book data
2176 ratings, 3.93 average rating, 148 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
1997
(first published 1972)
by Chivers Audio Books
binding
Audio Cassette
literary awards
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1974); Nebula Award for Best Novel (1974); 1974 Locus Awards Winner
isbn
074516739X
(isbn13: 9780745167398)
description
An all-time science fiction classic, Rendezvous with Rama is also one of Clarke's best novels--it won the Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, and Nebula A...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 Books 2008: Scott's Not Going To Read 50 At This Rate... | 43 | 70 | 17 days ago, 12:06PM | |
| Megan's democrati...: List of nominated books, 2008-09-30 | 16 | 18 | 10/08/2008 05:18PM | |
| Megan's democrati...: It's that time again! | 17 | 13 | 09/30/2008 02:26PM |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2616)
All ratings |
5 stars (593)
|
4 stars (848)
|
3 stars (534)
|
2 stars (109)
|
1 star (18)
|
avg 3.93
Read in January, 2007
J’aime la Hard science, car dans un contexte scientifiquement plausible et réaliste, on nous entraîne dans des aventures incroyables mais possibles. Pas de facilité dans la SF Hard science, pas de téléportation intempestive ni rien de tout ces délires qui moi me gênent et me rebutent, en littérature du moins. L’humain reste à sa place de cloporte, si l’on y parle de colonisation de planète, c’est avec réalisme, cohérence et humilité. Chez Clarke l’Humanité est toujours so...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Not unless they were obsessed with sci-fi
I am a big fan of Sci-Fi films and comics and TV shows. And yet I am perpetually disappointed by Sci-Fi literature. Every book seems to be written with zero regard to style or the prose itself, they revolve entirely around their "ideas" (such as they are) and flat characters. However, I am always willing to prove my experiences wrong and thought I'd try with the much hyped Rendezvous with Rama by one of the best regarded sci-fi authors ever, Clarke. Conclusion? Yet another badly writte...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Traditional sci-fi book, but is better written than most. Author has a knack for that in most of his works. It's a good story that follows a group of explorers on a journey to a spaceship that visits the solar system. They obviously explore it, and I won't go into detail so as not to spoil it. Doesn't have a whole lot of the "where do we fit into the universe" or "outward expansion" themes of traditional sci-fi. It reads like a short story. Good pleasure reading, but yo...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
A fresh, new "world" from Clarke demonstrating that he still has/had the touch.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 2000
recommends it for:
teenagers
I loved the book all I could say!
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
wow... I'm not sure where to begin in praise for this book.
I'd mistakenly believed that SF/F novels fell into two categories: 800 page, 6-volume tombs telling interminable sagas of politics and family OR shorter books full of page after page of mediocre philosophizing (or at worst moralizing or at even worse pseudo-transcendentalism).
Because of this, perhaps false, dichotomy - I'd never really embraced a genre that seemed so tempting to my nerdish state. But ah, if there were other books...more
I'd mistakenly believed that SF/F novels fell into two categories: 800 page, 6-volume tombs telling interminable sagas of politics and family OR shorter books full of page after page of mediocre philosophizing (or at worst moralizing or at even worse pseudo-transcendentalism).
Because of this, perhaps false, dichotomy - I'd never really embraced a genre that seemed so tempting to my nerdish state. But ah, if there were other books...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
This book was my introduction to Arthur C. Clarke, and I happened to read it just before he died. I wasn't sure what to expect. My friend lent me his copy, which was printed in the early 90's and looked pretty pulpy. And the title? But I really enjoyed it. Written in the 70's, but the science wasn't painfully outdated, except he hadn't foreseen just how small and complicated our computers would become even in a few years. Not badly written for a scientist, and he passes my sexism test. (I frowne...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2004
recommends it for:
Sci-Fi fans, those interested in space tech/travel
Rather than do a synoptic review of "Rama", I'll just go ahead and rave about my absolute favorite part of this book: There are no spoilers to reveal! I suppose that's a spoiler in and of itself, but without going too far over the line, I love how much remains a mystery. This is a sci-fi masterpiece because it retains so much of the science while remaining purely fiction. The professional team that investigate Rama have no clues, they have to make theories and guesses as they go along,...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
The wonderful thing about Arthur C. Clarke is that, in addition to being a solid writer, he grounds his science-fiction in the SCIENCE. His books are always about what's possible -- even if it's quite unusual.
In "Rendezvous with Rama", which is set in the year 2130, Earth astronomers discover a strange object entering our solar system. It turns out to be artificial -- an alien space craft that has been crossing space since before human beings appeared on Earth. This book is the ...more
In "Rendezvous with Rama", which is set in the year 2130, Earth astronomers discover a strange object entering our solar system. It turns out to be artificial -- an alien space craft that has been crossing space since before human beings appeared on Earth. This book is the ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
This is one of those classics of science fiction that you would think I would have read by now. Well, I am hoping to get to it now. I found my copy really cheap in the second hand store. We'll see how it goes.
