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495th out of 2,944 books
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12,410 voters
The Garden of Rama (Rama #3)
In the year 2130 a mysterious spaceship, Rama, arrived in the solar system. It was huge - big enough to contain a city and a sea - and empty, apparently abandoned. By the time Rama departed for its next, unknown, destination many wonders had been uncovered, but few mysteries solved. Only one thing was clear: everything the enigmatic builders of Rama did, they did in threes...more
Mass Market Paperback, 608 pages
Published
December 1993
by Orbit
(first published January 1st 1991)
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This is where the Rama series ends for me. A lot of the Rama mystery is gone. Clarke appears to be completely absent in this one and Lee is just not cut out to fly solo.
The first quarter was interesting. There was still some focus on the Rama mystery. The rest of the book, however, is tedious and pointless as it focuses on the human society aboard Rama. Basically society breaks down and ridiculousness ensues.
This is not what I wanted in a Rama sequel. I wanted to learn more (but not too much) ab...more
The first quarter was interesting. There was still some focus on the Rama mystery. The rest of the book, however, is tedious and pointless as it focuses on the human society aboard Rama. Basically society breaks down and ridiculousness ensues.
This is not what I wanted in a Rama sequel. I wanted to learn more (but not too much) ab...more
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As with Clarke's other books, I found this to be a serious page turner and got through it in a handful of sittings. He keeps the Rama mystery interesting even if events are a little bit predictable. What Clarke and Lee do wrong here is stuff the book up with flashbacks to flesh out main characters. The authors should have relied more on pages of action and dialogue, which they do better but which frequently seemed abridged.
My other gripe, and this is a complaint about the series generally, is t...more
My other gripe, and this is a complaint about the series generally, is t...more
Loved the first Rama novel; number 2 something of a disappointment- this one is a major let down. What I liked in the first 2 is the mystery and the sense of weird erieness; the inexplicable killings and the strange surreal architecture; also the loneliness and emptiness.
These elements do appear in the first half of this book- I loved the description of Nichole venturing ito the Avian lair and walking down miles of empty corridor before coming to a solitary door. Yup these bits make me tingled w...more
These elements do appear in the first half of this book- I loved the description of Nichole venturing ito the Avian lair and walking down miles of empty corridor before coming to a solitary door. Yup these bits make me tingled w...more
A mysterious giant cylinder is found in space, falling inwards on a trajectory which will take it through the solar system. It is dubbed “Rama”. An expedition is sent to probe it’s contents.
Along with 2001, Rendezvous with Rama is the defining work of Arthur C. Clarke. The book is full of his trademark sense of wonder, and Clarke manages to convey awe at alien things like few others can. The first book is a solo effort. Clarke then teamed up with Gentry Lee to write a sequel trilogy. The whole s...more
Along with 2001, Rendezvous with Rama is the defining work of Arthur C. Clarke. The book is full of his trademark sense of wonder, and Clarke manages to convey awe at alien things like few others can. The first book is a solo effort. Clarke then teamed up with Gentry Lee to write a sequel trilogy. The whole s...more
So, this is the third book in a series of at least four, possibly more. I don't know though; my mom handed me this one thinking I'd like it. So I jumped in without really knowing anything that happened before the story started. It added a mystery piece to it, which was pretty cool. And they give enough information throughout that I could guess what was going on, and even get those kind of questions answered. I think they even did it in a way that the information would not have been redundant had...more
Torn on this one...the story might have gotten three stars for being a relatively mindless read with fairly good flow, it was still mightily flawed. First, two men should not presume to write first person from a female perspective - even if one of those men claims to have bounced the story off of his wife; the first quarter of the book was in the form of diary entries of a carryover female character from Rama II...and reminded me of early sci-fi sexism. The second quarter was decent enough scien...more
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This one was actually my favourite in the series. It's very character-driven, as was the previous book, but we get a lot of human interaction with the aliens. While that doesn't turn out too well for them, it's a good ride for us, the readers.
The notion of the prisoners and the scientists both having to go on the ship to better represent the human race, and their later conflicts as they form a society about as stable as you'd suspect one formed from a bunch of timid scientists and hardened crimi...more
The notion of the prisoners and the scientists both having to go on the ship to better represent the human race, and their later conflicts as they form a society about as stable as you'd suspect one formed from a bunch of timid scientists and hardened crimi...more
There's a scene towards the end of the sixth Harry Potter book where Harry and Dumbledore find a small basin of water with a much-needed magical item at the bottom of it. The water is cursed, though, and they can't simply reach in and grab the item, nor scoop out the water; the water has to be drunk in its totality before the item can be attained. And you just know that water's going to taste bad. Think the purified essence of a thousand Domino's pizzas and then multiply that by three. Yes, that...more
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This is the 3rd book in the Rama series.
