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7th out of 80 books
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69 voters
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Rendezvous with Rama (Rama #1)
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 Awards. A huge, mysterious, cylindrical object appears in space, swooping in toward the sun. The citizens of the solar system send a ship to investigate before the enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears. The astronauts given the ta...more
Paperback, 243 pages
Published
November 1st 1990
by Spectra
(first published January 1st 1973)
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i like world-building in science fiction and fantasy. in these modern times, extensive world-building is commonly derided... it is often seen as a lazy way to create a world, telling not showing, an author so in love with something they've built that they just want to describe instead of allowing the reader to slowly experience. i understand that point of view; world-building can often be seen as a glorified, masturbatory info-dump. but for some reason, it just doesn't bother me too much. i thin...more
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Cassy
rated it
Ladies, have you ever heard the advice that the more you cover up, the sexier you are? Forgo the plunging neckline for the small keyhole. Let the boys use their imagination. Hint, but don’t show.
Clarke evidently had. He dressed this book in a turtleneck, elbow-length gloves, trousers, work boots, and one of those hats with ear flaps. There is barely any flesh showing. What does show is intriguing – a mysterious spaceship, a beautiful flower, an unknown destination, buildings with no...more
Clarke evidently had. He dressed this book in a turtleneck, elbow-length gloves, trousers, work boots, and one of those hats with ear flaps. There is barely any flesh showing. What does show is intriguing – a mysterious spaceship, a beautiful flower, an unknown destination, buildings with no...more
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 Written in the 70's, but the science wasn't painfully outdated, except he hadn't foreseen just how small and complicated our computers would become even in a few years.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
Sorry all, I put the wrong review here. That previous review was for RINGWORLD, not this novel. This review is forthcoming.
Rendezvous with Rama is one of those strange cases (which seem to happen to me a lot), where I remember more about my life while I was reading a book than the about the book itself.
I remember liking it, and I have vague recollections of the Raman robot beings and the weirdness of Rama's interior, but that's about all I can conjure from the book.
But everything surrounding my reading of the book is vivid.
I was on my way to Stratford, Ontario to see The Three Musketeers...more
I remember liking it, and I have vague recollections of the Raman robot beings and the weirdness of Rama's interior, but that's about all I can conjure from the book.
But everything surrounding my reading of the book is vivid.
I was on my way to Stratford, Ontario to see The Three Musketeers...more
Boy, this was a great book. If you think of all the sci-fi story templates and formulas, you could find this story done a hundred thousand ways. But not like Clarke does it.
He breaks every mold, and this ends up being a very unpredictable - even to your disappointment - book. Let me explain. You find yourself as a reader wanting something to happen so badly, that you scarcely think that it's probably better that it didn't. Just like every romance movie where the guy gets the girl ...more
He breaks every mold, and this ends up being a very unpredictable - even to your disappointment - book. Let me explain. You find yourself as a reader wanting something to happen so badly, that you scarcely think that it's probably better that it didn't. Just like every romance movie where the guy gets the girl ...more
رواية جيدة فعلاً، ونهايتها نصف الحاسمة/ نصف المفتوحة، تترك المجال للأجزاء التالية مع الكثير من الترقب لمعرفة المزيد..
فهذه الرواية لم تكشف شيئاً تقريبا من أسرار راما، مما يعطي المجال للاجزاء التالية كي تشرح أكثر..
الرواية منطقية جدا كذلك، تعتمد على العلم والخيال معاً مما يجعلها "خيال علمي" حقيقي وليس تخريف محض كأغلب الكتبات في هذاالمجال.
الاحداث متسارعة وغير مملة، على الرغم من أن الوصف الدقيق لراما افقدني الاتجاه قليلاً وجعلني عاجزة في كثير من الأحيان عن تصور شكلها، إلا...more
فهذه الرواية لم تكشف شيئاً تقريبا من أسرار راما، مما يعطي المجال للاجزاء التالية كي تشرح أكثر..
الرواية منطقية جدا كذلك، تعتمد على العلم والخيال معاً مما يجعلها "خيال علمي" حقيقي وليس تخريف محض كأغلب الكتبات في هذاالمجال.
