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Title: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke ISBN: 0-553-28789-3 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 November, 1990 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.42 (172 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An old friend, and still a great read
Comment: In my youth, when I started reading SF, I was never a major devotee of Arthur C. Clarke; I was mostly into Heinlein and Asimov. But I read this one when it was first published (1973) and I liked it so well I kept the hardback for years and years.
I'm not sure what finally happened to it, but at any rate I've just recently gotten around to replacing it. And the story is still as great a read as it was when it was new. I can't claim to have read everything Clarke ever wrote, but this is certainly the best of his works that I _have_ read.
Other reviewers have pointed out, entirely correctly, that this isn't a book to read for character development. That's true of Clarke's books in general, I think, but it's especially apt here, where the 'star' of the book is an artifact of an alien civilization. In fact, even the 'star' doesn't get a lot of development, since in the end it remains deeply mysterious. (I don't know what happens in the sequels; I haven't read them and I haven't heard good things about them. I'm treating this as a standalone work.)
But man, if you want to read a gripping, haunting story about the first human exploration of a space probe (or something) from an extraterrestrial civilization -- and if you want to watch the exploration process unfold and feel as though you're participating in the discovery yourself -- then this is a book for you. This is what Clarke does best: when you read a story through his eyes, you're looking outward at the objects of scientific investigation, and helping yourself to a chunk of the intellectual wonder and joy that goes with such investigation.
The excitement here is the excitement of hard science, not of character development. If that's what you want, you'll probably love this book.
Rating: 3
Summary: Needs C.D.
Comment: This was a novel that I had high expectations for, due to its being a "classic" in sci-fi, but ultimately felt letdown by. Great concept. Could be thought-provoking, if you're the type to get deep into an idea. But about what it lacked, let me quote another review:
"The characters are a little bland I guess but it's such a short read and there's so much information to digest there was really no room for hardcore character development. Who cares anyway..."
Well, I guess maybe I'm one of the few who do. There's really NO development at all. As the above-quoted reviewer states, Rama is the main character and the focus of the book. But I don't think it would have been impossible to sustain that same mood, while also making the human characters interesting. The United Planets council scenes were tiresome -- due to too many names and not enough page-time -- but were kept thankfully short. Commander Norton is boring. He's made to seem real simply by the fact that he has a role model in a historical figure -- Captain James Cook. Other people are given hobbies to bring them to life; sailing and participating in the Lunar Olympics are two.
The other reviewer is right, this is not a character-driven novel. The fact that the most disappointing aspect of this book was never meant as its focus and that it was a fluid, quick read earned it three stars from me.
Rating: 4
Summary: Arthur C. Clark at his best...
Comment: Although it has been almost two years since I read "Rendezvous With Rama," I clearly remember how the novel entertained and impressed me. I recall that Arthur C. Clark's writing was really nice and concise. The story was propelled forward by a developing mystery that effectively pulled the reader along. The plot was a rather novel idea for an extraterrestrial encounter, although it was really an old idea in a new guise - H. G. Well's First Men In The Moon but instead of being in the moon, this story's astronauts make their way inside Rama. Clark managed, along the way, to sprinkle nice futuristic predications into the story regarding man's presence on the moon as well as other planets of the solar system. He introduced an interesting idea of genetically enhanced chimpanzees but failed to utilize the chimpanzees when the opportunity came up - to disarm an approaching warhead. The ending left the reader unsatisfied but the author is immediately forgiven when the reader reads the very last sentence. This is a great work of extraterrestrial speculative fiction and all fans of science fiction who appreciate a story adhering to hard science should take the time to read it, as it is well deserving of both the Hugo and Nebula awards that it earned.
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Title: Rama II: The Sequel to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee ISBN: 0553286587 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 November, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Rama Revealed by Arthur C. Clarke ISBN: 0553569473 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Garden of Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee ISBN: 0553298178 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke ISBN: 0345347951 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 May, 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke ISBN: 0345322401 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 April, 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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