The Last Theorem [Hardcover]

I wish I could say that this last book by one of the greats of the field is a masterpiece, but unfortunately it's not. Instead, this book covers many of the same ideas that Clarke has worked with before: space elevators, solar sailing, omnipotent aliens, AI and computerized immortality, achievement of world peace, and set mainly in Clarke's beloved adopted homeland of Sri Lanka. There is little that is new here.

Like most of the late period Clarke books, this one has a co-author, in this case a writer who has been around almost as long as Clarke, and his influence shows in this book, I think, in deeper, more fleshed-out characterization than most of Clarke's works have, which is a definite positive. There have been few depictions of real mathematicians in sf, and the portrait painted here of a man fascinated (some would say obsessed, a trait common to those bitten by this particular mathematical bug) by Fermat's Last Theorem is well done. Those in the immediate vicinity of this protagonist are also drawn with more than light pencil sketches, as we see his family, school friends, instructors, and eventually his wife both form part of what he is and sharply influence what he does with his life. As part of this depiction, there are descriptions of certain fairly simple mathematical puzzles and games from pentominoes to the combinatorial numbers relationship with the binary number base, things most people who are interested in math at all will have at least heard of, and these provide some concrete and understandable looks at the world of number theory.

However, the alien angle is very poorly done. Not only are these beings (multiple races) inadequately described in terms of their motivations, biology, and culture (I could never visualize them as real beings), the sections of the book that detail their actions is written in almost self-mocking language at sharp variance with the tone of the rest of the book. This is not too much of problem for the about the first three-quarters of the book, as this material is limited to a few paragraphs here and there, and doesn't interrupt the main story flow, but near the end when the alien's actions become a major portion of the plot, it seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Worse, the alien actions provide a far too easy `out' from the problem of achieving world peace without devolving into a police state or a dictatorship that had been so nicely set up earlier.

There is an entire subplot dealing with the protagonist's son who shows up with a certain type of brain disability that looked like it should go somewhere significant, but there was nothing ever really made of it.

The ending of this book feels very rushed and compressed, with many events glossed over or only hinted at. I think if this section had been written at the same detail level as the rest of the book, it would have made for a far stronger work.

Overall, this book provides a nice return to the ideas and themes that made Clarke famous, with more real characters than is typical for him, but its faults eventually overcame its good qualities, leaving me quite disappointed.

Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

There's a metric that I've found very useful as I read any book. I continually ask myself, "Will I ever want to read this book again?" If the answer is "Yes," it goes into my library. If the answer is "No," it's relegated to the public library donation pile. As I applied this metric over many years, I built up a large collection of books that I enjoyed very much the first time through, and still enjoy re-reading from time to time. Most of the works of the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke are in this category, as evidenced by my pristine paperback first editions (we're talking 35- and 50-cent-cover-price books here!) of all of his classic science fiction books. Unfortunately, "The Last Theorem," a collaboration between Clarke and his colleague Frederick Pohl, is not a keeper.

I really wanted to like "The Last Theorem" much more than I did. I hoped it would offer the same sense of wonder that used to be such an enthralling part of reading science fiction, but is rarely found today. The central story, the life of Sri Lankan mathematician Ranjit Subramanian and his successful effort to prove Fermat's Last Theorem, seemed to offer a lot of promise. But, ultimately, I found that the book did not deliver.

Set mostly on Earth in an undated but not-distant future in which brushfire wars rage worldwide, it somewhat resembles Clarke's "Imperial Earth" in being more of a "gee whiz" travelogue than a story the reader can sink his or her teeth into. The fact that Subramanian proves Fermat's Last Theorem is largely incidental--it really has little bearing on the tale. And many things in the book are rehashed from other works. There's a space elevator, of course. As in "The Fountains of Paradise," its Earthside terminal is in Sri Lanka, despite the physical impossibility of it being there (the terminal must be on the Equator, which Sri Lanka is not). Unlike "Fountains," the space elevator in "The Last Theorem" is throwaway technology--you'll find none of the details about the "skyhook" that made "Fountains" such a great read. There's also pentominoes, solar sailing and human consciousnesses transferred into computers--other favorite Clarke subjects. There's really not much new, and, sad to say, its all a bit boring. Most unforgivably, in telling the story of Subramanian's entire life in a scant 300 pages, its often quite superficial. Applying the metric I mentioned earlier, "The Last Theorem" is worth reading once, but it's not worth re-reading. It's not bad, but it's not great, either, and thus I give it a middle-of-the-road rating.

I had a special reason for wanting to like "The Last Theorem." Years ago, when my wife and I were on vacation in Sri Lanka and had a few hours to spare in Colombo, I looked up "Clarke" in the telephone directory. There was only one. I noted the address and we set out on foot from our hotel with a crude city map. We had no trouble finding Mr. Clarke's villa--a former embassy building, as I recall--and I boldly approached a Sri Lankan man working under the bonnet of a Land Rover in the driveway. "Is Mr. Clarke in?" I asked. He was. The great Arthur C. Clarke, one of my childhood heroes, came out to meet us, invited us into his home and we spent a short but very enjoyable time (at least to me) talking about spaceflight, the "Golden Age" of science fiction, rocket testing at White Sands Missile Range and other wide-ranging subjects. Mr. Clarke was gracious, pleasant and accommodating to a headstrong American tourist who barged in uninvited and disturbed his privacy. I'll never forget that.

I picked up this book in great anticipation and I really, really wanted to like this story. I just (painfully) finished this book today, and words to describe my thoughts include "disappointment", "unsatisfactory", and "thoroughly bored". I hope people do not remember Clarke by this piece of work, and I really think this is a total embarrassment to his illustrious writing career.

PLOT: Basically, I grinded through the entire book expecting the author to make his point soon and tie the entire story together. It was a case when I really wanted to put the book down, but felt that the author has a trick up his sleeves on the next page. This never happened. Ideas were raised and not followed up on, which make you wonder why it was mentioned in the first place. It seems like a mix-match of many different ideas without any direction. Some of the plots cooked up by the author also seem ridiculous and quite childish. It's one of those that makes you cringe as you read through it.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Superficial at best. Characters do not have a life and soul, and I never developed any emotional response to any one of them. Attempts at portraying real feelings make me feel like I'm reading the work of a 3rd grade student.

I'm never posted any reviews on amazon before, and I'm wondering why I felt the strong need to write something here. I think it's because I feel betrayed by Clarke.

Don't waste your time on this poorly written and conceived book.