(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke & Frederik Pohl
Perhaps the thinking was that a futuristic political techno-thriller starring a mathematician might not be sufficiently SFnal. But I can’t imagine either of these two grand masters thinking anything so senseless. I think what happened in this meeting of minds is that two disparate storytelling sensibilities meshed in a way far less harmonious and compatible than Clarke and Pohl may have sincerely thought. The Last Theorem is not simply an uneven novel. It’s a deeply disjointed one, a book that introduces a host of wonderful ideas and sympathetic, believeable characters, only to decide it doesn’t trust them to carry off the story in the end, ultimately falling back — disastrously — on dated and dubious formula. I’m sad that The Last Theorem is Clarke’s last book (I earnestly hope it won’t be Pohl’s). But I’m reassured that its shortcomings won’t have a deleterious effect on the greatness of his legacy.
SF REVIEWS.NET: The Last Theorem / Arthur C. Clarke & Frederik Pohl ☆☆½.
I enjoyed this book. I agree with the review that it was disjointed, but the characters were what kept me going. Not an example of either author at their best, but an example of their powers.