Engagement:
Genre:
Science Fiction
Published:
1968
Page Count:
297
Where to Buy:
2001: A Space Odyssey
#
Content Ratings
Moderate Themes
The novel explores the nature of intelligence—artificial and alien—the existential stakes of first contact, and what transformation awaits humanity if it survives long enough to be guided by forces beyond its understanding.
Moderate Violence
HAL 9000 murders multiple crew members through calculated system failures and direct action; an ape kills a rival in the prehistoric sequence; violence is significant but clinically rendered.
Synopsis
From the dawn of human intelligence guided by an alien monolith to a mission to Saturn where the onboard AI HAL 9000 begins killing crew members to protect the mission, Clarke's novel ranges across millions of years of human development to a transcendent and enigmatic conclusion. Both an exploration of humanity's origins and a meditation on what we might become, the novel rewards patience with genuine wonder. The companion novel to Kubrick's landmark film.