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A Time Odyssey

by Arthur C. Clarke

A Time Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Time's Eye (2003).

Books
3 known books (3 novels)
Published
3
First published
2003
Status
completed
Shelved under
Science Fiction
Last checked

Start here: Time's Eye (2003) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of Time's Eye

Time's Eye (2003)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Time's Eye

    Novel

    Time's Eye (2003) opens A Time Odyssey at 300 pages, the shortest of the trilogy, shattering Earth into disconnected fragments from different historical eras after a catastrophic, unexplained event.

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  2. Sunstorm

    Novel

    Sunstorm followed Time's Eye two years later, in 2005, at 330 pages, shifting Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter's A Time Odyssey trilogy to a near-future crisis as humanity braces for a solar catastrophe engineered by the alien Firstborn intelligence to test civilizations. It bridges Time's Eye's shattered, patchwork Earth and Firstborn's more direct 2007 confrontation with that intelligence, in one of the most purely Clarke-ian collaborations of Baxter's career.

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  3. Firstborn

    Novel

    At 384 pages, the longest of the trilogy, Firstborn (2007) closes out this Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter collaboration two years after Sunstorm, confronting the alien intelligence behind both earlier books directly.

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About A Time Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke's final major series pairs him with Stephen Baxter for a trilogy that echoes -- without directly continuing -- the premise of 2001: A Space Odyssey: an ancient, godlike alien intelligence intervening in human affairs through enigmatic constructs called Eyes. Time's Eye (2003) opens with a catastrophic, unexplained event that shatters Earth into disconnected fragments from different historical eras -- 19th-century British soldiers, ancient Macedonians under a young Alexander the Great, present-day observers -- all suddenly forced to coexist on one patchwork planet. Sunstorm (2005) shifts to a near-future crisis as humanity braces for a solar catastrophe engineered by the same alien intelligence to test civilizations, while Firstborn (2007) closes the trilogy by confronting that intelligence -- the Firstborn -- more directly, with the fate of humanity as the stakes.

Baxter's hard-SF rigor and Clarke's sense of cosmic wonder and scale combine here in one of the most purely "Clarke-ian" collaborations of Baxter's career, sharing 2001's fascination with incomprehensible alien intent and civilizational tests, without being a direct sequel to it.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in A Time Odyssey?

Three: Time's Eye (2003), Sunstorm (2005) and Firstborn (2007).

What order should I read A Time Odyssey in?

Publication order: Time's Eye, Sunstorm, Firstborn. It's a single continuous story across all three books.

Is A Time Odyssey connected to 2001: A Space Odyssey?

Not directly -- it shares Arthur C. Clarke's interest in enigmatic, godlike alien intelligences testing humanity, and echoes some of 2001's imagery and themes, but it is a separate trilogy with its own story and continuity.

Was this one of Arthur C. Clarke's last works?

Yes -- A Time Odyssey, co-written with Stephen Baxter, was among Clarke's final major fiction projects before his death in 2008.

Is A Time Odyssey connected to Stephen Baxter's other series?

No -- it shares no characters or continuity with the Xeelee Sequence, Destiny's Children, the NASA Trilogy, the Manifold trilogy or The Long Earth.

Reading order last verified .