Literary critics often enjoy Clarke's science-based speculations for the future of technology and its influences on human life, but will remark that his characters are often not as lively or as well developed as his futuristic predictions.

Interested readers may wish to consult newspaper or magazine accounts of the progress of the United States and Soviet space programs in the years 1960 to 1985 as a way to measure the degree to which Clarke draws on technology already in use and technology yet to be developed at the time 2061: Odyssey Three was written.

1. Is Dr. Heywood Floyd an interesting main character? Does he show growth and change in his personality, or does Clarke mainly expose portions of the man's personal history without really developing him as an individual?

2. The main character is described as a man 103 years old with the body of a 65 year old. Is he too...