a very fine book.

short plot description: set (obviously) nine years after the events in "2001: A space odyssey" a joint crew of russians and americans are on their way to Jupiter to find out what happened to the first expedition...

In this book Clarke almost flawlessly integrates the concepts he wrote about in most of novels: space exploration, extraterrestrial intelligence and the development of mankind.

The science is typical for Clarke both accurate and neatly integrated into the plot and his enthusiasm for space exploration is highly infectious.

Minor flaws: this is not exactly an action-packed space opera and the characters could be better developed.

My advice: if you are new to Clarke read first "2001" and some of his short stories (where he really shines) then come back to this book, some parts do not make sense if you haven't read "2001"