"3001: The Final Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke

This book is basically the precursor or inspiration to "The Death's End" and "Expanse" novels. It opens up the world of 3001 on Earth, which, as read in 2025, is very redundant. E.g. space elevators and inertia-nullifiers are so prevalent in sci-fi today that it feels like secondary fiction (even though it is the primary one).

The last third of the book explores Europa and other Lucifer (spoiler!) satellites. Unfortunately, the depictions of life there were quite bland, just like the depiction of aliens in the saga — pretty much passive players on the field.

Overall, the author hasn't answered many questions, most likely on purpose. The aftertaste of the four books is bitter ignorance, similar to what scientific studies leave us with. I'm glad I've read the series, and I probably won't come back to re-read it.