In all of the books I have read by him, let alone 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke wrote about characters that felt relatable despite their amazing and then-futuristic professions.
2001 and the rest of the Odyssey series are an effortless blend of science fiction and the hard facts of the era. I loved how well grounded the fantasy elements were in this mixture. Philosophical and physics problems are evoked that we today are still faced with, and which we continue to answer with uncertainty, through this story’s balance of memorable cast members and feats of humanity.
Arthur C. Clarke’s stories are great examples of hard science fiction. 2001 tackled the idea of a realistic approach to first contact with life beyond our planet, which occurred long before civilization began with Moon-Watcher’s tribe on the brink of being wiped out while being studied and modified by a Monolith.
A short glossary of humanity’s rise from Moon-Watcher brings readers into the then-futuristic twenty-first century, where society has risen from their planetary cradle to being held together by pressure and compression in orbit around the Earth and on the surface of the Moon.
Some of the best parts of 2001 lay in these lived-in descriptions, reminding me of Moby Dick’s sub-plot detailing, where readers get a real feel for scenarios such as what it is like being David Bowman while repairing the Discovery as if it were a simple cell or lifeform.
It is through these technical details where readers find the real fantasy and fiction of Arthur C. Clarke’s writing, through the theories and implications of the facts of the time the novel was written.
A great example of this was in how Bowman's later ability to descend into planets without being touched by them was foreshadowed by the use of magnification to be, in effect, closer to the bodies, in both cases to collect data.
The cool thing about scientists mapping out orbits for small satellites and humanity's spaceships is that it would take the same finesse to do so on a planetary scale, except that humanity lacks access to that scale of creative assets. Scientific law was the limit to creativity both in story and for its author.
In case it is unclear, 2001 is one of my favorite stories, and Arthur C. Clarke one of my favorite fiction writers.
2001 deals with physical representations of metaphysical concepts, taking readers to places where our stars are seen as jet-black, absorbing the Light beyond time and space.
Arthur C Clarke's scope of humanity's technological growth is fascinating to me, from his then-near-future 2001 through 2061, to the far future 3001 (being read at the time of this review's publication).
His stories have this way of balancing reality and dreams, of using his real-life experience of working with lifelike models, physical or intangible, to alter, predict and invite us within them.
These models were used to anticipate now modern day tech, including reusable space shuttles and predictions about smart devices, and also to create a compelling narrative which left expansion room for ideas he wanted to develop in future novels, like the transformation of Lucifer and the lifeform reveals, including spaceborn and gaseous races only able to communicate via radio waves.
Even modern mass media is alluded to by the Monolith creators’ experiments being undertaken by their automatic machines.
The best part of the series, rather than the Hollywood Kubrick film, is the deconstruction, analysis and continuation of these themes onwards through the sequels.
2001: A Space Odyssey grants a grounded foray into a retro-futuristic setting that never loses its real life basis, even when dealing with reality warping wormholes. Or entangled Star Gates. Or being on the ‘surface’ of space while moving outside of time.
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HaikuPrajna project roadmap update
Recent Reads:
. Bartleby, the Scrivener - Herman Melville . 20241217 - 20241218
. 2061: Odyssey Three - Arthur C. Clarke . 20240328 - 20241216
. The Odyssey - Homer . 20230115 - 20241215
. The Empire Strikes Back - Donald F. Glut . 2024 08 25 - 10 05
. A New Hope - Alan Dean Foster . 2024 07 13 - 08 25
. Star Wars: Rogue One - Alexander Freed . 2024 06 01 - 07 13
. Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover . 2024 02 24 - 2024 05 31
. Stuart Little - E.B. White . 2024 02 04 - 2024 03 28
. The Clone Wars - Karen Traviss . 2024 01 11 - 2024 02 18
. Attack of the Clones - R. A. Salvatore . 2023 10 17 - 2024 01 10
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Current Reads:
. 3001: The Final Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke . 2024 12 16
. Return of the Jedi - James Khan . 2024 10 14
. Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzche . 2023 08 13
. Enneads VI - Plotinus . 2022 12 16
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Upcoming releases
HaikuPrajna Project Roadmap
Upcoming Releases by Allen W. McLean:
. “FLUKE!” Vol 1
... Containing the following stories;
... KID: A
... SM-SARA
... The Artifact
... ULTRAVIOLET
... The Cannon
... Battle Colosseum
... Hector Blake
.
