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Rendezvous with Rama

(Rama #1)

Arthur C. Clarke

4.11 · Rating details · 145,418 ratings · 4,445 reviews

At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at an inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists ...more

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Paperback, 243 pages

Published 2000 (first published June 28th 1973)

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Jan 06, 2016 Patrick rated it it was amazing

It's odd to think that this book was published 40 years ago. I don't know why that strikes me as strange, but it does....

It's tempting for me to call this book "Traditional Science Fiction." Or "Classic Science Fiction" or something along those lines. But what I really mean to say is that this is a story where the science is one of the central aspects of the story.

The basic premise of the story is: In the future, humanity finds a alien spacecraft and investigates it.

A lot of the joy of explor It's odd to think that this book was published 40 years ago. I don't know why that strikes me as strange, but it does....

It's tempting for me to call this book "Traditional Science Fiction." Or "Classic Science Fiction" or something along those lines. But what I really mean to say is that this is a story where the science is one of the central aspects of the story.

The basic premise of the story is: In the future, humanity finds a alien spacecraft and investigates it.

A lot of the joy of exploration comes from the theory of how a spaceship might really work in terms of physics. How could you generate gravity on a spaceship? How would it travel? What would the aliens be like? What would the purpose of these various pieces of the ships be? (Such as, for example, a large body of water, or featureless buildings on an island?

It's an interesting story, but probably *mostly* interesting for people interested in the genuine science of interstellar/interplanetary travel.

For example, if you enjoyed The Martian, you have a good chance of liking this book. (But be warned, the pacing is much different than The Martian. It's not First Person. It's not conversational. It's not painfully technical, but it was written in a different age.

Of particular interest to me was the fact that many of the smaller plot arcs of the books were very short. By which I mean to say that when a problem arises in the story, the resolution comes very soon afterwards. That limits the tension of the story somewhat, as you don't have time to get too worried over anything before it's fixed.

Lastly, it's important to note that this book ends with many questions unanswered. But the good news is that there are two more books in the series that will explore those questions further, and I trust Clarke to pay me off with good answers by the end of the series.

***

Later edit: I read the sequel, and I have to retract my previous statement. The follow-up book severely damaged my opinion of this book to the point where I don't know if I would reccomend it any more.

So if you were considering reading this book based on my review, you might want to read this first in order to get the whole story...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more

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Jun 06, 2018 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've been trying to read more classic sci-fi and my experience has been very hit and miss so far...

But this was a very interesting take on the whole "first contact with aliens"!

I do wish there was a bit more but it seems like I always do. Nevertheless the ending was pretty satisfying, would recommend! ...more

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Jan 13, 2010 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, crime-mystery, science, childrens-young-readers, british, fantasy, space, 20th-century

Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

Rendezvous with Rama is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973.

Set in the 2130's, the story involves a 50-kilometre (31 mile) cylindrical alien star-ship that enters the Solar System.

The story is told from the point of view of a group of human explorers who intercept the ship in an attempt to unlock its mysteries.

The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards upon its release, and is regarded as one of the corner Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

Rendezvous with Rama is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973.

Set in the 2130's, the story involves a 50-kilometre (31 mile) cylindrical alien star-ship that enters the Solar System.

The story is told from the point of view of a group of human explorers who intercept the ship in an attempt to unlock its mysteries.

The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards upon its release, and is regarded as one of the cornerstones in Clarke's bibliography. The concept was later extended with several sequels.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: در سال 1995میلادی

این کتاب نخستین بار با ترجمه محمد قصاع در سال 1371هجری خورشیدی در نشر افق نیز منتشر شده است؛ موضوع داستانهای خیال انگیز از نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20م

عنوان: میعاد با راما ؛ نویسنده: آرتور چارلز (سی) کلارک؛ مترجم: هرمز حبیبی اصفهانی؛ تهران نشر نقطه، 1374، در 268ص، شابک ایکس - 964554825

ادامه این داستان با عنوان «راما 2» یا «ادامه میعاد با راما» با ترجمه ناصر بلیغ در نشر نقطه در سال 1375 در 494 ص به چاپ رسیده و به زیور طبع آراسته شده است شابک: 9645548276؛

