Imperial Earth
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Imperial Earth (subtitled A Fantasy of Love and Discord; ISBN 0151442339) is a novel written by Arthur C. Clarke, and published in time for the U.S. bicentennial in 1976 by Ballantine Books. It follows the protagonist (Duncan Makenzie) on a trip to Earth from his home on Titan, ostensibly for a diplomatic visit to the U.S. for its 500th birthday, but really in order to have a clone of himself produced.
The puzzle game Pentominos features in a prominent subplot of the novel.
A number of other sub-plots suggest some sort of greater mystery, but remain unexplored. The book ends with him returning home with his new "child" (who is a clone of a brilliant but erratic former best friend), leaving the other plot threads dangling.Template:Sf-book-stub