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Excerpt From Arthur C. Clarke's Last Work
Posted by
kdawson
on Tue Jul 29, 2008 04:35 AM
from the slow-boat dept.
from the slow-boat dept.
Ubuntukitten writes "The Telegraph is running an excerpt from Arthur C. Clarke's last work, called 'The Last Theorem.' Fellow writer Frederik Pohl helped out. It's a reassuring chunk of old-fashioned sci-fi, describing an Olympics that's set on the moon. Typically for Clarkian sci-fi, is very much about the practicalities of mounting a Lunar Olympics, rather than any wild fantasy." The excerpt's centerpiece is a trip to the moon that begins with a space elevator ride. The book will be published on Aug. 1.
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Submission: Excerpt from Arthur C Clarke's last work by Anonymous Coward
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Oblig. (Score:5, Insightful)
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8? How much did you actually understand?
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because someone is pulling your leg. take a bunch of random facts, string them together with a halfway plausible story line.
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I got tired when Clarke discovered ctl-C ctl-V
Deja Vu (Score:2)
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Re:Deja Vu (Score:5, Informative)
The main character in "Hammer of God" was originally a moon athlete, and the book mentions the eventual establishment of a Lunar Olympics.
Parent
Re:Deja Vu (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sure you writen other posts describing stories as weirdly familiar.
You post seems weirdly familiar.
Parent
Re:Deja Vu (Score:5, Funny)
That's why it's called "The Last Theorem" and a seperate book! Arthur Clarcke had a truly marvellous short story about this Lunar-based sport event which the margin was too narrow to contain.
Parent
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You sir, are underestimating us. Of course we know about Fermat, we've all studied our biology.
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No, I'm New Here (Score:5, Funny)
No, I'm New Here
Parent
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hehe, whoever modded you down has no sense of humor.
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Like other science fiction writers of his time, he often rewrote the same story (or reused the same ideas) in multiple novels. Nowadays that would be considered milking the cow for all its worth, but it was acceptable for his generation.
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Nowadays that would be considered milking the cow for all its worth, but it was acceptable for his generation.
Many writers (even many contemporary writers) create consistent back stories for a given selection of novels. Some focus on one exclusively (e.g. J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth), while others have various contexts (e.g. Robert A. Heinlein's Future History, Lazarus Long, and World as Myth series).
If the concepts are bigger than can be contained in a single novel, then it is certainly acceptable and desirable to continue the broader story in succeeding volumes. This mode of writing is very common in science
about Pohl (Score:5, Insightful)
F. Pohl is one of the great masters of SF, if you haven't heard of him go read 'the space merchants', then check when it was written...
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F. Pohl is one of the great masters of SF, if you haven't heard of him go read 'the space merchants', then check when it was written...
Hey, I have that one! It's one of the hundred or so books I picked up at various library sales and have yet to read. I guess I'll read it next then :)
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Agreed. I never really cared for Clarke, but Pohl was a really good one.
Asimov and Heinlein, however, were the top two on my reading list.
First Singularity Story (Score:2)
I hope Pohl gets to see "Wall-E." It's the kind of satirical SF that he and Cyril Kornbluth wrote in the 1950s.
Pohl wrote what is possibly the first story about "transhumans," and which also hinted at the Singularity: "Day Million."
Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:5, Funny)
The IOC should take this seriously. The air quality on the moon is probably better than at Beijing.
*buh-dum-tish*
I'm here all night, please tip your waitress on the way out.
Re:Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:4, Funny)
The IOC should take this seriously. The air quality on the moon is probably better than at Beijing.
Well, there is certainly less air pollution...
Parent
Re:Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:4, Funny)
Well, there is certainly less air pollution...
Dunno. It depends how much of the Moon's negligible atmosphere consists of exhaust fumes from Apollo...
What's the Selenites' record on human rights like? I'm pretty sure they imprisoned Prof. Cavour and his crew without trial.
Parent
Re:Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:4, Informative)
I lived in Beijing until last month for several years. The reports of poor air quality are vastly exaggerated. It does get bad occasionally usually due to sand storms (they're bad), but it's not often, IMO.
Parent
Re:Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:5, Insightful)
I lived in Beijing until last month for several years. The reports of poor air quality are completely true.
Isn't it fun being an anonymous internet poster?