کتابهای «میعاد با راما»، «راما دو»، «باغ راما» و «راز راما»، سری چهار جلدی از آثار «آرتور سی کلارک» هستند، مجموعه‌ ای بیهمتا که به روشنی، نمایانگر چیره‌ دستی «کلارک»، در آفرینش داستان‌های علمی-تخیلی هستند؛ «میعاد با راما»، در 350صفحه است و آغاز این ماجراست؛ …؛ «راما» سفینه‌ ای غول پیکر، و استوانه‌ ای شکل است، که با سرعت سرسام آوری، گرد محور خویش می‌چرخد.؛ …؛ از بیکران‌ها، گام در منظومه ی شمسی می‌نهد، و دانشمندان آن روزگاران را، انگشت به دهان می‌سازد

هدف کتاب، هشداریست به بشر، که زمین، تنها در معرض خطر سلاحهای مرگبار ساخته ی دست بشر نیست، بلکه در دسترس بمبهای فضایی نیز هست؛ «میعاد با راما»، با داستانهای واقعی برخورد شهاب سنگهای بزرگ، به زمین در سده ی بیستم میلادی، آغاز میشود، و سپس، به بعد ناشناخته، و رمز و راز چنین رویدادهایی، میپردازد؛ انسان، برای رویارویی با بمباران فضایی، رهسپار فضا میگردد، اما با حیات و تمدنی شگفت انگیز، و ناباورانه، روبرو میشود، که در فراسوی منظومه ی شمسی بوده است، و ساخته ی دست نیروهایی، بسیار هوشمندتر از انسانها است

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Lyn rated it it was amazing

Mysterious and engaging, classic science fiction.

I first read this back in high school, we'll just say a LONG time ago. Since then the concepts, ideas and themes surrounding this archetypal work of science fiction have been a huge influence on works in this genre. Clarke first published this Hugo and Nebula award winner in 1972. The first works that I think of that was influenced by RWR is John Varley's excellent Titan series, first coming out in 1979. His influence on Ridley Scott's Alien, also ...more

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Mar 07, 2021 Nataliya rated it really liked it

Shelves: hugo-nebula-nominees-and-winners, 2021-reads, location-is-the-true-protagonist

“But at least we have answered one ancient question. We are not alone. The stars will never again be the same to us.”

I always find it interesting to see whether science fiction classics end up standing up to the test of time, given ever-changing technology, paradigms and culture. Some of them still shine, while others become hopelessly dated and irrelevant.

Well, to me Rama, published in 1973, withstood the test of time, regardless of rare instances of eyebrow-raising.

It is a classic SF nov ...more

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Aug 23, 2009 Cassy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, award-hugo, physical-own, fiction-scifi-fantasy-paranormal

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 doors or wi ...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Dan Schwent rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, 2014, oldies, list-of-shame

An enormous alien structure enters our solar system and a team is dispatched to explore it before it drifts away and is lost forever. What will humanity discover after its Rendezvous with Rama?

Years ago, I decided I needed to read more hard science fiction. Then I read Ringworld and was so uninterested that I quit my hard sf quest before it began. Months ago, a copy of Rendezvous with Rama fell into my clutches. I decided to give it a try, despite my fears that it would be another Ringworld, a b ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Evgeny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi

We, the humanity, see quite a lot of comets and meteors flying around. So in the future (fairly distant) nobody cared much about yet another such visitor until astronomers realized it had an ideal cylindrical form. At this point it did not take a genius to realize its artificial origin. Luckily there was a spaceship nearby to catch up with the guest (named Rama)
Rama

before it disappears into depths of space. This is the story about the ship's crew exploring dead alien derelict and the reaction of th We, the humanity, see quite a lot of comets and meteors flying around. So in the future (fairly distant) nobody cared much about yet another such visitor until astronomers realized it had an ideal cylindrical form. At this point it did not take a genius to realize its artificial origin. Luckily there was a spaceship nearby to catch up with the guest (named Rama)
Rama

before it disappears into depths of space. This is the story about the ship's crew exploring dead alien derelict and the reaction of the rest of the humans to their findings.

The real rating is not 5 stars by the way; it is only 4.5. The characters were quite flat and not exactly life-like.
Flat characters

For this reason I understand why some readers did not like the book. It is however not about people. It is about incomprehensible wonders of alien technology - just hasty brief glimpses of it.

This sense of wonder present through the whole book and that is the reason for the high rating. I can only recall one other science fiction book which has the same sense of alien wonders: Roadside Picnic (Red's Zone adventures to be exact).

