Frank Poole is revived in 3001, and experiences all the wonderful things that year has to offer him, as the monolith receives a message from its masters.

Once again, the inconsistencies were bothersome.  I kept waiting for Floyd to appear in spectral form to do something.  This book seemed simply to be a showcase for Clarke's vision of a future.  The city in orbit was really neat, but it was shown in exposition rather than having a useful purpose.  The arbitrary way in which people are allowed to land on Europa was annoying also.  The concepts were novel enough to keep the book mildly interesting, but not enough to hold interest for hours on end.  Any movie made of this one would be quite dull.  I have trouble believing humanity could change so much, even with 1000 years of progress, so that their ideology would not even be familiar.  Ah, well... To see a good version of the space elevator, read Kim Stanley Robinson's Green Mars and Blue Mars.