Parent
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For a start, I wasn't anonymous.
Second, I don't see how I can be any more authentic than giving my own experience. I didn't measure the air quality everywhere I went.
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"The reports of poor air quality are vastly exaggerated."
We've all seen pictures of the Beijing "sky." It's not bad compared to what, Dehli?
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Well, there are overcast days anywhere, pretty much. Anything to show that it was pollution you were looking at rather than just cloud?
I'm sure there *is* pollution, but I can't believe it's worse than, say, LA, or even SF bay area on occasion.
At least, that is *my* impression having lived there for several years.
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"Anything to show that it was pollution you were looking at rather than just cloud?"
Clouds tend not to be brown.
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> You smoke, don't you?
No, I don't. Well, only second hand (ie, I don't get the benefit of the filter). ...but, yes, a *lot* of people there smoke, and it was horrible in some restaurants at times; but they've segregated them now. I was told the authorities wanted to ban smoking completely 'inside' (ala California), but there was too much resistance, so segregation has to be enough. This leads to the same old problems of there being no 'gap' between the 'smoking' and 'no smoking' areas in many places, bu
Re:Can we stage it for 2008? (Score:5, Funny)
And the facilities would probably be ready before the London ones are finished.
Parent
Torch run (Score:2)
Well, that way, at least you don't need any protestors in case the moon cast its shadow on Tibet.
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How did they solve the technical problem of the torch run? Wouldn't the flame go out without access to oxygen?
Well, I haven't read the story, but given that they've already solved that problem for humans, it can't be too much of an issue.
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I dunno. I wouldn't an open flame inside my spaceship as it reaches the moon.
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True, in a gravity well, when you have a flame the heat causes the CO2 and smoke to rise away from the flame, and allows oxygen rich air to flow into the flame to keep it going. In a spacecraft, you don't have gravity, so the hot exhaust gasses from the flame will just sit there, and prevent the oxygen from reaching the flame, choking it out. The solution is very simple: a small fan can be used
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They just switch to Dell Li-ion battery backup.
All the oxygen you need.
Trustworthy (Score:5, Funny)
How can anyone trust ANYONE's writings if they have the initials "A.C."?
Ode to AC (Score:3, Informative)
How can anyone trust ANYONE's writings if they have the initials "A.C."?
You're thinking, no doubt, of Anonymous Coward - but let's not forget the other great ACs of the world!
There's Armored Core, with its warring corporations and mercenaries in their robots
There's A.C. Moore, when you need to buy some craft stuff
There's Art Carney, of "Honeymooners" fame
There's Alternating Current, which makes it easier to transmit electricity over long distances or change its voltage level
There's Air Conditioning, which is great on a hot day
There's AC/DC, who at one point were away but later
Re:Ode to AC (Score:4, Funny)
They all seem different and complicated, I don't trust any of those things!
Parent
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They all seem different and complicated, I don't trust any of those things!
:D
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That's AC2 2 U!
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One word: Scientology.
Last work? (Score:3, Funny)
Don't be so sure. 2pac is still bangin' them out.
Not a wild fantasy? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not a wild fantasy? That's why we call it science fiction, or SF, instead of "stuff we just make up". Welcome to SF as it was before the mass market publishers and anime came along. It used to be a bit more rigorous.
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My understanding is that in terms of speed, a Skyhook would be not that much different from a rocket
It took almost a week to get to the moon [wikipedia.org], and that was on a Saturn V rocket, a huge monster of a vehicle. Launched on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on July 20, when Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above. That's a five day trip, without stopping for gas or potty breaks.
The moon's a long way off. Here [wikipedia.org] is more info about the Van Allen belts.
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does it reek of shameless self adoration? are the characters bland? im more of a p.k. dick, isaac asimov kinda guy
Oh, the irony of criticizing shameless self-adoration and bland characters, and simultaneous praising Isaac Asimov. :D
Asimov wouldn't know a character if the cardboard hit him in the ass. Though, to be fair, he's better than Niven on that score. (Don't get me wrong -- I love the latter two, but they're better at concept writing than characterization).
And Asimov didn't exactly hide how brillian
Allegation != Proof (Score:2)
Allegation is not proof. The allegations in question were made by an irresponsible journalist, investigated by the Sri Lankan authorities, and found to be totally without merit. The newspaper in question apologized.
...laura