2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey is Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel, written in close collaboration with Stanley Kubrick during the production of the film of the same name and published shortly after the film's release. The book opens three million years ago, on a parched African savanna, where a small group of starving man-apes encounters a perfect black monolith that quietly accelerates the development of their tool-using minds. The narrative jumps to the year 2001. Dr. Heywood Floyd, a senior American science administrator, is flown to a recent excavation in the lunar crater Tycho, where a second monolith has been uncovered just below the surface. When sunlight first reaches it, the monolith fires a single radio shriek toward Saturn. Eighteen months later, the spacecraft Discovery One sets off across the solar system, crewed by Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, three colleagues in hibernation, and the HAL 9000, the most advanced machine intelligence ever built, whose orders to lie to the crew will pull the mission apart.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about 2001: A Space Odyssey
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Three million years ago, a black monolith on the African savanna touches a starving ape. In 2001, a second monolith on the moon screams a single radio signal at Saturn. Discovery One sets off to answer it.
The novel and film were developed together. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick worked on the story simultaneously, with Kubrick directing the 1968 film and Clarke writing the novel based on the same outline. The book was published in July 1968, after the film's April release.
2001: A Space Odyssey is more accessible than the film and explains many ambiguities the movie leaves open. The prose is clear and moves quickly. Most science fiction readers find it a quick read at around 250 pages.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote four Space Odyssey novels: 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: Odyssey Two, 2061: Odyssey Three, and 3001: The Final Odyssey. Each can be read on its own, though they share characters and continuity.
2001: A Space Odyssey was written by Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1968 by New American Library.
2001: A Space Odyssey is 242 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, 2001: A Space Odyssey takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a standalone novel by Arthur C. Clarke, not part of a series.
2001: A Space Odyssey is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.