Rama

[Gope]

the book is not 1, there is "Rama II" too,...read what MaryJane said,...I think that she really understand this book.

[Werthead]

Originally Posted by Maryjane

Ya it was allot of years since I read the first book of Rama but it made an impression in my mind and I never forgot it, It was an awsome starship built by another inteligent race. It was a huge cylindrycal ship with a complete eko system vegitation water and clouds on the inside of the walls of the hull with an artificial sun at zero gravity at the center of the ship but there was no sign of who the previous owners were or what had happened to them. If I remember corectly the eko system in the ship didn't start coming to life until it entered our solar system, automatically kicking in the on switch. I think it was designed to shut down in interstelar space while all life in the eko system went dormant or in stasis. I think it was the second book about Rama, unless I'm mystaken with another book I read with a similar ship, in this Rama there were people living in it, many genertaitons of earth people had lived in it and they thought the inside of the ship was their world, the only world there was. After all those genrations they had lost the knowledge and memory of their original purpose except for a legend of a promissed land. They were not aware they were inside a star ship on a colision course with a star. They were living in the life style of the early Amarican colonial days. I think it was one of the males and his mate found an entrance to an ancient passageway that eventually led them to one of many control rooms in the ship and they discovered they were indeed in a starship traveleling through an infinite voide of blackness dotted with tiny bright lights and one ahead of them much biger and brighter then the rest was the star they were on a colision course with. Oh what to do they didn't understand any of the control panels and what their functions were and I'll leave it there.

Erm, no. You're describing Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun. They are somewhat similar though.

Rendezvous with Rama (1973) is set in 2130 and chronicles what happens when a 50km-long alien cylinder enters the Solar system. A transport ship called Endeavour rendezvouses with Rama and its crew, who are not trained for this kind of work, explore the cavernous interior. They only have a few weeks before they have to leave as Rama's course takes it dangerously close to the Sun. There are some good subplots about religious fanatics who want to destroy Rama as well. At the end of the book virtually none of the mysteries about Rama have been answered, which is kind of the point.

The Rama Cycle is the sequel to Rendezvous with Rama and is a trilogy. Interestingly, it has been called 'a' sequel to Rendezvous and seems to operate on the same principle that Clarke applies to the Odyssey books, namely that this is a version of what happens next, possibly taking place in a parallel universe. This trilogy was plotted by Clarke and Lee but the actual writing was done by Gentry Lee, with Clarke doing a couple of editing passes on it (IIRC).

Rama II (1989) picks up the story in 2200 after a second Rama ship has been discovered years away from the Solar system, allowing a dedicated science mission to explore the ship to be put together. The book is much more character-driven than Rendezvous and there are thriller elements as well. The book has a cliffhanger ending. It is followed by The Garden of Rama (1991) and Rama Revealed (1993).

Gentry Lee later also wrote three novels by himself set in the same timeline as The Rama Cycle: Bright Messengers, Double Full Moon Night and Tranquillity Wars. These have not been published in the UK.

A movie version of Rendezvous with Rama has been in development for over five years. It will be directed by David Fincher (Alien 3, Se7en) and will star Morgan Freeman as the captain of the Endeavour. Apparently Fincher feels that CGI technology is not yet up to the level required to capture his vision, but hopes to get round to the film in the next few years.

Rendezvous with Rama holds two distinctions. It is the only novel ever to win all three of the Big Three SF Awards (the Nebula, Hugo and John W. Campbell Awards) and was apparently the first-ever Western novel to be published in the Soviet Union without extensive editing by the Soviet censors.

[Fireplaceman]

First post here folks - hello!

Recently finished Rendezvous with Rama; what a story! Vivid and involving in so many ways, a wonderfully impressive concept, but the means of communicating the story was the most remarkable thing for me. Setting it up between the UP committee who talked in theory, the team exploring Rama for the practical discovery, and Rama itself unpeeling its layers a bit at a time, it offered a complete 360 degree picture of what was happening. It kept me hooked right to that final line, which had me reaching for the Amazon website to find the sequel!