Arthur C. Clark does outstanding job between being descriptive, but not overly so. His descriptions are brief enough to never become boring, yet they always give you good picture of what the explorers see. This takes some real skill to accomplish. Modern popular writers fall into two extremes when it comes to descriptions: non-stop absolutely unnecessary long ones (George R.R. Martin), or no descriptions whatsoever (Steven Erikson). My advice to both of these guys: read this book and learn. Read it one more time and learn better. Continue reading it until you are able to deliver an excellent tale in under 150 pages.

So if you are looking for great flawed characters look elsewhere. Otherwise the story is really good and highly recommended. The common wisdom is that the following books are much weaker. Unlike this one they are written in collaboration with Gentry Lee and collaborations rarely work, in my opinion.

Reading the descriptions of the book 2 and its reviews I became convinced that I am not interested to continue the series. Fortunately first book works well as a standalone. ...more

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Jul 27, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

There was just enough detail to go with the all the mystery behind the alien ship hurtling through the solar system to make Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama an engaging and thought provoking read! Other than a spaceflight to intercept and explore the huge Raman spacecraft, there’s very little action in this novel and (unfortunately) very little character development. I do think there is a sense of wonder about the possibilities contained in the mysterious ship. The book whets your appetit ...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Rendezvous With Rama starts off where lesser books would climax. To begin with parts of Italy are wiped out by an asteroid leading to the creation of the Spaceguard system for detecting future asteroids well in advance of collision so that preventative measures can be taken. Along comes another huge object initially mistaken for another asteroid but as it draws nearer turns out to be a ginormous spaceship with no apparent mean of propulsion. The ship is given the named Rama and the crew of Earth Rendezvous With Rama starts off where lesser books would climax. To begin with parts of Italy are wiped out by an asteroid leading to the creation of the Spaceguard system for detecting future asteroids well in advance of collision so that preventative measures can be taken. Along comes another huge object initially mistaken for another asteroid but as it draws nearer turns out to be a ginormous spaceship with no apparent mean of propulsion. The ship is given the named Rama and the crew of Earth's survey ship Endeavour land on it and enter to investigate.

This is the father of the popular Big Dumb Object sci-fi trope which features humongous alien artifacts befuddling humanity when they are discovered or unexpectedly show up. I just reread this book immediately after finishing another BDO classic Gateway by Frederik Pohl. Gateway totally confounded my expectation because while it features a BDO the focus of the book is on the impact of this object on the life of the protagonist. Being confounded in this case is not too unpleasant as Gateway is a good though provoking read. However, it still left me with a hankering for some BDO adventure and Rendezvous With Rama provided this in spades. This book really is what it says on the tin and if you are in the market for some jaw dropping sense of wonder this is the one to pick up.

Arthur C. Clarke was a stupendous writer of sf, unlike a lot of scientist sf authors he could write with excellent transparency and clarity of vision. He is particularly brilliant at describing the minutiae of space voyages; just the simple act of walking up and down stairs in near zero gravity can become a vivid and fascinating adventure in his stories. Certainly with "Rama" Clarke gets a lot of millage from the cylindrical shape of Rama, the gravitational and centrifugal effects, the weather, the visual impact of the north and south poles, the sea as a cylindrical band etc.

My favourite Rama art by Jim Burns

That said it is worth noting that this is a novel of exploration, not essentially a pulse pounding action adventure on a dangerous planet, although there is an element of that also. The emphasis is more on the sense of wonder than sense of danger. There are many vividly imagined scenes in this book so clearly described that if you do an image search for "Rendezvous With Rama" on on Google you will find quite a few excellent artworks inspired by this book, a similar search on Youtube will also yield quite a few fan made videos (this short student film is my favrorite).

As usual Clarke did not write with literary flourishes and characterization was clearly not a priority for him. I find the central characters of this book almost interchangeable in their blandness. However I am not sure this is a weakness of Clarke's writing because his books are generally not very long and by not allocating many pages on developing the characters he is able to do a lot of world building, describing the minutiae and implications of his settings, and a spring a few surprises on his readers from his plotting.

I feel that Rendezvous With Rama complements Phol's Gateway very nicely, one is about the BDO, the other is about the psychological impact of a BDO. I recommend reading both.

