2010: Odyssey Two

Nine years after the spaceship Discovery One disappeared near Jupiter, a joint Soviet-American crew leaves Earth aboard the Leonov. Their task is to learn what became of the ship, of its commander Dave Bowman, and of the huge black monolith found orbiting the giant planet.

Heywood Floyd, formerly head of the National Council of Astronautics, leads the American contingent. With him are Walter Curnow, Discovery's systems engineer, and Dr. Chandra, who designed the HAL 9000 and must bring the damaged computer back to life.

This is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It keeps the earlier book's cosmic scale and answers many of its questions, while Cold War tensions on Earth press on the mission. A Chinese expedition aboard the Tsien is also heading for Europa, hoping to make use of its water.

A second thread follows Bowman's strange fate beyond the monolith. The narrative moves between the crowded corridors of the Leonov, the silence around Jupiter and the icy moon below. It is hard science fiction, more hopeful and more plot-driven than its predecessor. The book appeared in 1982 and was a 1983 Hugo Award nominee for Best Novel. A 1984 film adaptation followed, titled 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

Whether the crew can wake HAL and read the monolith's secrets before rival powers close in is the question the voyage turns on.