The last theorem

English language

Published Nov. 15, 2008 by DelRey/Ballantine Books.

ISBN:
978-0-345-47021-8
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (4 reviews)

The final work from the brightest star in science fiction's galaxy. Arthur C Clarke, who predicted the advent of communication satellites and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey completes a lifetime career in science fiction with a masterwork.

9 editions

Better than expected

4 stars

I saw a lot of bad reviews for this one that I really didn't think it deserved. I found it to be rather engaging. I had a connection with the characters, and perhaps that was part of the problem for some. I am just as guilty as other of not liking a story because I cannot enjoy the struggle of the people that are in it, but in this case these people are so real, so feeling, so giving you always want for them what they cannot have.

Given the the scope of the endeavor and the lesson it uncovers about the nature of us it is no wonder that many did not want to understand. Or perhaps it was just to complex for them to truly grasp the beauty of the art taken as a whole, but if you have the courage I highly recommend this. Just be ready …

Review of 'The last theorem' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

From the sublime to the not so. And it really pains me to say that. Arthur C Clarke died last year and it was a great loss indeed. It’s hard to imagine a more famous science fiction author and one who had such a prestigious career. So when ‘the final novel from SF grandmaster Arthur C Clarke’, as the shout line went across the cover of The Last Theorem, came through the letterbox, and I saw that Clarke had co-written it with Frederik Pohl, another significant talent, I though, ‘Wow, this is going to be special.’

The fact is that — pretty much from page one — it wasn’t, and as I read further and my hopes of any improvement were dashed I became saddened and really rather annoyed. I was sad because I no longer saw the spark of brilliance, the unique ideas that characterised Clarke’s work. He was …

Subjects

  • Mathematicians -- Fiction
  • Physicists -- Fiction
  • Fermat's last theorem -- Fiction
  • Space vehicles -- Propulsion systems -- Fiction
  • Sri Lanka -- Fiction