51lvDObyCXL. SL160  The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke & Frederik Pohl   ReviewThe 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.

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