The Last Theorem
Arthur C.
Clarke and Fredrik Pohl
HarperVoyager.
First published 2008.
I think the
book was written mainly by Pohl, with Clarke doing some editing and
contributing many of the ideas. It is set in Sri Lanka and, though
the Sinhala-Tamil conflict appears vaguely in the background, there
is very little sense of geography or current history in the story.
The hero is a Tamil from Triconamalee, the son of a priest. A
brilliant student of mathematics, he is facinated by Fermat's Last
Theorem – and proves it! This happens along with kidnappings by
Somalian pirates, torture in a Pakistani prison, a barely-averted attack of earth by alien super races, travels in space and a final race in space using solar sails.
Despite so much happening, the book moves slowly and is a bore for
most part. It is just a regurgitation of various thoughts and ideas
Clarke has had from time to time (including at least one idea from Robin Cook), loosely tied together by the sory
of Ranjit Subramaniam. Clarke has described some of the ideas in
other books – e.g. Skyhook, an elevator running on tracks built of
carbon fibre (nanotubes in this book, diamond 'fibre' in an earlier
version) which carries spaceships into near-earth orbit; the idea of
a benign organisation with a super-powerful weapon that does not harm
humans, but neutralizes the weapons of the bad guys and brings about
world peace; insubstantial beings that rule the galaxy; and
spaceships powered by solar wind. The book is probably an attempt to
cash in on Clarke's name, though Pohl is well known sci-fi writer
himself. (However, I don't think I have read anything by him.)
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