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Rendezvous with Rama

Rendezvous with Rama

byArthur C. Clarke
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Top positive review

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GoldenDragonfly
5.0 out of 5 starsA Delightful Journey!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 4, 2023
The Earth ship Endeavor is tasked with visiting an alien civilization on a ship that they have named Rama. They eventually arrive at their destination and immediately begin their exploration of the spacecraft, the size of a small planet.

Captain Norton and his crew are awestruck and amazed by the immense amount of detail that the craft is capable of creating. He and the crew are astonished at the Raman architecture and technology. The design of the “cities” is marvelous and the technical capabilities of the biots are impressive.

Rama is its own unique world of engineering, construction and activities. There is a North Pole and a South Pole and there are four suns in its sky.

Rama has the same thing on its surface that we have to put up with on Earth. I’m talking about hurricanes and tornadoes and electrical storms. It even has a cylindrical sea.

The author has ensured the book is read fast by keeping the many chapters short and by giving each chapter a cliffhanger. I am fascinated by this book.

Five stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
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Top critical review

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R. Stewart
3.0 out of 5 starsWhat awaits us out there?
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 6, 2022
I first read Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama around 1974, about a year after it came out, while I was still in college. I enjoyed it, but my interest in Clarke was beginning to fade a bit by that time. As a kid and a teenager I'd loved his short stories and the cosmic novels like The City and the Stars and Childhood's End to the point that Clarke's work pretty well embodied what I thought science fiction ought to be. His novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out of a collaboration with Stanley Kubrick based on an old short story called The Sentinel (1948), was published at the end of the 60s and was his last novel before this one. Each of them featured what has come to be known in science fiction circles as a Big Dumb Object (i.e., the monolith in 2001 and the cylinder in Rama). The term, which was invented by a sf fan/critic and is meant to be a bit derogatory, refers to huge, inexplicable devices created by alien technologies at which humans can only marvel.

Having heard that Denis Villeneuve is planning to adapt the novel into a movie, I decided to reread it.

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, a cylindrical object passes through the solar system. At first assumed to be an asteroid, which they name Rama, astronomers soon come to realize it is actually a constructed artifact -- a spaceship perhaps, or a probe -- that is 12 miles wide and more than 30 miles long. (There is no doubt in my mind that the speculation surrounding ‘Oumuamua as it passed through the solar system in 2017 was in part sparked by this book.) In the Clarkean near-future of the novel, humans have already built colonies on the moon and nearby planets, so they have the ability to send a manned expedition out to rendezvous with Rama and examine it up close.

The explorers manage to find a point of entry into Rama and discover that it is cold and dark and apparently dead inside. It does have a breathable atmosphere though, and, because of its spin, it has gravity along the outer surfaces of the interior. As the object nears the sun, it begins to heat up and come to life inside. Gigantic lights illuminate the interior, a body of water that forms a ring around the midpoint begins to melt, and weather patterns develop inside the enormous habitat.

Lifelike entities emerge and begin to perform tasks, paying no attention to the human visitors. The entities appear to be an amalgam of biological and mechanical components, and the human visitors can't decide whether these are actual Ramans or merely the programmed servants of the Ramans. As Rama gets nearer the sun, the visitors have only a short time to explore as much as possible before they must abandon it. As they explore, making ever more puzzling discoveries, some of the massive processes that happen inside Rama get dangerous.

This is the kind of science fiction adventure at which Clarke excelled. There are no villains or monsters to contend with -- there are only the powerful dynamics of physics and the inscrutable ways of alien intelligences far beyond our own. After all, it was Clarke who famously predicted that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The ultimate goal of the novel is to provoke a sense of wonder at the possibilities that may await us "out there." Inevitably, it feels a bit dated nearly fifty years later, but for someone approaching it with the right frame of mind, I think it would still serve that purpose well enough today.

