New book from Arthur C. Clarke?

Question

I've seen ads for The Last Theorem for a couple years now, but no book. Anyone got any info on this. Be quite astonishingly cool if the old guy could turn out another tome.

Answer 1

Amazon.uk says it is "forthcoming" and is taking pre-orders. The publisher, Gollancz, doesn't have it listed yet. In an article in 2006, Clarke wrote, " I didn’t write any new fiction in the past year, and my last novel The Last Theorem still remains half-written. Although I have mapped out the whole story, I just don’t seem to have the energy to finish it: my agents are still looking for a co-author who can complete it. Meanwhile, Stephen Baxter continues to develop our collaborative Time Odyssey series, and its second novel Sunstorm came out in 2005. During the year, I did produce some two dozen pieces of non-fiction of my own for a range of print and online publications."

So unless they find a co-author who satisfies, it may be awhile.


UPDATE: It's a nice summary, Neb, but if you scroll down at your site it says, "Sorry, no copies available." Amazon UK lists it as being out in 2005 but then the notation is "You may pre-order this item." My guess -- and that's all it is-- is that parts of it have circulated but that it's not available to the public. Wiki says it's due out this year. Anyway, a thumbs up to you.

Answer 2

Yes indeed. The old guy has signed it.
Synopsis:
Based on the recent sensational proof of Fermat's Theorem 350 years later by a young British mathematician, Andrew Wiles, THE LAST THEOREM charts the story of Ranjit Subramanian, a man fascinated by Fermat's Last Theorem - so simple that anyone can understand it, yet not proved for more than three centuries. Ranjit learns about the Indian mathematical genius Ramanujan (1887-1920) and discovers a three-page proof of the Last Theorem: this might even be Fermat's own proof. The discovery of the Theorem wins Ranjit the Fields Medal - and the attention of the NSA cryptography branch. However, Ranjit soon finds himself drawn by physics rather than cryptography, as there have been some spectacular advances in fusion technology.
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