Final novel makes history

By JENNY SONG

PALATINE, Ill. — Arthur C. Clarke’s health was failing fast, but he still had a story to tell. So he turned to fellow science fiction writer Frederik Pohl, and together the longtime friends wrote what turned out to be Clarke’s last novel.

“The Last Theorem,” which grew from 100 pages of notes scribbled by Clarke, is more than a futuristic tale about a mathematician who discovers a proof to a centuries-old mathematical puzzle.

The novel, due in bookstores Tuesday, represents a historic collaboration between two of the genre’s most influential writers in the twilight of their careers. Clarke, best known for his 1968 work “2001: A Space Odyssey,” died in March at age 90; Pohl is 89.

Clarke originally intended “The Last Theorem” to be his last solo project, and he began writing it in 2002.

But progress was slow because of his poor health, and he missed the book’s original 2005 publication deadline. Worried the book wouldn’t be published at all, he began to search for a co-author.

Pohl said he volunteered for the job and set about making sense of 100 pages of notes Clarke left him. About 40 or 50 pages of scenes were fully written, but the rest contained only undeveloped ideas. On some pages, there were only one or two lines of text, he said.

Clarke, who lived in Sri Lanka until his death and had battled post-polio syndrome for decades, became bedridden after breaking bones in his lower back. Difficulties with memory meant he couldn’t recall enough about what he’d written in his notes to help Pohl decipher them.

But together, the two longtime friends worked through the novel.

Clarke is known for predicting scientific inventions in his novels: In 1945, he predicted the invention of communications satellites, 12 years before the launch of the first artificial satellites. As a result, geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are nicknamed Clarke orbits.

“The Last Theorem” includes a weapon called Silent Thunder that neutralizes all electronic activity in a given area to harmlessly disarm entire nations. Another is the space elevator, a cord suspended from an orbiting object in space that can pull objects from Earth, rather than rely on rocket power to launch them.