Another view of Rama (don't know who it's by, sorry). ...more

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Dec 20, 2008 Manny rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Giant alien spaceship is sighted. People go and check it out. It's full of cool stuff.

Clarke adds some sex to show that he isn't just a holdout from the Golden Age, but his heart's not in it. As soon as they've finished, he wants to go out and explore the spaceship again. I can see his girlfriend rolling her eyes.
...more

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Dec 10, 2012 picoas picoas rated it liked it

Shelves: 2008, 2018

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Workmanlike Prose: "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke

Ah, yes. Rama. I actually read this with a torch under the blankets in an intense all-nighter back in the day. What I like about this book in retrospect is its complete lack of compromise as a work of SF. Characters? Who the frack needs 'em. Themes? Bah, pointless! All SF needs to be is an unbroken, brilliantly done description of an alien environment. I'm glad things have mo If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Workmanlike Prose: "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke

Ah, yes. Rama. I actually read this with a torch under the blankets in an intense all-nighter back in the day. What I like about this book in retrospect is its complete lack of compromise as a work of SF. Characters? Who the frack needs 'em. Themes? Bah, pointless! All SF needs to be is an unbroken, brilliantly done description of an alien environment. I'm glad things have moved on since, but I'd still happily sit and read a book so single-mindedly in its purpose like this one.

In any genre of literature, you definitely have some people whose names tower above everyone else, and their influence could not be denied. However, people who like literature don't just read the so-called greats. Clarke certainly wrote some seminal works of SF, but he probably read many obscure works too, some of which may have influenced him. Readers don't just read the big name writers, but have a much bigger interest in the genre. A writer’s work only makes sense within a tradition and how it is situated along other people's work. It is all interlinked and some of the smaller voices may be bigger than critics acknowledge. For instance Clarke's influences aren't as well-known but what he learned from them is part of his work, so the voices remain powerful, and readers equally value preceding works. That doesn't mean that the big name writers don't deserve their place in history, but as fan of literature, I think sometimes, the bigger contributions are made by lesser known writers. I disagree with the assessment that Clarke left questions unanswered; world-building can get boring at the micro, non-plot-related level. This book was "sensawunda" in triplicate -- for the Ramans always did everything in threes. How about those tripodal cleansing things that whirled about? I'm not disappointed that Clarke had no sequel; when you look at 2001 on the screen, then read Clarke's rejected worlds, you realise that Kubrick was right to end with the “Star Child”.

If you're into SF, read on.
...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ rated it did not like it

Shelves: 1-star, year-2015

This book was SO BORING. Wow.

I did not care about any of these characters, they were only slightly different demeanor-wise, which I guess could be believable among astronauts, but it made for a really lacking characterization element.

Even during parts of the plot where danger was ensuing I felt no sense of danger & I had no feelings of hoping that the character in danger survived.

In this novel women hardly served a further purpose than to be a distraction for or sleep with the men. Sure they c ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Gary rated it really liked it

I originally read this in junior high, when I first eagerly devoured all the writings of the "Big 3". This reread is part of a project to revisit the classics I read in my youth, now with my pesky adult brain in tow.
Rendezvous with Rama is pretty much the prototype for what people complain about when they say "they don't make 'em like they used to." It is also, by consequence, exactly what others are criticizing when they say "they shouldn't make 'em like that anymore." It is essentially a hard I originally read this in junior high, when I first eagerly devoured all the writings of the "Big 3". This reread is part of a project to revisit the classics I read in my youth, now with my pesky adult brain in tow.
Rendezvous with Rama is pretty much the prototype for what people complain about when they say "they don't make 'em like they used to." It is also, by consequence, exactly what others are criticizing when they say "they shouldn't make 'em like that anymore." It is essentially a hard sci-fi narrative centered around scientific discovery and methodical problem solving by its hyper-competent hero(es). It is an exciting story filled with all manner of wondrous events and inventions and landscapes to explore, and can easily be enjoyed at face value, hence the four stars. It's a darn good read, no question.
What I have recently noticed upon re-evaluating our holy trinity of Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein, is that their sins were the collective sins of the Anglo-American golden age of sci-fi. There is very little in the way of emotional engagement with the characters, and Clarke in particular seems to regard other humans and their behavior with clinical interest at most - as if the inner life of his characters is only a necessary component of their existence insofar as it can explain their choices or their responses to stimuli. The social sciences were also poorly represented by these authors and their colleagues; being almost wholly obsessed with hard science, their future histories feel more like they were engineered in a controlled experiment, rather than having developed from any of the cultural conflicts and movements that really shape history. Science fiction will always date badly in some ways, because speculating about the future based on present day understandings is never going to be 100% accurate; however, the future society posited in Rendezvous with Rama is impossibly naïve in its conception and comes across as surprisingly reactionary, especially since Clarke was usually lumped in with the political left in the SF community.
I know, I know, "That's just how things were done back then!" There were plenty of writers from the olden timey days who didn't, though. There's a reason why John W. Campbell hated PKD's writing, for example. And also, there are plenty of authors who still do it that way (have you read Neal Stephenson?)
As a time capsule work, though, Rama is almost peerless in its execution, and definitely worth the read, even if our modernized adult brains have to let a few things slide to make it work. ...more

