#37 in Classics
2001: A Space Odyssey
- 237
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
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Our view
Written alongside Kubrick’s film, Clarke’s novel stands well on its own, and readers who found the film slow may well prefer the book. Its strength is balance: enough technical detail to make the voyage feel real, never so much that the story stalls. At 237 pages it is a compact read about alien contact and machine intelligence, more reflective than action-driven, and best suited to those who like their science fiction thoughtful.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by English writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. An elaboration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative work on this project was made in the 1972 book The Lost Worlds of 2001.
Reading order · Space Odyssey
Full order & progress →- 2001: A Space OdysseyThis book
8.28.2 / 10 - 2010: Odyssey Two
7.87.8 / 10 - 2061: Odyssey Three2061: Odyssey Three–Not ranked yet
- 3001: The Final Odyssey3001: The Final Odyssey–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.2 across 1,398 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 90% of the weight and the score stays at 8.2 — the Classics average of 7.7 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.4 | 123 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 1.3K | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is 2001: A Space Odyssey?
It has 237 pages — shorter than 88% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Classics — and a score of 8.2, the closest to this book.
