The Last Theorem

Rating NR Genre sci-fi Author Arthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl Publisher Del Rey

Arthur C. Clarke’s and Frederick Pohl’s new science fiction work The Last Theorem can best be described as containing many little brilliant and colorful glass pieces that just don’t make a complete mosaic at the end.  Throughout the book there are many different, brilliant story lines and adventures that just don’t seem to add up and make the book a finished, cohesive whole.  However, even though the mosaic is not exactly complete and beautiful at the end, the pieces are still is worth collecting.

The Last Theorem follows the life of Ranjit Subramanian who lives in Sri Lanka, an island off the coast of India, sometimes referred to as the “Teardrop of India”.  Here Ranjit is raised by his father, a devout Hindu. Ranjit Subramanian has been obsessed with solving Fermat’s Last Theorem basically his whole life.  Now, for those who are not exactly math majors, the theorem is explained at the end of the book.  And for those who read the back of the book and still don’t really understand it, the theorem itself is surprisingly not all that important. One, after reading the title of this work, would assume that most of the book would be about this young boy’s quest to solve the theorem.  However, the reader is taken by surprise when Ranjit solves the theorem toward the beginning of the book and the theorem is not emphasized much after.  Of course, Ranjit gains fame and fortune from his amazing mathematical feat. The prestige that Ranjit gets from his accomplishment influences the rest of his life greatly.

However, solving the theorem is one of the many, many things that happen in this book.  Many of the “sub stories” are interesting but not cohesive.  In fact, in the end there doesn’t even seem to be a main story-line, just a bunch of little story lines. Ranjit doesn’t get along with his religious and somewhat prejudice father.  Then his father dies and nothing is really followed up.  Ranjit and his best friend Gamini seem to have a homosexual relationship, but it seems to come to an end and is completely ignored throughout the whole book.  Ranjit gets mistakenly identified as one of the pirates who take over a cruise ship that he is on.  Some authorities of some unknown country take him captive and torture him for eight months until he confesses to the crime of piracy which he did not commit (it is in this captivity that Ranjit solves the theorem).  However who the captors were is never revealed in the book. Ranjit meets Myra, who he ends up marrying and having two children with. He works for Gamini doing absolutely nothing and ultimately gets a position at the university he use to attend.

All these little bits and pieces are almost constantly interrupted by world news (what country is fighting what country and why).  It seems there is constant turmoil on earth and ultimately humanity will destroy themselves and the planet. However, unknown to anyone on earth, there are a couple different species of aliens (the Nine-Limbeds, the One Point Five, Machine-Storeds) coming to sterilize the earth because they fear the fighting humans will destroy the precious planet with all its resources. Oh and it does not end there.  The three main powers, Russia, China, and the Untied States use a weapon called Silent Thunder on countries that are causing trouble.  The weapons does not cause any causalities, instead it ruins all the weapons and sends the country back to the Stone Age, by sending a wave that kills almost any piece of technology. Silent Thunder is part of the Peace Through Transparency program that the world seems to be trying out.

There are also many references to astronomy and the possibilities of the future. They build a skyhook that could make space tourism almost possible.  In fact, Ranjit’s and Myra’s daughter, Natasha, trains for a race in a lava tube on the moon (a tunnel that use to be filled with lava many, many years ago) and a solar sail boat race all made possible by the skyhook. Natash becomes famous and is used as a pawn in the alien invasion. However, Ranjit’s other son Robert seems to have little importance in the book. He has some type of mental disorder and seems to be able to sense and know things that most humans can’t, however nothing important ends up arising from these special skills; other than that he constantly mutter the “’Olden ‘Ule” (Golden Rule) which is a theme at the end of the book.

For a point in the book, it seems that all the stories may be able to come together, but then they don’t.  It is quite disappointing that Clarke and Pohl seem to have all these great ideas, but never can put them together to form a truly wonderful piece of art.  However, each story line can generate some great questions and discussions.  There is the concept of big brother and gun control in the situation with Silent Thunder and the three world powers; China, the United States, and Russia. Should they be able to watch over and decide the fate of countries, even if it is ultimately for the better?  Should they be able to completely disarm a country, even though they take care of the inhabitants afterward and they don’t seem to complain? Then there is the question of religion through out the book.  What religion is true or are they all superstitions like Ranjit seems to believe and never changes his mind. Are there really aliens out there and would they be as rational and justice loving as the ones described in the book? Will we ever be able to be tourist on the moon?

The book ends with Myra dying, but still being able to be transported into a machine that will allow her to live on.  Are Pohl and Clarke suggesting that immortality may be in our grips and that the soul can be transported from one body to a machine?  Have they finally understood the answer to the question of what is the soul?  For a while it seems that the world has become an ultimate utopia, yet that utopia is shattered by fear when the aliens land.  Pohl and Clarke are painting a picture of the human problem, no matter how many people follow the Golden Rule or a theory by Kant (two subjects that are discussed in the book) and how close we are to a utopian world, there can never be perfection. 

There are just so many different and interesting bits and pieces that the discussion could go on forever.  It is just too bad Pohl and Clarke could not put all these brilliant pieces together to make a breath taking picture.  However the book is definitely a fun adventure that makes the reader think twice.  It will be available August 5, 2008.