الاحداث متسارعة وغير مملة، على الرغم من أن الوصف الدقيق لراما افقدني الاتجاه قليلاً وجعلني عاجزة في كثير من الأحيان عن تصور شكلها، إلا...more
Clarke siempre me ha parecido un autor irregular. Aunque su relato "El centinela" es sensacional, siempre me quedo con la adaptación cinematográfica de 2001 a su propia novela (escrita durante el rodaje de la misma). "El fin de la infancia" es una de mis novelas de Ciencia Ficción favoritas, pero muchos relatos que le he leído escritos tras los años 70 eran muy poco interesantes.
Dentro de sus obras más célebres me quedaba la multipremiada "Cita con Rama", ...more
Dentro de sus obras más célebres me quedaba la multipremiada "Cita con Rama", ...more
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 soumise à plus grand qu’el...more
Eric
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
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
Lincoln
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
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
For heaven's sake, don't expect great writing from this book. For all his talent, Clarke wasn't a wordsmith (heck, even Asimov could write better!)
Instead, simply glory in one of the cleverest conceits you will ever read - an encounter with an alien civilisation in which the aliens are absent and there is no convenient "universal translator" to explain things. Slowly you can begin to piece things together, keeping maybe one step ahead of the astronauts, but you become aware t...more
Instead, simply glory in one of the cleverest conceits you will ever read - an encounter with an alien civilisation in which the aliens are absent and there is no convenient "universal translator" to explain things. Slowly you can begin to piece things together, keeping maybe one step ahead of the astronauts, but you become aware t...more
This is a typical hard-SF novel from Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke was famous for epic science and exploration (e.g., "2001"), but not for his characterization, and it shows here. While a planet-sized alien artifact flying through the solar system should engender a sense of awe, I found myself bored through long stretches of the book describing the explorations of Rama's interior, and ultimately I could not care much about the characters or about Earth (largely because neither are ever seri...more
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 scienc...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 scienc...more
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
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
This is one of the canon's of sci fi
Rendezvous with Rama is a mystery story. It begins strong with an elegant progression from a discussion of the hostility of space and the vulnerability of earth in it, to the discovery of the object known as Rama, and then to the initial exploration of Rama. The author gives a wonderful introduction to movement in artificial gravity as the explorers penetrate Rama. This enthralled me and prompted me to try to understand some of the finer points (there is no artificial gravity by way of centrifug...more
Arthur C. Clarke
Rendezvous with Rama
Bantam, Paperback, 1990.
12mo. 243 pp.
First published, 1973.
======================================================
I guess I might be a victim of FBS (First Book Syndrome). Just like some people have read Of Human Bondage at a very impressionable age and no other book of Somerset Maugham was quite comparable to it later, so it is with me, Arthur Clarke and his 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). However...more
Rendezvous with Rama
Bantam, Paperback, 1990.
12mo. 243 pp.
First published, 1973.
======================================================
I guess I might be a victim of FBS (First Book Syndrome). Just like some people have read Of Human Bondage at a very impressionable age and no other book of Somerset Maugham was quite comparable to it later, so it is with me, Arthur Clarke and his 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). However...more
I had actually never read anything by Arthur C. Clarke until now, believe it or not. I'd heard plenty about him, of course, but I hadn't ever just picked up one of his books. I'm glad that I finally did. He combines his scientific mind with the wonders that have crossed the mind of anyone who has stared up at a starry night sky and thought "what if?" This book is a quick read, but it definitely drew me in and got me to ask that question that is the mark of a good story - "and then...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. T...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. T...more
As Robert J. Sawyer stated in the introduction, the characters do not drive the story--unless you consider Rama itself a character. I didn't actually care for any of the characters in the book, except for Rama. Rama was the most interesting character even though it's an inanimate object (or is it?). The unveiling of Rama was excellent. I do admit, though, that I was peeved that there weren't very many female characters in the book. I also found that some of the characters' thoughts on women...more
My experience with this one was all around awesome. After rereading and teaching _Childhood's End_, I had the urge to read more. Clarke has a precise and hallucinatory style (this book literally gave me vertigo - yes, in a good way) that is not without quaint imperfections that may be products from the culture of his time (there is some use of "absolute language" that one wonders, given Clarke's scientific background, what business it has there - I mean, most scientists would admit tha...more
An unidentified space vessel ("Rama") enters the solar system. The human species has no other option than to try and figure out what it means. That is the basic datum around which Arthur C. Clarke's celebrated novel has been constructed. Clarke opens four windows on this process of sense making: an aesthetic, a scientific, a political and a religious.
