The Last Theorem
by Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl
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Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik PohlEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-05
ISBN: 0345470214
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of The Last Theorem
Book Review: Themes from the past, more should've been done with 'em
Summary: 3 Stars
On the morning of Sir Arthur's death, I pre-ordered this, his last novel. And that after having panned his last three, which were co-written with Stephen Baxter.
First, an observation. I think Sir Arthur may be more "religious" than he claimed to be. Even in ""2001: A Space Odyssey" which clearly put Clarke on the map, he referred to a creature, transcending the material world, close to "God." In this one, the authors create the "Grand Galactics," known collectively as "Bill." There is something distinctive, bordering on the "divine" about them/it.
The story itself is a biography of a young man in Sri Lanka, where Clarke lived for many years. In the book's beginning, the boy, Ranjit Subramanian, has an "affair" of sorts with a good friend. That friend pops up throughout the rest of the man's life, but sporadically, without much rhyme or reason.
In the meantime, the Grand Galactics witness Hiroshima and Nagasaki from afar. Their subordinate creatures of which there are many, the One Point Fives and the Nine Limbeds, for example, are authorized to destroy earth which has become a threat to life elsewhere. It's a theme not unlike "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and inferably "divine."
While this is happening, and while Subramanian is getting a little older, he's imprisoned for a couple of years. That was my first major problem with the text. That imprisonment served no purpose other than to indicate that other technical changes were taking place around the earth. And nothing later came of the imprisonment, no revenge on those who'd imprisoned him, no enlightenment as a result of it, or anything like that. What was the point?
Anyway, during the period, a nuclear weapon is developed which, like Clarke's (and Kube-McDowell's) book "The Trigger," renders its victims' weapons impotent. And that eventually provided a reason for the Grand Galactics' reconsideration of the earth's fate.
Then there was a space transportation means developed, taken from Clarke's novel "The Fountains of Paradise." In neither this book nor that one was I able to picture that means very clearly, but that may be my weakness rather than that of the books. Ranjit's daughter uses that means in a "solar sailing" race from which the message of the Grand Galactics and their subordinates' message comes to us earthlings--in ways that I dare not give away to the potential reader.
The whole story was rather slow in here. We saw Ranjit's kids develop; they had their own gifts and weaknesses. It was interesting, but didn't make me long for the next chapter.
All of these creatures by the way make themselves known by the end of the novel. Even the text refers to how boring the creatures' dissertations and inquiries could be!
And the end of the book I'm still trying to figure out. Ranjit's beloved spouse dies in a diving accident, her consciousness is inserted into a machine, somewhat like the theme of Clarke's (and McQuay's) novel "Richter 10." One passes thousands of years into the future as this consciousness survives and...what? Who is that guy behind the curtain?
I guess the most interesting theme of the text is that of the "theorem." in fact, it interested me enough to study a little about Fermat and that theorem. I'm still trying to figure out its utility, but at least I looked it up. Then there was the incorporation of contemporary themes into the text, especially US hegemony and militarism. But the authors didn't do much with those themes. I appreciate that they were there as that what makes a "story" good. But something more might have been done with them.
I guess I felt let down at the end of the book as I had more questions than answers. Again, there were themes that didn't serve any discernable purpose, others that didn't go where they might have.
If you're a Clarke collector, as I am, you might want it. If you want an uplifting story, any mathematical or scientific insights, you're going to be let down.
Summary of The Last Theorem
Two of science fiction?s most renowned writers join forces for a storytelling sensation. The historic collaboration between Frederik Pohl and his fellow founding father of the genre, Arthur C. Clarke, is both a momentous literary event and a fittingly grand farewell from the late, great visionary author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.The Last Theorem is a story of one man?s mathematical obsession, and a celebration of the human spirit and the scientific method. It is also a gripping intellectual thriller in which humanity, facing extermination from all-but-omnipotent aliens, the Grand Galactics, must overcome differences of politics and religion and come together . . . or perish.
In 1637, the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat scrawled a note in the margin of a book about an enigmatic theorem: ?I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.? He also neglected to record his proof elsewhere. Thus began a search for the Holy Grail of mathematics?a search that didn?t end until 1994, when Andrew Wiles published a 150-page proof. But the proof was burdensome, overlong, and utilized mathematical techniques undreamed of in Fermat?s time, and so it left many critics unsatisfied?including young Ranjit Subramanian, a Sri Lankan with a special gift for mathematics and a passion for the famous ?Last Theorem.?
When Ranjit writes a three-page proof of the theorem that relies exclusively on knowledge available to Fermat, his achievement is hailed as a work of genius, bringing him fame and fortune. But it also brings him to the attention of the National Security Agency and a shadowy United Nations outfit called Pax per Fidem, or Peace Through Transparency, whose secretive workings belie its name. Suddenly Ranjit?together with his wife, Myra de Soyza, an expert in artificial intelligence, and their burgeoning family?finds himself swept up in world-shaking events, his genius for abstract mathematical thought put to uses that are both concrete and potentially deadly.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone on Earth, an alien fleet is approaching the planet at a significant percentage of the speed of light. Their mission: to exterminate the dangerous species of primates known as homo sapiens.
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