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Dec 27, 2020 Adrian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-again, sci-fi, favorites, zz-owned-books

I think if I could, I’d give this 6 stars ⭐️

More unworthy thoughts on an amazing novel tomorrow 😬

So where do I start with this novel. I first read this oh some time back in the mid 1970s, when I first started reading "grown -up" Sci-fi books. Arthur C was a name I knew from the 1968 film and book 2001, so by the time Rama came out I had read a few of his books.
However this book, just blew my mind. The writing is as ever wonderful in its scope, its descriptions, its scene setting, its characters ...more

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Oct 16, 2020 Christopher Paolini rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, recommended

Classic hard sci-fi. Short, full of interesting ideas, and with one of the best ending lines in the genre. (Seriously, Hollywood, why haven’t you adapted this yet?) In many ways, a more human and interesting take on the first contact idea Clark explored in 2001.

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Jan 02, 2009 Scurra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

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 that trying to under ...more

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Oct 30, 2011 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s

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 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 think this is because with good world-building, i feel like i am looking at a kind of work of art created by the author - a rather nerdy work of art, sure - but still something that a person has put a lot of thought, energy, and passion into. i really respond to all those details that the author is in love with sharing. but maybe i just have a high threshold for these kinds of things, as i'm also the kind of person who likes to hear all the details in a person's dreams.

Rendezvous takes world-building to a different sort of place: Clarke is artifact-building. the amazing alien spaceship Rama is indeed amazing; almost the entire novel is devoted to exploring this gigantic vessel. most of the narrative is in service to purely descriptive passages of Rama; everything else is either minimal characterization or political discussions from various scientists & ambassador types about how to respond to Rama. all of this very focused world-building has the potential for much boredom and irritation. but i never felt that; the author's love for his creation is too clear, his details are too meticulous, his sense of wonder and his ability to concretely illustrate the almost-unknowable are too skilled, too palpable. despite my feeling that this novel essentially functions as a prologue to the 'real' action to come, i got caught up in Clarke's passion and enjoyed it all.

for such a man of science and large-scale concepts, Clarke is a surprisingly warm writer. his characters are pleasant - and real. there are no grand villains, at least not in this initial volume of the series. and he has a sense of humor - particularly around sex (one character is described as having no interest in anything outside of work, except for sports and sex - preferably combined; a high-level scholar is described as originally making his reputation through researching "puberty rites in late-twentieth-century Beverly Hills"). for all of the high-falutin' ideas on display, there is zero pretension present in Rendezvous.

although the novel ends before anything actually happens, there does seem to be interesting directions that the series could go. the slight mining of sexuality and gender roles could lead somewhere. and politics - particularly around how government responds to the unknown - are clearly an intriguing next step. i'm looking forward to seeing how this series pans out.

all that said, as far as Giant Mysterious Alien Artifacts go, right now my favorite is still Greg Bear's Eon - which in many ways appears to be an homage to Rama. ...more

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May 31, 2020 Jenna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, classics

"The long-hoped-for, long-feared encounter had come at last. Mankind was about to receive the first visitor from the stars."

Watching the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 yesterday, I was thrilled and mesmerized and briefly able to forget all the other shit that's happening in the world.

When I came back down to earth, I just couldn't stop wondering what we humans could do if we put aside our hatred and intolerance and began working together as one human race.