. Together in Forever Vol 1 - Part I-V
... As part of “SM-SARA: Poetry and Other Stories”, the short story “Artemis” will receive an independent release as Part IV, coupled with the latest entry in the Together in Forever series.
... The two sub-series The Wisps Book and The Deeper Forest will be collected alongside Together in Forever. All-new shorts are in production for all three series!
...
Recent Releases by Allen W. McLean:
. Hector Blake
. BATT-LE Colosseum Pt I: Hiding One's Shadow
. Together in Forever - The Wisps Book: Ado the Owl
... These three stories are available to read for free as a digital eBook download, or as part of your paid Medium, Substack or Patreon subscription!
. Together in Forever: Part V
... The sleeping hero, \\ their eyes blind to injustice \\ with misplaced mercy. ... (Simmer Down - HaikuPrajna (Together in Forever: Part V)
... A superhero in self-imposed exile struggles with drawing the line between mercy and giving into their wrath.
...
All Released Projects
...
. Together in Forever
... Part I-V
... The Wisps Book
... ... Tomothy and the Overseer of the Forest
... The Deeper Forest
... ... The Giant's Shadow
. “FLUKE!”
... The Artifact
... ULTRAVIOLET
... The Cannon
... BATT-LE Colosseum
... Hector Blake
. Escape Perennial City - Samsara Edition
... KID: A
... SM-SARA
. The HaikuPrajna Collection - Fishing for Caribou
. The HaikuPrajna Collection - SM-SARA, Poetry and Other Stories
. The HaikuPrajna Collection - The Elephant in the Room
...
The HaikuPrajna Project Roadmap
Thank you for reading
More from Allen W. McLean
Released Projects
. 2024 06 Together in Forever: Part V
. 2024 02 Together in Forever - The Deeper Forest: The Giant's Shadow
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. 2023 12 Project Roadmap Quarterly Mini Zines
. 2023 11 Escape Perennial City - Samsara Edition
. 2023 10 Ultraviolet Paperback
. 2023 09 First APRILandALLEN's Project Roadmap Update
. 2023 08 31 FLUKE!: Hector Blake + Ado the Owl Paperback
. 2023 07 23 The Elephant in the Room - Second Edition
. 2023 06 22 Deforms, Sticker Fix and more of APRILandALLEN’s Art Works, Book Merch and Clay Quirks
. 2023 05 24 FLUKE!: BATTLE Colosseum - Collected Paperback]
. 2023 04 28 FLUKE!: BATTLE Colosseum Pt. II Unified Field Theory
. 2023 03 25 FLUKE!: BATTLE Colosseum Pt. I Hiding One’s Tracks
. 2023 02 25 The Wisps Book IV: Summond the Scarecrow
. 2023 01 30 The Wisps Book III: Falgara the Giant
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. 2022 12 03 The Wisps Book II: Ado the Owl
. 2022 10 29 FLUKE!: ULTRAVIOLET
. 2022 09 30 The Wisps Book I: Tomothy and the Overseer of the Forest
. 2022 08 01 Together in Forever: A Short Story - Collected Paperback Pt. I-III
. 2022 07 25 Together in Forever Pt III
. 2022 06 28 Together in Forever Pt II
. 2022 06 16 Together in Forever Pt. I
. 2022 04 01 The HaikuPrajna Collection Book II SM-SARA, Poetry and Other Stories, Second Edition
. 2022 03 22 Hector Blake
. 2022 03 13 The Cannon
. 2022 03 10 SM-SARA - KID:A Edition
. 2022 03 03 The Artifact
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. 2021 11 28 The HaikuPrajna Collection Book III: Fishing for Caribou
. 2021 06 13 Escape Perennial City
. 2021 03 03 The HaikuPrajna Collection Book II: SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories First Edition
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. 2020 12 02 Blogspot
. 2020 04 04 The HaikuPrajna Collection: Elephant in the
Room First Edition
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. 2019 11 10 The A-Squared Production Team on Patreon
. 2019 06 16 SM-SARA Kindle Edition
. 2019 04 23 HaikuPrajna Day, first IG post
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Thank you for reading,
Until next time!
Allen W. McLean