Like the other books, I think the theme of this one is still about the human reaction to the unknown.
The Wakefields are floating through space on the Rama craft and 2000 humans are about to join them. We meet some new characters, Nakamura, Watanabe and his wife Nai will figure prominently.
The humans create a power struggle almost instantly. Nakamura sets up strip clubs, gambling etc. Watanabe tries to create a fair and just government.
There is a virus spr...more
Like the other books, I think the theme of this one is still about the human reaction to the unknown.
The Wakefields are floating through space on the Rama craft and 2000 humans are about to join them. We meet some new characters, Nakamura, Watanabe and his wife Nai will figure prominently.
The humans create a power struggle almost instantly. Nakamura sets up strip clubs, gambling etc. Watanabe tries to create a fair and just government.
There is a virus spr...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This is the third in the series and I've read them one after another. "The Garden of Rama" is by far the weakest entry. The first book focused on the mystery of the craft and its absent creators. "Rama II" followed another expedition that delved deeper into the craft. The third installment gets hung up on humans who aren't that interesting, and predictable themes that don't fit into a series about enigmatic aliens.
As strange as it sounds, "The Garden of Rama" needed less of a human element. Nico...more
As strange as it sounds, "The Garden of Rama" needed less of a human element. Nico...more
Rama 2'de mahsur kalan 3 insan bilinmeyen bir rotada ve hiç kontrol sahibi olmadıkları bir çevrede hayatta kalmak zorundalar.Zamanla bu idraklarını aşan uzay aracı onların yuvası olacak ve küçük ailelerine yapılacak eklemelerle hayatları hem şenlenecek hem de zorlaşacaktır. Hiçbirinin bilmediği şey ise Rama 2, ufak bir rötardan sonra Dünya'ya geri dönmektedir. İnsanlığın yabancı zekalarla 3. karşılaşmasında neler olacaktır?
Roman, merak öğesini o kadar güçlü kullanmış ki sıkılma veya kopmaya vaki...more
Roman, merak öğesini o kadar güçlü kullanmış ki sıkılma veya kopmaya vaki...more
This is the third of a series of four books about the Raman ship and the people who come aboard to investigate the gigantic ship. It started slow with Nicole's narrative about the three spacefarers journey from earth on board the Raman ship. It picks up at the end of her narrative to the end. I was totally caught off guard by the remaining story. What happened when they reached the end of the ships journey, what happened to them when they met the other aliens and the continuing journey on the sh...more
Sooo, disappointing. Enjoyed reading about the parts about Rama, totally disliked the whole human parts of it and specially towards the end. (view spoiler)...more
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A good first part and ending part (altho it has no ending, the last book in the series was already on its way) Sadly suffers from a big middle chunk where there is alot of badly written characters that seem much more amateurishly created than what these authors are capable of. One character in particular really becomes a parody in this part.
Lots of characters are introduced at the start of this mid-section but some are only there for a few chapters before dying and not really having had an impa...more
Lots of characters are introduced at the start of this mid-section but some are only there for a few chapters before dying and not really having had an impa...more
Although I adore this series, this is probably the first book in the series that I don't see has having some flaws. The first book feels like a book length prologue while Rama II has it's many flaws (slow painful pace, kind of one schtick characters that read a bit flat, and needless tangents about historical characters not really even involved with the story).
This one is a truly solid read. You have the Node in all it's Mystery with hints at what Rama is and why it's doing what it does. You ha...more
This one is a truly solid read. You have the Node in all it's Mystery with hints at what Rama is and why it's doing what it does. You ha...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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The book, The Garden of Rama, is a very exciting and interesting adventure that takes place in the imaginative and mystrious outerspace. For me, the story has a better storyline than Rama II, because the characters move to different unsual places, while in Rama II, the cosmonauts only explore while in the spacecraft. Richard, one of the main characters in The Garden of Rama, is very smart and helpful. He has done many things to help others. For example, he designed a program that can make food o...more
Rama #3 is quite different than the previous two in the series, encompassing themes of family and fidelity, social politic, competition and ambition, and more. I am of two minds about it, torn between wanting to really like the book and wanting more from it.
The best description I can think of is to say that it is “sprawling”, with half a dozen sections that could have been separate books--were it not for the static characters who remain primarily unchanged in changing times. In this sense the st...more
The best description I can think of is to say that it is “sprawling”, with half a dozen sections that could have been separate books--were it not for the static characters who remain primarily unchanged in changing times. In this sense the st...more
At the outset, it seems like that Arthur C. Clarke was trying to elive his Space Odyssey Series, by writing a 4 part book series..And to me initially the story is quite a drag.....But once ou read more and are past the first few hundred pages, you would see an accurate depiction of human's way of thinking, his way of living and above all his selfishness....This picture of a human society which even when provided with paradise turns it into rags....Petty politics, personal ambitions, disregard fo...more
Although this is sequel to RAMA II, and if you haven't gone through any of previous versions of RAMA stories, when you go through this book you will not be lost as you didn't know what happened in previous Rama stories.