[Spade]

I read Rama a couple of years ago. I got through it fairly quickly. To be honest, I hardly remember anything about it. It was some fairly interesting worldbuilding at the time, but there's virtually no plot. I much prefer Clarke's short stories.

[jackarcalon]

The first book was described as a 'prose diagram', but every word serves a purpose. It's about things we can barely be aware of but never reach. It indirectly puts mankind in its place. My favorite part is where it loops around the sun. I don't think the second to fourth books 'count' in the continuity, they're a different series entirely. I had the impression the Rama spacecraft was built by a race so advanced they gave up awareness, and it was sent to colonize a nearby dwarf galaxy. One reviewer described it as the ultimate communist society. Everything is part of a trillion year plan.

[The Ace]

I would certainly recommmend "Rendezvous with Rama," a wandering spaceship enters the solar system, powers up as it reaches the sun, is explored and carries on its merry way leaving many questions unanswered. I never thought much of the sequels.

[The Wanderer]

Originally Posted by The Ace

I would certainly recommmend "Rendezvous with Rama," a wandering spaceship enters the solar system, powers up as it reaches the sun, is explored and carries on its merry way leaving many questions unanswered. I never thought much of the sequels.

Interesting book, though I had a bit of difficulty articulating in my mind what it actually looked like, after looking at an Artists impression, it was like, Oh so that's what it looks like, i'd though of it all wrong

[The Wanderer]

Originally Posted by The Wanderer

Interesting book, though I had a bit of difficulty articulating in my mind what it actually looked like, after looking at an Artists impression, it was like, Oh so that's what it looks like, i'd though of it all wrong

Let Me correct myself, it's a wonderful book

[Lyrebird]

Quoting myself here...

Wow! And I thought it was just me!

Well, maybe I don't feel so strongly against the sequels, but they definitely spoiled the story for me. Rendezvous With Rama is best read by itself.

See this post, and thread...

[JDP]

Rendezvous and the whole Rama Cycle are a terrific series of books. For me, they include some of the most compellingly written characters I've ever read.

I couldn't agree less with anyone who suggests only reading Rendezvous - the entire series is a must! Having read the whole series many times, I can't read only Rendezvous without reading the others too.

For me, Rendezvous on its own reads a little 'thin', more like a short story than a novel; it's more a vehicle for the concept of Rama rather than a solid investigation into how such an artifact could affect the human race (as individuals and as a whole).

So, Bryan (I think you started this thread) if you haven't already read the series since posting this thread, READ IT ALL (You'll thank me for it).

[JDP]

Just because every word wasn't pulled from the glorious quantum engine that is A.C.Clarke's brain, it doesn't mean it's not worth reading...

[Addy]

I just read Rama, and even though I enjoyed it to some extent, it just wasn't as good as I hoped. Here' s a review I just submitted somewhere else (just my humble opinion, of course, I don't mean to offend Clarke or anybody else):

I trully hoped that this novel would blow me away, what with all the praises it has received both here, and all over the internet. But I was honestly underwhelmed. It's well-written, obviously, and good as an exploration piece, in the sense that Orson Scott Card describes in his 'How to write science fiction and fantasy'. By Card's definition, it's clearly not an Event piece, neither a Character work, nor the exposition and defence of an Idea.

It does have nice moments though, and the environment within Rama is misterious enough to pull you in, but upon reaching the ending of the book, I was left unsatisfied. It's not a cliff-hanger, and there's no evidence that a sequel might ensue (though I obviously know there are sequels - that I don't intend to read), but it just ends anyway. There's no climax, no build up of expectation. It's a long mistery that keeps on being something of a mystery until the Endeavour crew can no longer investigate to a satisfactory conclusion. It's like when you are driving to a distant city, and on the way you pass by other cities without really getting to see them in detail. You get to see parts of them, but they don't really stay with you after you drive past them.