The aesthetic dimension of the encounter with Rama is, for me, the most compelling. Rama exhibits a minimalistic but refined ar...more
The aesthetic dimension of the encounter with Rama is, for me, the most compelling. Rama exhibits a minimalistic but refined ar...more
"Rendezvous with Rama" is the perfect example of a great idea executed in the worst possible way. The concept behind the plot really captured my attention and had me dreaming of possibilities, but the plot itself, as well as Clarke's writing style, was not even anti-climactic: it was the height of boring. First, Clarke should be noted as having a particular style, something that (unfortunately) not many sci-fi writers have. He has his own voice, his own turns of phrase and, if I had...more
Rendevous with Rama won both the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was released in 1973. Of course, it is an excellent book...it won these prizes, and it is written by Arthur C. Clarke, one of science fiction's great writers. So I make just a few observations.
First of all, Clarke's pacing is always very slow. But it is slow in a good way -- as a reader, I feel that Clarke is moving at the pace of the universe, and that the truth of the story will be revealed in due time. This slow paci...more
First of all, Clarke's pacing is always very slow. But it is slow in a good way -- as a reader, I feel that Clarke is moving at the pace of the universe, and that the truth of the story will be revealed in due time. This slow paci...more
The best in this series.: Many others have mentioned that in the whole Rama series only this book, book one, is a worthwhile read. I must agree. I originally read 'Rendezvous" in high school and loved it. A few years later I haltingly made my way through the other two and was really disappointed. They're ponderous, base, and little more than the soap opera tripe that everyone else makes them out to be.
About a month ago, I picked up a copy of book one and read it again and remembered why I ...more
About a month ago, I picked up a copy of book one and read it again and remembered why I ...more
Clarke, Arthur C. Rendezvous with Rama (1973)****
A "SF classic" ageing gracefully
Celestial objects are traditionally named for the gods of Mediterranean peoples, although neither Yahweh nor Allah has yet made an appearance to my knowledge. And so perhaps the very cosmopolitan and worldly Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and long time resident of India's neighbor Sri Lanka thought it was time the people of the Ganges got some due, and so he...more
A "SF classic" ageing gracefully
Celestial objects are traditionally named for the gods of Mediterranean peoples, although neither Yahweh nor Allah has yet made an appearance to my knowledge. And so perhaps the very cosmopolitan and worldly Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and long time resident of India's neighbor Sri Lanka thought it was time the people of the Ganges got some due, and so he...more
Jason
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
SF fans, exploration & adventure fans, BDO enthusiasts
I was seventeen years old and working at Software Etc. in Springfield, Missouri when a video game called Rama was released. I didn’t know anything about it, but my assistant manager (and later brother-in-law) explained it was based on a famous science fiction novel. I would think about it occasionally over the next thirteen years, though I don’t know what propelled me to read it now. Transhuman Space, with its use of cylinder space colonies, was probably part of it.
Summary
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Summary
Ram...more
I don't know what prompted me to re-read this book, which I first read in high school, but just a few pages in it immediately reminded me why I love the science fiction genre so much. Rendezvous with Rama epitomizes one of the primary joys of reading hard sci-fi: exploring a completely fascinating, alien world (or, in this case, spacecraft). The human characters are, of course, only there to facilitate the exploring, and Clarke's few attempts at characterization seem like afterthoughts at best,...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sci-Fi Fantasy Bo...: Rendezvous With Rama | 13 | 38 | Jan 07, 2012 04:21am | |
| What do you think the author meant with the last line of the book - | 9 | 127 | Nov 04, 2011 12:26pm | |
| Black Maven: Rendezvous with Rama | 1 | 3 | Aug 17, 2011 11:34am |
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Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 1989.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._C...
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“If such a thing had happened once, it must surely have happened many times in this galaxy of a hundred billion suns.”
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