A profound and intellectually stimulating read. Clarke's masterful writing and understanding of sci-fi as a genre shine with beautiful light here. Some people say that the characters in this story are flat. Yes they are, for they don't really matter. The story matters, the reflexion matters. The characters are mere vehicles for that. And it's perfectly fine.

If you want a character study, read something else. If you want a study on mankind, read this book.

To me this book does something that only science fiction does well: speculating unimaginable possibilities without feeling silly. I do not believe that the Overmind is a "God figure", I do believe that Clarke wants us to understand that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", his third law. But I won't spoil what happens to man in this book.

Suffice to say that I will probably re-read this book a couple times in the next few years, as it does offer very valuable philosophical and sociological insight. On that level, I found it superior to 2001.