Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke is best known for writing the Oscar nominated screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is generally considered one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.  He was a radar specialist in WWII and that led to his his work in proposing using satellites as communications relays.  Most of his work has to do with space exploration and first contact with aliens and he has a hard science fiction focus on the technology that would let mankind do interplanetary exploration in our solar system.  Generally he does not focus much on characterization and mostly his characters are forgettable, with the great exception of HAL 9000 in the film 2001 who is generally considered one of the most memorable film villains of all time.

2001
He simultaneously wrote the novel and screenplay for 2001 while collaborating with Stanley Kubrik.   The story begins with an extended scene of humanities ascent from apelike creatures to a tool and weapon using creature millions of years ago in part do to a mysterious monolith given to the creatures by aliens.  Fast forward to modern times where the bulk of the story takes place.   Scientists have discovered a monolith on the moon and have concluded that some alien negligence has placed it there after it sends a radio signal to a moon of Saturn (in the film its Jupiter).  A group of astronauts is on a doomed mission to Saturn to investigate.  Most of the astronauts are in hibernation during the journey and the 2 non-hibernating scientists must determine why HAL, the intelligent computer running the ship, is malfunctioning.

While the movie often leaves audiences confused, the novel focuses much more why these things are occurring and is easier to follow than the movie, which is more heavy with visual symbolism.  Most of themes are questions of are we alone in the universe with a good bit of hard science fiction of how long and difficult interplanetary travel would be and the nature of artificial intelligence.  He followed this up with 3 more novels, 2010 (also a film), 2061, and 3001.  This novel is appropriate for teenage readers.  It has a little violence, but it is not graphic or the focus of the story.

Rendezvous with Rama
A first contact focused Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel written in 1972, this is the most interesting of the three Clarke novels I have read.  A giant 50+ KM long spaceship arrives in our solar system in the year 2130 and scientists send a ship called the Endeavor to investigate.  Most of the novel is focused on how the alien ship works and the crew spends a good bit of time investigating the ecosystem inside the ship.  He goes into a lot of details about how the aliens built everything in triplicate, how people might go about exploring a ship like this, and how the interior of the ship functions, while leaving a good bit of mystery about what the aliens are actually like.

I was left wanting more and he set up the novel well for sequels, but he did not actually write the sequels that came out himself and I have read that they are not nearly as interesting.  Morgan Freeman wanted to make a movie of this book, but it looks like it will not happen any time soon.  This is appropriate for teens and is good for any hard science fiction fan.

Fountains of Paradise
This is a close second to Rendezvous with Rama in how much I enjoyed it and is another Hugo and Nubula award winning novel, this time revolving around the construction of a space elevator.  It was the first major introduction of a space elevator in fiction, which is a satellite in geostationay orbit that connects to the Earth though some sort of filament or wire and makes it relatively inexpensive to repeatedly send objects into space.  Since then space elevators have appeared in many other stories.  Most of the novel deals with the details of 22nd century engineer Vannever Morgan building one on the fictional island Trapobane, which is similar to Clarke's home of Sri Lanka.  It has a major subplot focused on the fictionalized life of an ancient king Kalidasa and the main protagonist getting permission to build the elevator on a monastery take up much of the book.

The novel's real focus is in the details since not much happens drama wise.  Instead there is a focus on showing that is could be done on Mars, convincing the world to build one in this particular place, and then what it would take for the years worth of work and technology to make it happen.  There is not much action in this novel and most of the characters are forgettable, though Morgan is at least interesting in his focus and drive.  Like Clarke's other novels it is appropriate for a teen audience although some might get a bit bored if they don't find the technical details interesting.