Jonathan's review
Rama Revealed (Rama Series #4)
by Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee
Jonathan's review
Rama Revealed (Rama Series #4) by Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee
Jonathan's review
rating:
bookshelves:
scifi
recommended for: no one
The final chapter in the "RAMA Saga" ends with a whimper, and not the beautiful kind that Yeats spoke of. Instead, it ends with revelations that lift ideas from Clarke's short stories.
I suppose this isn't such a sin since Clarke himself lifted entire sections of some novels out of his short stories. For instance, Clarke reproduced his short story "Meeting with Medusa" almost verbatium as a chapter in 2010: Odyssey Two. So, I'll forgive it.
However, the final revelation is not much more than another red herring, another rabbit hole with rabbit holes. It doesn't help that huge sections of the novel are simply characters standing around and being told the "HISTORY AND MEANING OF EVERYTHING." It lacks any wit or wonder.
I suppose this isn't such a sin since Clarke himself lifted entire sections of some novels out of his short stories. For instance, Clarke reproduced his short story "Meeting with Medusa" almost verbatium as a chapter in 2010: Odyssey Two. So, I'll forgive it.
However, the final revelation is not much more than another red herring, another rabbit hole with rabbit holes. It doesn't help that huge sections of the novel are simply characters standing around and being told the "HISTORY AND MEANING OF EVERYTHING." It lacks any wit or wonder.
