The Last Theorem [Paperback]

‘Clarke is one of the greatest imaginative writers of hard science fiction’
New Scientist

‘Arthur Clarke is one of the true geniuses of our time’
Ray Bradbury

‘Arthur C. Clarke is the prophet of the space age’
The Times

‘A one-man literary Big Bang, Clarke has originated his own vast and teeming futurist universe’
Sunday Times

‘Arthur C. Clarke is blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print’
New York Times

‘One of the truly prophetic figures of the space age… the colossus of science fiction’
New Yorker

‘The most consistently able writer science fiction has yet produced’ Kingsley Amis on Frederik Pohl

‘In his grasp of scientific and technological possibilities, Pohl ranks with Asimov and Clarke, but he has greater originality than either’ Sunday Times

‘I want to be remembered most as a writer - one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well’ Arthur C Clarke

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

`A one-man literary Big Bang, Clarke has originated his own vast and teeming futurist universe' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

`Arthur C. Clarke is blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

`In his grasp of scientific and technological possibilities, Pohl ranks with Asimov and Clarke, but he has greater originality than either' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

`The most consistently able writer science fiction has yet produced' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

When Ranjit Subramanian, a Sri Lankan with a special gift for numbers, writes a three-page proof of the coveted “Last Theorem,” which French mathematician Pierre de Fermat claimed to have discovered (but never recorded) in 1637, Ranjit’s achievement is hailed as a work of genius, bringing him fame and fortune. But it also brings him to the attention of the National Security Agency and a shadowy United Nations outfit called Pax per Fidem–or Peace Through Transparency–whose secretive workings belie its name. Suddenly Ranjit–along with his family–finds himself swept up in world-shaking events, his genius for abstract mathematical thought put to uses that are both concrete and potentially deadly.

The final work from the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the most brilliant mind in science fiction.

Collaboratively written with fellow grandmaster Frederik Pohl, The Last Theorem sets a new benchmark in contemporary prescient science fiction.

A MYSTERIOUS THEOREM

In Sri Lanka, a young astronomy student, Ranjit Subramanian, becomes obsessed with a three-hundred-year-old theorem that promises to unlock the secrets of the universe.

INVASION

Thirty light years away, invisible to human eyes, the Grand Galactics scan the universe for intelligent life. Their mission: to eradicate any advanced species whose technology could threaten their dominance of the universe. Having detected the first nuclear weapons strike on a distant small blue planet, a vast fleet of races subservient to the Galactics is despatched with orders to destroy the warlike aliens.

SILENT THUNDER

Recruited against his better judgement, Ranjit begins working for the secret international organisation called Pax Per Fidem. Led by the warmongering Colonel Bledsoe, it has developed a deadly electromagnetic weapon codenamed 'Silent Thunder', capable of destroying every elecrtonic object in any country of its choosing. Soon the three superpowers of China, America and Europe are locked in a battle for world supremacy, despite their best efforts for peace. Meanwhile the completion of a giant space elevator is celebrated with the first Olympic games on the Moon. But when the first alien craft is accidentally encountered, Ranjit is forced to question his own actions, in a bid to save the lives of not just his own family but of all humankind. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Arthur C. Clarke was born in 1917. He has been writing science fiction since the late 1940s. His seventieth birthday, in December 1987, was marked by the unveiling of a plaque at his birthplace in Somerset; he was knighted in 1998 for his services to literature, shortly after his eightieth birthday, the first science fiction writer to be thus honoured.