Here we are sending two astronauts back into ...more

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Oct 26, 2007 Paul Bryant rated it liked it

Shelves: sf-novels-aaargh

It was only after I’d read Rendezvous with Rama that I found out it was a Big Dumb Object story. I mean, I knew Rama, the mysterious alien spaceshippy thing which appears in our solar system, was an object, and was dumb too – it doesn’t say a word to a soul, not one word – and yes, it was big too, really big. Bigger than a whale! Ten whales! But I didn’t put it all together. However, some critics did, and unkindly pointed out that quite a bit of science fiction is about Big Dumb Objects which hu ...more

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Feb 05, 2017 Dennis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, series-on-hold

This 1973 novel won the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell Award, as well as the Locus Award and several others. It’s certainly one of those books that someone that is interested in science fiction should read at some point in their life.

For me it was a reread, and I was curious to see if and how my opinion about it was going to change, four years on from that first read. Especially after I had slightly downgraded my rating of Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey just recently. The short answer, it ha ...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A large ominous object is discovered entering a remote part of the Solar System in 2131, an impressive thirty miles long and heading in the direction of Earth.You can imagine the implications, indeed... causing a little nervousness back on our world, everyone knows what happened in 2077. If you don't remember since it hasn't occurred yet a large fireball hit the Earth killing hundreds of thousand of people, devastating the great cities and untold trillions of dollars in damages. At last in Proje A large ominous object is discovered entering a remote part of the Solar System in 2131, an impressive thirty miles long and heading in the direction of Earth.You can imagine the implications, indeed... causing a little nervousness back on our world, everyone knows what happened in 2077. If you don't remember since it hasn't occurred yet a large fireball hit the Earth killing hundreds of thousand of people, devastating the great cities and untold trillions of dollars in damages. At last in Project Spaceguard an early warning system was established, a kind of shield can be formed which protects precious Terra from being pulverized again by a roaming asteroid.They also tract the 500,000 space boulders found in the mystifying region between the orbits of distant Mars and Jupiter however now more than fifty years later a new crises arises. Can Spaceguard save us? If it collides with the third planet , Earth will be no more than a memory good or bad. Quickly acquiring the name Rama this large rock (from a Hindu God) , the object keeps surprising us , after a space probe takes pictures it's not an asteroid but an alien spaceship of tremendous size. The long feared aliens have arrived , peaceful or otherwise that is the question? Computer analysis shows the trajectory of Rama will miss Earth and go around the back side of the Sun out into the uncharted, blackness of deep Space, never we hope to return here again. Problem solved right, if you're a sci-fi fan you know better, but humans are not very trusting beings. So the spaceship Endeavour is sent to investigate in command is Captain Norton.When the crew of the Endeavour, finally get inside Rama they are amazed the alien spacecraft, is really a new , vast, strange world to say the least.The only way down to the bottom of Rama are stairways many miles in length, in the darkness so they go, try that folks! Even in low gravity creatures seen below are half animal and half robot"Biot", as they're named by the invaders and look peaceful still where are the Ramans...A large enchanting calm Sea, who believes their eyes here is also discovered by the people from Earth. Great "cities," weird blue lights and exotic structures unexplained atmospheric storms, electrical discharges this Noah's Ark has it all except answers.The crew of the Endeavour will they ever be able to solve the mystery of Rama,the alien craft is getting hotter and hotter as it nears the scorching Sun, time is limited so the explorers must work fast. If the crew could somehow get over the high cliff blocking them and into the unknown, south pole area of Rama . Maybe all the secrets will be explained....A glorious walk into the never-ending place we call imagination... ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Duane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-book-challenge, rated-books, 5-star-books, reviewed-books, audio-books, english-calssics, science-fiction

This is one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels. Arthur C. Clarke's 1973 classic made a clean sweep of the genre's awards, winning the Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, and Nebula awards. The concept of the story is brilliant. The planet sized, spinning, cylindrical world of Rama is the star of the story, featuring a sea that circles the inside of the cylinder. The visuals created by Clarke were stunning. What will mankind make of this interstellar traveling alien world? I loved it, couldn't p ...more

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Mar 24, 2020 Simon Clark rated it really liked it

Strange read, but I really liked it.

