Just like the film itself this ‘making of’ for 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), this is a very different take on the genre to it’s predecessor The Lost Worlds of 2001 (1972).  Whilst the first book was a mixture of behind the scenes info and alternate takes on story, the textual equivalent of DVD special features, this is a record of the e-mails exchanged between Arthur C Clarke and the film’s director Peter Hyams.

Although Clarke didn’t have the involvement he had in Kubrick’s production, what it shares with the earlier book is the insight it gives into the collaborative process and the almost childlike joy of the new that makes Clarke’s work so open and readable.  Granted, this makes for a rather slight book but it is enjoyable and interesting… plus it has one of those colour photo sections and some anachronistic fun can be had reading of their wonder at the future tech / sorcery that is e-mail.

Recommended.