2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) top sellers with 300,000 hardcover copies and 1.75 million first paperback editions printed. 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, including "The Sentinel" (written in 1948 for a BBC competition, but first published in 1951 under the title "Sentinel of Eternity").
2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) HAL denies him reentry and kills the hibernating crew members by turning off their life-support. In the sequel "2010: Odyssey Two," however, the recounting of the "Discovery One" mission is changed to the film version. The film is generally far more enigmatic about the reason for HAL's failure, while the novel spells out that HAL is caught up in an internal conflict because he is ordered to lie about the purpose of the mission. Because of what photographed well, the appearance of the monolith that guided Moon-watcher and the other 'man-apes' at the beginning of the story was changed from