2001: A Space Odyssey did pretty much the same thing. Reviewers of the movie often described it as more of a "trip" than a movie because, instead of the usual Hollywood plot devices, character development, and conflicts, 2001 offered audiences a thought experiment on human evolution and cosmic destiny. If he handles the material right, Villeneuve may be able to do something similar for 21st century audiences. Will it fly today? Only time will tell.
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R. Stewart
3.0 out of 5 stars What awaits us out there?
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
I first read Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama around 1974, about a year after it came out, while I was still in college. I enjoyed it, but my interest in Clarke was beginning to fade a bit by that time. As a kid and a teenager I'd loved his short stories and the cosmic novels like The City and the Stars and Childhood's End to the point that Clarke's work pretty well embodied what I thought science fiction ought to be. His novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out of a collaboration with Stanley Kubrick based on an old short story called The Sentinel (1948), was published at the end of the 60s and was his last novel before this one. Each of them featured what has come to be known in science fiction circles as a Big Dumb Object (i.e., the monolith in 2001 and the cylinder in Rama). The term, which was invented by a sf fan/critic and is meant to be a bit derogatory, refers to huge, inexplicable devices created by alien technologies at which humans can only marvel.

Having heard that Denis Villeneuve is planning to adapt the novel into a movie, I decided to reread it.

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, a cylindrical object passes through the solar system. At first assumed to be an asteroid, which they name Rama, astronomers soon come to realize it is actually a constructed artifact -- a spaceship perhaps, or a probe -- that is 12 miles wide and more than 30 miles long. (There is no doubt in my mind that the speculation surrounding ‘Oumuamua as it passed through the solar system in 2017 was in part sparked by this book.) In the Clarkean near-future of the novel, humans have already built colonies on the moon and nearby planets, so they have the ability to send a manned expedition out to rendezvous with Rama and examine it up close.

The explorers manage to find a point of entry into Rama and discover that it is cold and dark and apparently dead inside. It does have a breathable atmosphere though, and, because of its spin, it has gravity along the outer surfaces of the interior. As the object nears the sun, it begins to heat up and come to life inside. Gigantic lights illuminate the interior, a body of water that forms a ring around the midpoint begins to melt, and weather patterns develop inside the enormous habitat.

Lifelike entities emerge and begin to perform tasks, paying no attention to the human visitors. The entities appear to be an amalgam of biological and mechanical components, and the human visitors can't decide whether these are actual Ramans or merely the programmed servants of the Ramans. As Rama gets nearer the sun, the visitors have only a short time to explore as much as possible before they must abandon it. As they explore, making ever more puzzling discoveries, some of the massive processes that happen inside Rama get dangerous.

This is the kind of science fiction adventure at which Clarke excelled. There are no villains or monsters to contend with -- there are only the powerful dynamics of physics and the inscrutable ways of alien intelligences far beyond our own. After all, it was Clarke who famously predicted that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The ultimate goal of the novel is to provoke a sense of wonder at the possibilities that may await us "out there." Inevitably, it feels a bit dated nearly fifty years later, but for someone approaching it with the right frame of mind, I think it would still serve that purpose well enough today.

2001: A Space Odyssey did pretty much the same thing. Reviewers of the movie often described it as more of a "trip" than a movie because, instead of the usual Hollywood plot devices, character development, and conflicts, 2001 offered audiences a thought experiment on human evolution and cosmic destiny. If he handles the material right, Villeneuve may be able to do something similar for 21st century audiences. Will it fly today? Only time will tell.
9 people found this helpful
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Mousielouse
3.0 out of 5 stars Yeah it’s a classic but
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
I was inspired to read this story in large part because of the arrival of Ouamuamua in 2018. The speculation to this day that the first recognized interstellar object just reminded me of the summary for this I had read and in this regard the story does not disappoint. It almost feels, even today, that the author was inspired by the arrival of the visitor and speculated on what that could mean and built a story from there. And it is an interesting story.

Unsuspecting humanity, centuries from now, gets an unexpected visitor in the form an a fast-moving cylindrical object that turns out to be created by an intelligent species whose purpose and identity they cannot figure out no matter how many times they investigate. The world described inside the cylinder is amazing. You want to know who the “Rama” are and why they built this and why is it here? Do they mean harm or are they good? Humanity, of course, is the real danger.

