Rendezvous with Rama

Rama, #1

by Arthur C. Clarke

Hardcover, 303 pages

English language

Published Aug. 13, 1973 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

ISBN:: 978-0-15-176835-6
OCLC Number:: 596321
ISFDB ID:: 1319

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(20 reviews)

In his best novel since the classic Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke has made something quite new and wholly engrossing out of a familiar, eternally irresistible theme, mankind's first encounter with a visitant from unimaginably remote deeps of space and time.

The new celestial body that appears in the outer reaches of our solar system in 2130, believed at first to be an asteroid, and named Rama bu earthlings, soon proves not to be a natural object. It is a vast cylinder—about thirty-one miles long and twelve and a half across, with a mass of at least ten trillion tons—that is moving steadily closer to the Sun. The five-thousand-ton spaceship Endeavor lands on Rama, and when Commander Bill Norton and his crew make their way into its hollow interior they find a whole self-contained world—a world that has been cruising through space for at least 200,000 years and perhaps for more than a million. They have, at most, three weeks to explore Rama: a dead world, as it seems at first, though not without its perils, and with intensifying perils when it proves to be, in its own astonishing way, very much alive. Yet in the end it is Homo sapiens who poses the greatest menace, and whose exploits bring a continuously absorbing narrative to its highest pitch of excitement.

Solidly based in science made lucid for the layman, audaciously imaginative, at once visionary and subtly ironical in its final impact, Rendezvous with Rama is Arthur c. Clarke at the dazzling top of his form.

43 editions

Bithive reviewed Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (Rama, #1)

Rätselhafte Begegnung im All: Clarkes 'Rendezvous mit Rama' - faszinierend und frustrierend zugleich

4 stars

"Rendezvous mit Rama" ist ein faszinierender Science-Fiction-Roman, der im 22. Jahrhundert spielt. Clarke erzählt von einem rätselhaften zylindrischen Objekt, das in unser Sonnensystem eindringt und von einer Gruppe Astronauten erforscht wird. Ich fand das Buch teilweise richtig spannend. Die Art, wie Clarke die fremde Umgebung und die schrittweise Erkundung von Rama beschreibt, hat mich wirklich gefesselt. Die Atmosphäre des Unbekannten und der Entdeckung ist meisterhaft eingefangen. Allerdings muss ich zugeben, dass mich das Buch auch etwas verwirrt zurückgelassen hat. Viele Fragen bleiben offen, und nicht alle Rätsel werden gelöst. Das fängt zwar die Stimmung einer echten kosmischen Begegnung gut ein, ist aber auch ein bisschen unbefriedigend. Irgendwie erinnert mich der Stil an Stanisław Lem. Beide Autoren haben dieses Talent, das Fremdartige des Weltraums zu vermitteln und einen über die Grenzen menschlichen Verstehens nachdenken zu lassen. Insgesamt ein interessantes Buch, das mich beeindruckt, aber auch mit gemischten Gefühlen zurückgelassen hat. Es …

Leia reviewed Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

There is a reason it is still known

5 stars

Very little sci fi is still talked about decades later. And often, that which is, how the author was a huge asshole/sexist/etc. is a part of that conversation.

I haven't heard any of that about Arthur C. Clarke. And the book is still solid both in it's sci fi and its politics. If anything, it's more optimistic than more modern fair.

I really enjoyed it, albeit that it took a bit to get though.

Stephen reviewed Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (Rama (1))

Review of 'Rendezvous with Rama' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I used to love all the Rama books, but as I've gotten older I've gone off them all in different ways. This book doesn't tell much of a story by 21st century standards. Big Dumb Object turns up, unexplained. Humans fail to explain it. It leaves. Unlike the later Rama books it's not unremittingly miserable from start to finish though.

nemo reviewed Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of 'Rendezvous with Rama' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I think hard SF is harder to write. It's easy to fall in the trap of cardboard characters and too much science. This book has far too many mysteries and not much character development.

I was expecting better, but considering it took me more than an year to finish this short book, I think I'll stick with The Martian in the future.

Not that I don't like hard SF. I loved the Coyote series by Allen Steele, primarily because it has humans rather than science as the center piece.

This was probably just a bit too much for me.

Kian Ryan reviewed Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Review of 'Rendezvous with Rama' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Big Dumb Object.

A dead extra-terrestrial race.

Immense world building.

Arthur C Clarke takes the above and still manages to find room to add plenty of human emotion and exploration. Rama has arrived in our solar system, a giant object initially mistaken for a comet, soon determined to be a ship. The crew of the Endeavour only have a limited time to explore Rama, before she alters her course and escapes the solar system.

The story is driven by scientific exploration, and each chapter deals with a new discovery. The story says fresh, and yet does not go to town on over-the-top scientific explanation. Plenty is left unexplained, as you would expect when meeting alien technology. The crew have the privilege of watching Rama change, as it clearly develops for a purpose, which only makes itself remotely clear at the end of the novel.

This is not a novel asking …