This was my first Arthur C. Clarke - though the movie adaptation of 2001 is one of my all-time favourites that I've repeatedly rewatched - and definitely will not be my last. As sci fi nerd with scientific training from the west country, on paper Clarke (no relation) should be my perfect author. And Rendezvous with Rama is dead on the bullseye of my interests. It blends hard, hard sci-fi with the kind of near-futurism that I find fascinating, and succeeds in ...more

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Nov 09, 2020 Bernardo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

An unknown object of exceptional size and perfect geometry is detected outside the orbit of Jupiter. Additionally, this object seems to have some remarkable properties and is moving too fast to be captured by the sun’s gravitational field. A spaceship and crew are sent to investigate this peculiar object, which will become known as Rama. Will this be the first visit from beyond the solar system?

Rendezvous With Rama is different from any other science fiction book that I have read to date. Usuall An unknown object of exceptional size and perfect geometry is detected outside the orbit of Jupiter. Additionally, this object seems to have some remarkable properties and is moving too fast to be captured by the sun’s gravitational field. A spaceship and crew are sent to investigate this peculiar object, which will become known as Rama. Will this be the first visit from beyond the solar system?

Rendezvous With Rama is different from any other science fiction book that I have read to date. Usually the characters are the ones who carry the story. Not so in this case. The characters in this book feel more like a means to explore Rama, with only the main character having some kind of personal story. As a consequence, Rama is the plot. Incidentally, I don’t think Arthur C. Clarke was actually trying to write character development. I think he just wanted to write a mysterious science fiction book that would incite our imagination and sense of wonder. In that respect, he did a great job.

Understandably, some readers might find the novel to be a bit slow at times. Personally, I actually liked the way it was written. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Rama and its ambience, giving a very atmospheric feeling to the novel, and making us want to know more about it. Later in the book, Arthur C. Clarke actually does throw in some moments of suspense and action. Otherwise, this isn’t a quick paced or action packed novel. There are no subplots and all the attention is directed at everything surrounding Rama.

I enjoyed the way the novel ended. I won’t spoil it for the people who haven’t read it yet. I’ll just say that it leaves more questions to be answered than it actually answers. I’m fine with that, as it is in line with the way the novel was written, trying to capture our imagination.

Rendezvous With Rama is considered to be a classic among science fiction books and seems to have had influence in later books and movies in the genre. It’s a very good book, albeit with limitations. This novel actually reminded me of 2001:A Space Odyssey (the movie, not the novel which I haven’t read), as it carries a similar theme about unknowns in space. I guess that’s a good sign. ...more

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Jun 13, 2021 William added it

DNF @ 50%. I simply cannot believe that character development is limited to one sentence in most cases, and for women that space is used to talk about their tits and whether they've fucked Captain Norton.

The book itself is bland, anyway. There are many better first contact books written before and after Rendezvous with Rama. ...more

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Aug 30, 2016 Alex rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016

Rendezvous With Rama is the best and worst of classic pulp science fiction. The sciencey stuff is neato and the plot is exciting; philosophically, it raises some good questions. But the prose is functional at best, and the characters are wooden. If you can get past that, it's a great book. If you can't, most science fiction is maybe not for you.

Clarke is given to breathless, pulpy sentences like this: "It was a good plan - and it failed completely." Which, I mean, I appreciate a good pulpy sente ...more

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Mar 11, 2020 Gary K Bibliophile rated it liked it

(3.5 stars really). Rendezvous with Rama is one of those rare triple crown award winners... meaning it won a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award - all recognizing exceptional sci-fi. In addition to Rama I’ve read two others on this list: American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. This is also one of my *puzzle books* (see my profile pics) where I originally got the idea to read it because it was on a ‘classic sci-fi book’ puzzle I put together a few years ago. (My methods for bo (3.5 stars really). Rendezvous with Rama is one of those rare triple crown award winners... meaning it won a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award - all recognizing exceptional sci-fi. In addition to Rama I’ve read two others on this list: American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. This is also one of my *puzzle books* (see my profile pics) where I originally got the idea to read it because it was on a ‘classic sci-fi book’ puzzle I put together a few years ago. (My methods for book selection are very scientific as you can tell)

As with a lot of classic sci-fi - you’re never sure how well it ages and if the ideas hold up well over time. In this case I thought the story actually did hold up ok. The setup at the beginning was very cool... and I thought the mysterious Rama object was as well. The descriptions of the technologies were done so in a way that didn’t make it obvious the story was from the 1970s. So that was well done too. I do admit that when they talked about taking photos I kind of envisioned the characters with Polaroid cameras - and shaking the photos - given that if I read this when it was released that would have been state of the art.