So why am I giving it only three stars? Overall this is a brilliant work of science fiction, I would love to recommend it. But most of the characters, including the protagonist have no personality. The one with the most, James Pak, is unfortunately only there for a short while. The female characters are mostly names, though the two that aren’t, regrettably lack much depth. The sexism is uncomfortable to read. As is that one offhand remark about the resemblance between the one character with a poc name and the simian charges he cares for. Even at the time this was written, I am sure this wasn’t right.

Read if you want to.
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Kikaida
3.0 out of 5 stars Not good, Not bad
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 15, 2006
Verified Purchase
Well I'm sure all the Clarke fan boys and girls are going to hate this review but hey, I'm telling it like how I experienced ok?

Mr. Clarke paints a fantastic world with Rama. It's very vivid and alive. He does very well in transporting you there. You just feel the awesomeness of it by the words he lays down.

The problem I had with this book were two fold.

1. There is almost zero character development to speak of. You don't really get to know the characters. How can you care for or relate to them if you don't really know who they are??? Granted they weren't the focus of the story but hey, you are exploring Rama through them so it would have been appropriate.

Suffice it to say that Mr. Clarke instead predominantly focused on Rama at the sacrifice of the characters. I personally needed more development than what he provided. I mean if something bad happened to one of them I could have really cared less.

2. The actions of the characters were very unbelieveable...*SPOILER ALERT!*

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So lets see, there's a massive sea that defrosts, and they are cool with that...There is a hurricane, and they are cool with that....There is a massive electrical discharge from the horns, and they are good with that....Biots start crawling around, no problem...A missle is shot at them, no biggy...There's a tremor that sets off a massive wave, what ever. But then the lights start to go out and they all act like chicken little and run for it? HUH?!?! Last I read they still weren't near perihelion and had plenty of time...Unless I missed something?

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*Done spoiler*

So..*eh-ehm* as you can see that was a bit lame.

Is this a 5 star read??? For me? NO...I give it 3 stars for the great job Mr. Clarke does in bringing me into Rama and how his writing is so smooooooth. But thats about it. Nothing about Rama was disclosed, zero, zip, nada. Everything was speculation and assumptions, you as a reader "see" a lot of stuff but still know nothing about any of it at the end. As reading is an investment, I feel I got nothing in return as far as answers to questions the book raises in the beginning, tempts you with through out, and fails to deliver in the end. So in the end, the carrot fell off the stick for me and I think I'll be passing on any other books in this series.

My loss I guess *shrugs*
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fra7299
3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as 2001 or Childhood's End, but still, it's Clarke.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
Maybe Clarke’s biggest strength is his biggest weakness in Rendezvous with Rama. This is my fourth read from Clarke, so what I realize is that he often reveals very little at the outset, and there is sort of a slow exploration towards a discovery. I loved this technique with 2001: A Space Odyssey. There is so much mystery and awe in the exploration, and, in the final moments of that book, it is just superbly mind-blowing. He handles this well in the second Odyssey book as well as in Childhood’s End.

However, here, in Rama, Clarke spends a good deal on the exploration and exposition into the crew’s venture into Rama, the mystery surrounding it, but this novel just never delivers that moment of wonder that the reader is patiently waiting for. Not to say there aren’t moments of intrigue and discovery, but I felt like Rendezvous with Rama pales in comparison to some of Clarke’s other novels. I get that perhaps this book was written with the subsequent sequels in mind, but still.

Plus, I felt like many characters were sort of flat and unoriginal; not that I was expecting depth of characters in a science fiction, but many of the main characters are undistinguishable from each other.

In all, I’m glad I read it. I will read almost anything by Clarke, as he is one of the best writers in science fiction. But, this one is not as good as his other stuff. I wanted to like this one better than I did, but in the end, it was so so.
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J. Edgar Mihelic, MA, MA, MBA
3.0 out of 5 stars S-L-O-W Science Fiction:
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 26, 2015
Verified Purchase
Maybe I’m missing something obvious.

Man has colonized the solar system, but there are no extraterrestrials. Rama, which is first though to be a comet or asteroid is too perfect to be either. It looks designed.

