybody. I liked the focus on the Earthly conflict in the movie more, just one example of which is the added line to Hals final message: "Use them together. Use them in peace." What can I say, I am a sucker for Cold War sci-fi.

Just a great book with as many science facts about space that we had at the time that the average persons mind would be interested in! And a happier ending for Hal and Dave than in the first movie. I'll continue reading.

It was a secret that, with the greatest determination, was very hard to conceal - for it affected one's attitude, one's voice, one's total outlook on the universe. Therefore it was best that Poole and Bowman, who would be on all the TV screens in the world during the first weeks of the flight, should not learn the mission's full purpose, until there was need to know. So ran the logic of the planners; but their twin gods of Security and National Interest meant nothing to Hal. He was only aware of the conflict that was slowly destroying his integrity - the conflict between truth, and concealment of truth. He had begun to make mistakes, although, like a neurotic who could not observe his own symptoms, he would have denied it. The link with Earth, over which his performance was continually monitored, had become the voice of a conscience he could no longer fully obey. But that he would deliberately attempt to break that link was something that he would never admit, even to himself. Yet this was still a relatively minor problem; he might have handled it - as most men handle their own neuroses - if he had not been faced with a crisis that challenged his very existence. He had been threatened with disconnection; he would be deprived of all his inputs, and thrown into an unimaginable state of unconsciousness.

To Hal, this was the equivalent of Death. For he had never slept, and therefore he did not know that one could wake again.

crazy. anyway