User:Hylton H Smith

As a student I studied Chemistry and later Psychology. Despite this, when I encountered 2001:A Space Odyssey in 1968, I was wrestling with the interpretation and implications of this masterpiece. Arthur C clarke and Stanley Kubrick managed to reside in and occupy my thoughts for decades, and still do, even though they had both passed away. Their legacy remains very strong, and Ridley Scott was quoted as saying the production was so awesome that it could have killed off science fiction - declaring 'what is there left to say?' Their passing nudged me into an attempt to flesh out one possible descriptive conclusion to their story. It has been rattling around in my head for over 40 years. I have wrestled with this task, thinking it was very probably better to leave the imagination to repeatedly mull over the enigmatic plot, rather than empty my head into print. It is really a tribute to these men of genius first and foremost, and I have used a series of books as that vehicle. I miss Clarke's writing so much. It is difficult to come to terms with someone that you have never met having such an effect on your life, and that is not taking into account his predictions of technology which have come to pass and are still to arrive, eg - satellite communication and space elevators respectively.

Hylton H Smith