3001 – The Final Odyssey.
It may have helped if I read the previous 2 books. It may have helped more if I had seen more than snippets of the film (I only recall something about a computer called HAL that takes over). So, despite starting the series with the last book first, I loved it! 3001 is the year the book is set in. Arthur C Clarke manages to bring back a character from the first book (2001, set in 2001) in a truly believable way. The monoliths that (I guess) featured heavily in the first 2 books reveal an unexpected purpose to our thousand year old central character. The whole book is full of imagination of how our future could turn out, good things and bad. A high rootie-rating for this book, definitely worth reading (i really must get round to creating a rating system!)