h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I didn't noticethat at the end of each part man was faced with the monolith, and the scull smashing part was the only bit not in the studio,

the apes were very convincing

one of the reasons that i love it so much is because we don't get to see the aliens, if we had I don't think it would of been so good and the basic idea is fantastic, with the monolith on the moon being a singnaling device

having just read the sequal 2010, it was slightly dissapointing that they were lifeforms on one of jupiters moons, and the fact man was sent a message from the monolith and that dave bowman felt like a prisoner, dispelled some of the magic the the monolith gave off, that they were some kind of gods, but turned out to be more of a parent, however I liked it and will cirtanily read the next

Seagull's Lost Horizon

It might help to remeber that ACC always argued that the books in the odyssey series were not direct sequals to one another but variations on the theme.

I agree that not showing the aliens was very desirable since the creatures in the imagination are far more realistic.

The idea that gods are like parents is one that has been held else where and so may be deliberate in 2010.

Z

I tend to find continuning sequals however enjoyable, are never as good as the original, the planet of the apes film I felt was devalued by the sequals,

not that it really matters but the only way I felt happy about such sequals is to seporate the original from the sequals

the god to perants, in 2001 it was more as an alien race who wanted to introduce mankind to the universe, when man was ready

in 2010 it was different, that the alien race didn't want to know at all,

but yeah, variations on a theme, I enjoyed it

The Gods/Higher Alien Intelligence as parents theme was already very familiar to Clarke, as he had used it as the central plank of his classic novel "Childhood's End" some years before.