Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

On the Moon, an enigma is uncovered.

So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.

But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...

Prelude to Space & The Sands of Mars

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Prelude to Space

Here is the compelling story of the launching of Prometheus -- Earth's first true spaceship -- and of the men who made it happen.

Dirk Alexson: Chronicler of the greatest space adventure of all time, he was chosen to immortalize the incredible story of the men and their heroic mission.

Sir Robert Derwent: Direct-General of Interplanetary -- London Headquarters for the international space-flight project -- he was the man who got the mission off the ground and into the pages of history.

Professor Maxton: The world's leading atomic engineer, he designed the huge ship's drive units and he waited with the rest of the world to see if the project would be a success.

The Sands of Mars

When a celebrated science fiction writer takes to space on his first trip to Mars, he's sure to be in for some heckling from the spaceship crew. But Martin Gibson, man about space, takes it all in his stride. That is, until he lands on the red planet. Once there the intrepid author causes one problem after another as he stumbles upon Mars's most carefully hidden secrets and threatens the future of an entire planet!

The Lost Worlds of 2001 & Expedition To Earth

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

The Lost Worlds of 2001 is an accompaniment to the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The book itself consists in part of behind-the-scenes notes from Clarke concerning scriptwriting (and rewriting), as well as production issues. The core of the book, however, is contained in excerpts from the proto-novel and an early screenplay that did not make it into the final version.

Alternative settings for launch preparation, the EVA scene where astronaut Frank Poole is lost, and varying dialogues concerning the HAL 9000 unit are all featured in the book. Also included is the original short story The Sentinel on which 2001 is loosely based.

Expedition To Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories

Contents:

• Second Dawn

• If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth

• Breaking Strain

• History Lesson

• Superiority

• Exile of the Eons

• Hide-and-Seek

• Expedition to Earth

• Loophole

• Inheritance

• The Sentinel (basis for 2001) 

2010: Odyssey Two

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Nine years after the disastrous Discovery mission to Jupiter in 2001, a joint U.S.-Soviet expedition sets out to rendezvous with the derelict spacecraft—to search the memory banks of the mutinous computer HAL 9000 for clues to what went wrong…and what became of Commander Dave Bowman.

Without warning, a Chinese expedition targets the same objective, turning the recovery mission into a frenzied race for the precious information Discovery may hold about the enigmatic monolith that orbits Jupiter.

Meanwhile, the being that was once Dave Bowman—the only human to unlock the mystery of the monolith—streaks toward Earth on a vital mission of its own . . . 

Rendezvous with Rama

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. 

It is huge, weighing more than 10 trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at inconceivable speed.

Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence. 

It will kindle their wildest dreams...and fan their darkest fears. For no one knows who the Ramans are or why they have come. And now the moment of rendezvous awaits - just behind a Raman airlock door.

2061: Odyssey Three

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Two expeditions into space are inextricably tangled by human necessity and the immutable laws of physics.

Heywood Floyd, survivor of two previous encounters with the mysterious monoliths, must once again confront Dave Bowman—or whatever Bowman has become—a newly independent HAL, and the power of an alien race that has decided Mankind is to play a part in the evolution of the galaxy whether it wishes to or not.

Rama II

by Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee. 

70 years after the events of Rendezvous with Rama, a second Raman vessel enters our solar system. 

Its arrival is expected and an expedition is sent to unlock more of Rama's mysteries, but the crew are unprepared both for what they find and for the conflicts that arise between them.

The Ghost From The Grand Banks

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

It is 2010. In two years' time, it will be the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic. 

Two of the world's most powerful corporations race to raise the vessel but there are other powers at work, and chaos theory comes into play as plans progress - and six preserved bodies are found.

As operations proceed, the perfectly preserved body of a beautiful girl is found. She was not on the ship's passenger lists. 

The quest to uncover the secrets of the wreck and reclaim her becomes an obsession ...and for some, a fatal one. 

The Garden of Rama

by Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee. 

In the year 2130 a mysterious spaceship, Rama, arrived in the solar system. It was huge - big enough to contain a city and a sea - and empty, apparently abandoned. By the time Rama departed for its next, unknown, destination many wonders had been uncovered, but few mysteries solved. Only one thing was clear: everything the enigmatic builders of Rama did, they did in threes.

Eighty years later the second alien craft arrived in the solar system. This time, Earth had been waiting. But all the years of preparation were not enough to unlock the Raman enigma.

Now Rama II is on its way out of the solar system. Aboard it are three humans, two men and a woman, left behind when the expedition departed. Ahead of them lies the unknown, a voyage no human has ever experienced. And at the end of it - and who could tell how many years away that might be? - may lie the truth about Rama...

Rama Revealed

by Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee. 

On its mysterious voyage through interstellar space, a massive alien starship carries its human passengers to the end of a generations-long odyssey. But the great experiment designed by the Ramans has failed, and Rama III has become a battleground. 

Fleeing a tyrant, a band of humans ventures into the nether regions of the ship, where they encounter an emerald-domed lair ruled by the fabulously advanced octospiders. As the octospiders lure the humans deeper into their domain, the humans must decide whether the creatures are their allies or enemies. 

All the while, Rama III continues its inexplorable journey towards the node, where the climax of their voyage awaits the stunning revelation of the true identity of the beings behind this glittering trek across the cosmos. 

3001: The Final Odyssey

by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Frank Poole was last seen alive in the vicinity of the United States Spaceship Discovery en route to Jupiter's moons. The year was AD 2001 and the Series 900 HAL computer onboard Discovery had malfunctioned. Grappling frantically with the broken air hose of his spacesuit, Frank died in the blackness and vacuum of space.

In AD 3001 his perfectly preserved body is retrieved by Captain Dimitri Chandler of the space tug Goliath; medical and electro-optical technologies restore his life and then enhance it with a Braincap. Thus Frank becomes a telepathic, machine-assisted inhabitant of the first years of the fourth millennium, with a lot to learn.

The alien Monoliths have been silent since the eruption of Jupiter into a sun in AD 2010. Their last message was a warning: ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE. But Frank Poole is an exception to the aliens' interdict. Or so he hopes. Frank has unfinished business on Europa. Perhaps Dave Bowman, his long lost colleague from the Discovery, is there, a thousand years older, but not dead. And alien.