Storyline: 2/5 
 Characters: 3/5 
 Writing Style: 3/5 
 World: 3/5 
 This was a coda more than a concluding volume. 
 Arthur C. Clarke was 80 years old when this was published. Throughout the reading I felt like I was listening to a speech from an aged yet highly decorated senior citizen. He would muse, he would ponder, he would pontificate on things the newer generation were already engaging with at much higher levels and newer tools. You indulge the author though because he's earned respect throughout his long life. This latest delivery showed that he still had control of realistic, down-to-earth characters. He retained ownership of his original ideas and could still generate that spark of wonder which made his earlier works so beloved. In between the old-man-tries-to-keep-up-with-the-times future speculations, he would sometimes again lay out technological visions over which to marvel. 
 Those hoping for grand endings are going to be disappointed. Clarke didn't aim to dazzle here; he was happy to let the Space Odyssey go out in gentle reverie. This was Arthur C. Clarke's memorial to Hal, Frank Poole, David Bowman, and 1:4:9.