Title: The Last Theorem
Author: Arthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 432
Rating: 4/5
As far as I can tell, The Last Theorem is the last of Arthur C. Clarke’s books, written in partnership with the legendary Frederick Pohl. I’ve never read any Pohl before and so it was a great way for me to read him.
The theorem in the title comes from Fermat’s Last Theorem, which plays a minor but important role in the plot. It’s technically a science fiction novel, because part of the plot revolves around an alien race that’s set a course for earth with the aim of wiping out humanity before it spreads elsewhere in the universe, taking its nuclear weaponry with it.
But aside from a few nods to that happening as the story progresses, that doesn’t really come into play until right at the end. I actually think that it would have been a much better book without that aspect of things, but then I’m not Arthur C. Clarke and so what do I know?
For me, though, the best part of this was just reading about the life of a young Sri Lankan scientist, even if it did take a surreal turn about a third of the way in when he gets abducted by pirates. It makes sense in the context of the story, but it’s still pretty wild. Especially when you consider that he mostly has a pretty normal life, except for the fact that he becomes a celebrity for a while because of his discovery of the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.
Still, I’d argue that we have some of Arthur C. Clarke’s best character work here, even though I’ve read some less than positive reviews of it on Goodreads. I think that as long as you remember that this was his last book and that it was co-written, that will pre-dispose you to cut the guy a bit of slack, though.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this one, but it’s not in the top half dozen Clarke books that I’ve read. It was a good enough read, but it’s also one of those where I know exactly how I would have improved it myself if I’d been given free range to edit and rewrite the thing.
And because I’m a big Clarke fan, I choose to place the blame for those bits at the feet of Pohl, even though he probably doesn’t deserve that. Eh, maybe I’ll read Freddie’s books one day, but today isn’t that day.