Some generic scientists (but they are progressive, one guy has two wives on different planets) go explore it. It must be weeks they’re exploring. It turns out to be a spaceship. There are creatures in it, but they don’t seem sentence. Some stuff happens. The people who live on Mercury try to blow it up. It gets some power from the sun and then goes away.

Is it just me, or was this a boring book? Maybe I don’t get science fiction at all, and this is supposed to be some sort of philosophical meditation on something. Whatever it is, it is a really slow book where it feels like not much happens. It might work as a set up for a deeper series, but it looks like the continuation books of the series are poorly reviewed. I don’t care about the characters, but I did want to know more about Rama. It is obvious Clarke thought deeply about the construction of the ship, I just wish he thought more about what to do with it.
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Edgar
3.0 out of 5 stars Not Clarke's best but still read-worthy -forgot to add a plot, characters, a theme...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 19, 2019
Verified Purchase
[No spoilers] I went into reading Rendezvous with Rama thinking, judging from the positive reviews, that I had somehow missed reading a great Sci-Fi novel back when I was a kid. Unfortunately this is not Clarke's "2001". It's not even on a par with his memorable, ever re-readable short stories like "Rescue Party".

The whole novel is excellent as scientific speculation, pretty much as described in the book summary before you buy. Unfortunately, Clarke goes overboard on the scientific speculation. It's not that there's no nuance or metaphor. Lots of recent Sci-Fi seems to be too much metaphor to an extent it's really more like No-Sci vs. Sci-Fi. But Clarke wrote a story here where his hard Sci-Fi forgot to include other story elements - like a main plot, character development, or themes.

Still, it's a short read and a good addition to the category of "first contact" novels (like Sagan's "Contact", Cixin Liu's "Three Body" trilogy, Nevins/Pournelle's "Mote" and others). Three-stars for drilling into a very specific alien spaceship scenario so well, if not much else.
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manndrake
3.0 out of 5 stars Astronauts Rendezvous with an Alien Spacecraft
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
This story, set in the distant future of Earth, is about an alien spacecraft that enters the Earth's solar system. A group of astronauts lands on the ship and is able to get inside. They find no beings, but a craft that is fully operational. They rush to find answers before the ship gets too close to the sun, and they must abandon it. This is the first part of a serial, and I think Mr. Clarke's main purpose was to pose the questions that he answers in later books.
I am not a great fan of the Science Fiction genre, but I trust in Mr. Clarke's knowledge of science. When he describes something, I believe it is possible. Because this is the first volume of a series, it does not have the conflict or the great discovery it needs to stand alone as a complete story.
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ELM
3.0 out of 5 stars It's entertainment, nothing more.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
I've been meaning to read this book for years now. Perhaps because I expected too much or perhaps because I had already read the summary but it was ok but nothing great. Rama shows its age in certain areas and as fantastical as the ship is everything outside of it seemed comically immature and not fleshed out. The chapters where the it suddenly changes to some committee on the moon may as well have been left out as they seem to serve only to fill out pages. This story would've been better served as a lone ship encountering the Rama for all the good anyone else did. Outside of 2-3 crew members everyone else barely registered as well. If nothing else, it's a good read to catch references to it in other media.

It's a classic alright.
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eden c.
3.0 out of 5 stars would be a great book if it weren’t so sexist and racist
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 17, 2022
Verified Purchase
Very interesting encounter story wit thorough technical details. But the blatant sexism and racism throughout was offensive and ruined the story.
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MissKLC
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and interesting, but not unique enough
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
Quick, I hope this time I'll actually expand. Interesting and to the point concept. A little too similar to Ringworld in story progression but unique enough to warrent the win, maybe. I found that it was a little too much of a set up for future books. By itself I found it to be missing something. Not a lot happens in it, while I liked those quiet moments of exploration, I still wish more happened. I feel my brain will always compare it to Ringworld, and Ringworld being the earlier book makes me have to rethink what I considered the qualifications of winning the Hugo. This just wasn't unique enough.
It did however suceed in peaking my interest. I will read the next book for sure.
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