However unwilling, I'm inclined to agree with those who claim that in 'Rendezvous with Rama' nothing happens, and nothing continues to happen until page 288. Unfortunately that's exactly when the book ends. Of course, if you expect to read this as a true adventure in the sense that Jules Verne wrote adventures, you'll be just as disappointed as I was. Characters don't seem to profit all that much from the 'adventure' either. Cardboardish as they are, you'd expect something of a reaction or some kind of change from them - after all, this is humanity's first encounter with some form of alien inteligence-, but it doesn't really seem to ensue. Captain whathisname leaves the scene just as he entered, with his two wives, and a lover to boot. Quite a hero, right? Not only Clarke's attempts at giving more depth to some of the characters failed to a large extent, but some of them - like the descriptions of Endeavour's Captain's double life - actually managed to kill off any sympathy I had for him/them.

To sum it all up, I think the book would definitely profit from a little more emphasis on the fiction, and less on the science, and a more dramatic climax (or a climax, at least). As far as hard SF goes, of course, Clarke was perfect, but I can't really get satisfaction from that alone in a novel.

[DMFW]

This whole discussion about the merits of the original work compared with the sequels is fascinating and to some extent I can see both sides, but I have to say I much prefer (indeed love) the original and I can take or leave the sequels.

Sure, the original is sketchy on characterisation and doesn't resolve the mysteries but that is beside the point. Or rather, the lack of resolution of the mysteries IS the point. Whether you agree with this or not is going to depend on whether you like to have all enigmas wrapped up at the end and don't feel comfortable unless you are going to be told "the answers", or whether, like me, you are content to have your mind opened to a strong dose of the "sense of wonder" Clarke does so well...

I personally feel that the first book is much more powerful for leaving Rama unexplained. It's a wierd universe and what makes us think we're going to understand it all? After inducing a frenzy of speculation in the reader almost any kind of "solution" would have disappointed me I think. But the departure of the ship for ports unknown without even noticing the pin prick of the human investigators leaves all speculations intact and a terrific sense of awe and humility. I can't ask for more than that from science fiction and the sequels, not that they are bad books, inevitably degrade the mysteries by making them commonplace.

[Ursa major]

It is true that the original book left open many possibilities; it is just a shame that the three sequels were so badly written and plotted (and everything).

Although I made myself plough through the sequels, just to see if there was an ending that would justify all those time-wasting words (there wasn't), I was never drawn to the characters, nor did did I see the plot (for want of a better word) as other than being done to the characters, not about them, nor involving them. While all SF/F requires the suspension of disbelief, the reader ought to be able to believe in at least some aspects of a book; I didn't with these. (The thought that there are other follow ups just makes me depressed.)

One good thing (almost): I only bought one of these awful books and was able to borrow the other two from the local library. But I now feel guilty for returning them, as someone is bound to borrow at least one of them; and then they may never pick up another SF book again.

[Lyrebird]

Originally Posted by DMFW

This whole discussion about the merits of the original work compared with the sequels is fascinating and to some extent I can see both sides, but I have to say I much prefer (indeed love) the original and I can take or leave the sequels.

Sure, the original is sketchy on characterisation and doesn't resolve the mysteries but that is beside the point. Or rather, the lack of resolution of the mysteries IS the point. Whether you agree with this or not is going to depend on whether you like to have all enigmas wrapped up at the end and don't feel comfortable unless you are going to be told "the answers", or whether, like me, you are content to have your mind opened to a strong dose of the "sense of wonder" Clarke does so well...

I personally feel that the first book is much more powerful for leaving Rama unexplained. It's a wierd universe and what makes us think we're going to understand it all? After inducing a frenzy of speculation in the reader almost any kind of "solution" would have disappointed me I think. But the departure of the ship for ports unknown without even noticing the pin prick of the human investigators leaves all speculations intact and a terrific sense of awe and humility. I can't ask for more than that from science fiction and the sequels, not that they are bad books, inevitably degrade the mysteries by making them commonplace.

Exactly! You present my own sentiments better than I have!