So why did I rate it lower? One reason was the lack of character development. It mentioned in the book intro that this is not Clarke’s strong point. Yep - nailed that one for sure. I’ve also read both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Childhood’s End, however and I didn’t feel the same way about the characters in those books. In this case there didn’t seem to be much memorable dialogue and overall I just didn’t care much about the main characters.

The view of the roles of the sexes was really askew. There wasn’t much for the women to do... He introduced the idea of it being commonplace to have multiple wives on different planets, having end of mission orgies, and (I’m not making this up) that women shouldn’t be allowed on zero G space flight because the unpredictable movement of their breasts is too distracting. Ok... so this doesn’t quite go as far as Stranger in a Strange Land (that one had lots of elements that didn’t work for me either), but these ideas didn’t age as well as the story concept did.

The pace of the story seemed rather slow as well. It seemed to take a long time to play out what was going on. There didn’t seem to be any twists that got me excited either. It was kind of like watching a very speculative space documentary rather than a sci-fi fiction adventure story.

This is probably just me, but at times I had trouble orienting myself in the cylindrical spaceship... trying to figure out which way was up based on the descriptions (since the directions were all relative). This included which way the staircases went - the *seas* - the *cities*, etc etc. I looked online for fan art and there were a few pics and even some videos that were pretty creative. Nevertheless many times I had to struggle with “which way are they going now?”

I thought the concept of the Simps - genetically engineered ‘Super Chimpanzees’ was interesting. I’m guessing research is going on right now to replace me in my job with a Simp. Many of you may be thinking my reviews have been subcontracted to Simps - Hey... that’s not nice... Their IQs are only 60! 😜

Despite what I didn’t like about the story I found it enjoyable and think it’s something sci-fi fans ought to check out as many of the ideas pioneered here are revisited in later stories. ...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Othy rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction

"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 to look at a "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 to look at a paragraph of his a year from now, I could probably attribute it to him. The problem is that his style is terrible. Much of the time it felt like I was reading a textbook, though often enough Clarke's style was worse. It was as if a robot had gained the ability to write novels and idly typed this one out. Characters "cautiously increase their mutual separation," for example, and everything seems to be described with a cold distance. Perhaps this'd be fine in another book, but this is supposed to be an -adventure story-. Where's the excitement? Where's the sense of discovery? No where. Anything resembling "discovery" is muddled behind a thick mist of technical, misplaced vocabulary. People often wonder why things like "poetic diction" came about, and this book answers the question rather nicely: science-y, exact writing doesn't make for very good narration.

I could have looked past the style issues had the plot or the characters had been (in any sense of the word) strong, but unfortunately they were worse. Each character proceeds through Rama (and the plot) as if they were machines. Every now and again they talk of a bit of fear or strange feelings, though these are destroyed by the poor style, pushed away with some sort of scientific "stoicism" or else explained as purely natural phenomenon (once a character had an eerie sense of 'doom,' but realized it was just simple build up of electricity). I've known a few scientists and am friends with one or two, and I doubt that they would act so dispassionate. Most I know are excited, interested and creative people who love their work and (like everyone else) can get swept away in the moment. People don't, and wouldn't, act like this.

So I'm left with the feeling of having read 250 pages of a story about robots "exploring" a world where very little happens that is written by a robot. How could this story have been boring? How could so little have happened? How could there be not a single memorable character? Where is the mystery, the joy of exploration? If the future is filled with such dead explorers and so little to explore than I pity the future generations. ...more

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Aug 15, 2008 Stephen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: award-nominee-campbell, award-winner-hugo, award-nominee-nebula, award-winner-nebula, award-nominee-british-sf, audiobook, award-winner-britsh-sf, easton-press, first-contact, award-nominee-hugo

5.0 stars. One of the best first contact novels ever. The ability of Clarke to bring a high level of detail regarding the mechanics of the expedition without having the story get bogged down is a rare thing. This novel succeeds brilliantly. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: (tie) John W. Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: British Scienc ...more

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So much potential, squandered or righteous?	25	197	16. August, 12:34 Uhr
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What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Adult Science Fiction. Humans find spaceship humans orbiting somewhere. They board this ship that has whole environment and ecosystem with plants and water. As they are on it, the whole system changes and crazy things happen. [s]	4	17	20. November, 23:38 Uhr
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About Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke

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Arthur Charles 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 ...more