* * * *
It was not as riveting as I thought it would be. While the science is good, i.e. Clarke does pay attention to the science in the story, overall, the story itself moves very slowly. In a way, reading this book was like playing the game Myst, and I am not saying that as praise...more
* * * *
It was not as riveting as I thought it would be. While the science is good, i.e. Clarke does pay attention to the science in the story, overall, the story itself moves very slowly. In a way, reading this book was like playing the game Myst, and I am not saying that as praise...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
Knowing only a little about the plot (humans have a brief chance to explore a huge alien spacecraft as it zooms through our solar system), I was disappointed a bit by RwR. The spacecraft is fundamentally pretty understandable. The human explorers within minutes of getting inside know the basics. It's the details that are mysterious. And Clarke does a good job of keeping them (the details) intriguing, alien, and, ultimately, inexplicable. But I was hoping for an encounter with something truly,...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
I thought this was better than the first Arthur C Clarke I read, Childhoods End. This one had a much more readable story. However, slightly annoyingly, nothing really happens - there is a lot of exploration but you don't really find out anything. Maybe I don't have enough patience or attention span for this. It leads directly up to the sequel and I'm wondering if I should not read that, in case nothing happens in that one either. Which would suck. :)
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1988
Brilliant. Nothing short of brilliant. The first book in what would become a 4 book series may not have the same philosophical depth as the follow-up trilogy, but is, nonetheless, the seminal work of science fiction when it comes to sheer "what-if".
Clarke uses the vehicle (metaphorically and literally) of an abandoned (?) alien ship passing by Earth as a jumping off point for his thoughts on what civilization and technology may one day be capable of. Based in real science...more
Clarke uses the vehicle (metaphorically and literally) of an abandoned (?) alien ship passing by Earth as a jumping off point for his thoughts on what civilization and technology may one day be capable of. Based in real science...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
I am so happy i have a friend that reads science fiction because he weeds out all the bad ones. I read this book so fast because it is completely entrancing. A group of space astronauts find an abandoned alien space craft and go aboard to figure out where it came from. Clarke really knows how to write science fiction. The genre became so saturated with action and stupid apocalyptic crap. Clarke wrote with such finesse. He stayed with the basics and realized that sci fi doesn't need a insip...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1986
I first read this book in high school years ago. What sticks with me most about this book is that by revealing very little about the culture who built the giant artifact/ship know as Rama, Arthur C. Clarke was able to tell a story filled with awe. Mr. Clarke never reveals the intentions, functions, or meaning of any of the artifacts which his characters encounter on the vast spaceship. In doing so he conveys the idea that the purpose of Rama is beyond human understanding and reason. The seemi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
This was a very easy read for me, I consumed it in 3 slow days at work during the holidays. There is a lot of hard science in it but it doesn't bury you in all the details, which is good. His science is only a few hundred years in the future and all is totally plausible, there was no magic future science like artificial gravity. One example was that humans on different worlds could not easily visit other planets whose mass differed too much, the gravity change would be too much to take. The ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Another great story from the late Arthur C. Clarke. The first in the series, this story will get you hooked to it, enough to make you read all four books in the series. Curiosity, need for answers and knowledge is the driving force behind the adventures in this novel. Who wouldn't want to know what knowledge and what kind of technology exists in a gigantic and seemingly abandoned ship in space which suddenly appears out of nowhere? But what if you start to realize that this ship has a purpose?
...more
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
Anyone into hard SF
This is the first hard SF book I read. It's a very well written story on humanity's first encounter with alien intelligence, and what happens as a result of it. Interestingly enough, there aren't any actual aliens in it! This lets you feel a bit of the wonder and mystery the characters must feel. It details the Earthwide political, societal, and even religious effects of such an encounter with enough detail that it might be a historical chronicle of the future, if such an event were ever to happ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
A fun little book from back in the day when SF was still cheesy and optimistic. The main problems here are a lack of any real tension, as our heroes are all infallible super-future-scientists who never make mistakes and can think their way out of any situation. Still, Rama has a sense of mystery which will capture the attention of anyone with a curious mind. Once Clarke introduces the giant metal alien box, it's hard to stop reading until you know what's inside.
Also, space orgies? Sheesh....more
Also, space orgies? Sheesh....more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
recommended to Becky by:
Danrecommends it for: serious sci-fi lovers
This book is definitely a science fiction geek's dream. However, I am not a sci-fi geek, so I found it a little tedious in descriptions and slow in plot. I kept waiting for some big climactic event, or maybe even something that resembled a lead-up to a climax. But nothing happened. Clarke is absolutely, the most imaginative author in his detailed descriptions and his ability to think way-out of the norm. I just never got into it I guess. Maybe it would be better as a movie (with more action...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 70 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 33 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 32 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 30 people's shelves)
fiction (on 13 people's shelves)
sf (on 3 people's shelves)
what-i-have-read (on 3 people's shelves)
own (on 3 people's shelves)
classics (on 2 people's shelves)
nebula (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
currently-reading (on 33 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 32 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 30 people's shelves)
fiction (on 13 people's shelves)
sf (on 3 people's shelves)
what-i-have-read (on 3 people's shelves)
own (on 3 people's shelves)
classics (on 2 people's shelves)
nebula (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
groups with this book
