One of the giants is dead.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote an awful lot of books and short stories, many of which I've read. I always felt he was great on science; less good on characterization. His imagination was spot-on, however. He's the man who envisioned telcomm satellites above the earth in 1945, ten years before the first spacecraft orbited.
I've always thought one of his best short stories was The Nine Billion Names of God. You can read all three pages of it at that link. It has one of the most famous last sentences in all of science fiction.
If you like irony, you might try The Star, too.
Update: Patrick has a wonderful eulogy at Making Light.
Posted by Linkmeister at March 18, 2008 01:51 PM | TrackBackthe last sentence in 9bnog is especially delicious considering the last spoken line in 2001.
see the eruption, linkmeister?
Posted by: skippy at March 20, 2008 08:48 PMOnly video, like the rest of the world. It's 100 miles southeast.
Posted by: Linkmeister at March 21, 2008 08:39 AM