3001: The Final Odyssey

3001: The Final Odyssey (1997) is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in the Space Odyssey series. The book begins with a brief prologue. The prologue describes the aliens who created the Monoliths. They apparently evolved from "warm slime", and over the course of millions of years, turned into a space faring species. As they explored the galaxy, they saw that few intelligent species ever successfully evol... more

3001: The Final Odyssey (1997) is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in the Space Odyssey series. The book begins with a brief prologue. The prologue describes the aliens who created the Monoliths. They apparently evolved from "warm slime", and over the course of millions of years, turned into a space faring species. As they explored the galaxy, they saw that few intelligent species ever successfully evolved. Therefore, they traveled the universe and catalyzed the evolution of intelligent species wherever they went, including Earth, by increasing the evolving species' odds of survival. Upon reaching Earth, they performed experiments on many species to encourage the development of intelligence. Then they left, leaving the monoliths behind. After visiting Earth, the aliens continued to evolve, to the point where they eventually found a way to integrate themselves into the fabric of space, and became non-corporeal beings. Meanwhile, back in the... less