2010: Odyssey Two

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## POV Information

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## Description

**2010: Odyssey Two**  is a 1982 science fiction novel that serves as the sequel to *2001: A Space Odyssey*, authored by Arthur C. Clarke.

The celebrated author continues his Space Odyssey with this Hugo Award winner: “A daring romp through the solar system and a worthy successor to 2001” (Carl Sagan).

In 1968, Arthur C. Clarke’s bestselling 2001: A Space Odyssey captivated the world and was adapted into the classic film by Stanley Kubrick. Fourteen years later, fans and critics were thrilled by the release of 2010: Odyssey Two.

Nine years after the ill-fated Discovery One mission to Jupiter, a joint Soviet-American crew travels to the planet to investigate the mysterious monolith orbiting the planet, the cause of the earlier mission’s failure—and what became of astronaut David Bowman. The crew includes project expert Heywood Floyd, and Dr. Chandra, the creator of HAL 9000.

What they discover is an unsettling alien conspiracy tampering with the evolution of life on Jupiter’s moons as well as that of humanity itself. 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 . . .

## Plot

*2010: Odyssey Two* follows the adventure of Heywood Floyd to Jupiter, to investigate the *Discovery*.

The story is set nine years after the failure of the *Discovery One* mission to Jupiter.

A joint Soviet-American crew, including Heywood Floyd from *2001*, on the Soviet spaceship *Leonov* (named after the cosmonaut) arrives to discover what went wrong with the earlier mission, to investigate the Monolith in orbit around the planet, and to resolve the disappearance of David Bowman. They hypothesize that much of this information is locked away on the now-abandoned *Discovery One*. The Soviets have an advanced new "Sakharov" drive which will propel them to Jupiter ahead of the American *Discovery Two*, so Floyd is assigned to the *Leonov* crew.

The *Leonov* crew flees Jupiter as a mysterious dark spot appears on Jupiter and begins to grow. HAL's telescope observations reveal that the "Great Black Spot" is, in fact, a vast population of monoliths, increasing at an exponential rate, which appear to be eating the planet. By acting as self-replicating machines, these monoliths increase Jupiter's density until the planet achieves nuclear fusion, becoming a small star. In the novel, this obliterates the primitive life forms inhabiting the Jovian atmosphere, which the Monoliths' controllers had deemed highly unlikely to ever achieve intelligence, unlike the aquatic life of Europa.

As Jupiter is about to transform, Bowman returns to *Discovery* to give HAL a last order to carry out. HAL begins repeatedly broadcasting the message

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS – EXCEPT EUROPA.

ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.

The creation of the new star, which Earth eventually names Lucifer, destroys *Discovery*. However, in appreciation for HAL's help, Bowman has the aliens which control the monoliths remove HAL's artificial intelligence from the computer core of the *Discovery* and transform him into the same kind of life form as David Bowman, and become his companion.