Obviously the beginning of the book is bit boring with the description of her experiences in Rama by Nicole, but it's giving all the details of their being in Rama space craft, even though the story continued from Rama 2.
As a human I don't really agree with the decision which Nic...more
Obviously the beginning of the book is bit boring with the description of her experiences in Rama by Nicole, but it's giving all the details of their being in Rama space craft, even though the story continued from Rama 2.
As a human I don't really agree with the decision which Nic...more
The first book in this series was good. It has a novel idea which has yet to be rivaled. This second installment is a great continuance but starts to drag a bit. The third book drags some more but then Bam! the floodgates of wonder burst open and AC Clarke jumps into the much anticipated glimpse into Rama's creators [to a point:].
The last book is an effluence from the flood gates being opened which you'll not want to miss!
I wish I had noted the page numbers from the second and third books becuas...more
The last book is an effluence from the flood gates being opened which you'll not want to miss!
I wish I had noted the page numbers from the second and third books becuas...more
Totally agree with the general consensus that the first in this series was brilliant and it was the only reason I endured the 2nd and part of the 3rd in the 'series.' I gave up on this one - the 3rd. Actually, Return to Rama wasn't nearly as bad as this one although it had already begun to turn into a soap opera. I can't remember the last time I didn't finish a book but this was way past poor writing skills. It's almost as if Lee was expressing his inner desire to be a female romance novelist or...more
I probably should have read the first book, but having spent less than a dollar, I figured out of sequence wouldn't be so bad. I was wrong.
Not a huge fan of the entire book revolving around a central character who has more internal dialogue than imagery for the book. This and I really don't need a science fiction book revolving around a woman's feelings on her children, lovers and so forth. It had potential and there were some good parts, but the ending was extremely anticlimactic despite it jus...more
Not a huge fan of the entire book revolving around a central character who has more internal dialogue than imagery for the book. This and I really don't need a science fiction book revolving around a woman's feelings on her children, lovers and so forth. It had potential and there were some good parts, but the ending was extremely anticlimactic despite it jus...more
Es un poco decepcionante al compararlo con los dos primeros de la serie. Rama y Rama II tienen dosis de misterio que te hacen continuar adelante. En cambio, ésta tercera entrega está tan llena de clichés, que se me ha hecho difícil terminarla. La narración desde el punto de vista de Nicole elimina otras perspectivas que hubiesen podido ser igualmente interesantes pero es que, además, está falta de ritmo: desesperantemente lento en ocasiones, superficial en otras. En fin, terminaré la serie e iré...more
This third book continues the trend established in Rama II of shifting the focus away from hard sci-fi and towards a study of the human condition. It is clear that this book is written as a social commentary - presenting the many problems of human society to the reader through the eyes of the observing Ramans. The characterisations are once again excellent, and the emotional bonds between the Wakefields in particular are one of the major highlights. Much like skimming through most right-wing new...more
This is part three of the series and my second time reading it. Again, I just didn't remember things the way the book presents them. In this book the family has reached the Node, been informed by the aliens that they are to be studies as are all other species the aliens can find anywhere in the universe.
Meanwhile, the family has expanded to 5 kids. They are then informed that they can all leave the Node to go back to their solar system except two must remain at the Node. The oldest person agree...more
Meanwhile, the family has expanded to 5 kids. They are then informed that they can all leave the Node to go back to their solar system except two must remain at the Node. The oldest person agree...more
The lingering gripe I have about this series is that with each new installment, it becomes more of a melodramatic expose on humankind’s shortcomings and less of an innovative sci-fi mystery/thriller. In short, to the extent that this series focuses on humans, it taxes my interests. The curious alien species depicted help keep a sense of mystery going.
My two favorite characters step forward in this installment: Nicole des Jardins and Max Puckett. Max is a bit overdone as a loose-tongued farmer,...more
My two favorite characters step forward in this installment: Nicole des Jardins and Max Puckett. Max is a bit overdone as a loose-tongued farmer,...more
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Arthur C. Clarke was one of the most important and influential figures in 20th century science fiction. He spent the first half of his life in England, where he served in World War Two as a radar operator, before emigrating to Ceylon in 1956. He is best known for the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-created with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke was a graduate of King's Co...more
More about Arthur C. Clarke...
Clarke was a graduate of King's Co...more
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