The Last Theorem

Arthur C. Clarke's final book, cowritten with Frederick Pohl, takes place in the nation of Sri Lanka, where the respected science fiction author spent the final years of his life. The love Clarke had for this tiny nation and its people comes through in his work. Mark Bramhall's outstanding performance is the perfect complement for the novel. Bramhall pronounces the tongue-twisting Sri Lankan and Indian names and places with facility, making them sound lyrical and wonderful. Gentle accents here and there bring the characters to life, especially the hero, Ranjit Subranian, a young man who discovers the mathematical proof of Fermat's legendary theorem. Sadly, he does it just as space aliens are about to destroy Earth. C'mon. It's Clarke! You knew aliens were in there somewhere. M.S. Winner of AudioFIle Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

June 30, 2008
Grand Masters Pohl (Gateway
) and the late Clarke (1917–2008, best known for 2001
) collaborated on a can't-put-down adventure that focuses on their mutual strengths: high adventure, fun characters and hard science. Sometime in the near future, teenage Sri Lankan math prodigy Ranjit Subramanian manages to reconstruct and then publish Fermat's claimed proof of his famous last theorem. As Ranjit celebrates fame and fortune, the all-powerful aliens called Grand Galactics see the flash from early nuclear explosions and decide that humanity will have to be wiped out. When Earth's superpowers deploy a new, nonlethal way of handling renegade nations and humanity begins working on global peace and large-scale engineering projects, Ranjit and his family try to broker a truce with the destructive alien force, modeling human optimism through rationality and science. Long passages of math tricks and intrusive narration mar an otherwise enjoyable tale of the struggle between reason and fear.