That said, the characters in Rama are surprisingly serviceable, if not great. I haven’t read the sequels, but fear they would undermine the majesty of this book.Ĭlarke has always focused more on alien life and technology than on characters in his stories. I can only imagine that, when the book was first published in 1973, the effect was even greater and there were fewer books about alien worlds. Some mysteries remain unanswered, and are thus all the more intriguing. That said, Clarke demonstrates an admirable amount of discipline in not revealing everything about Rama. Even more than the alien structures, I’ll always remember the description of Commander Norton climbing “down” the ladder towards Rama’s “ground. I especially liked how Clarke takes advantage of Rama’s artificial gravity (generated by the object’s spin) to present the astronauts with a new challenge. The structures and other things encountered do not resemble the familiar sci-fi tropes. Clarke manages to convey the artifact’s grandeur and to create a uniquely bizarre alien world. Rama is excellent at evoking a sense of wonder. The rest of the book focuses on the crew’s exploration of the alien artifact. The United Planets sends the solar survey vessel Endeavour under the command of Commander Bill Norton to investigate. The object is named “Rama” after the Hindu god. Rendezvous with Rama starts when an large, cylindrical object is detected hurtling towards the sun. That said, the book isn’t perfect, particularly when it comes to the characters.

Clarke’s best book, and it definitely deserves much of the praise it’s gotten. Rendezvous with Rama is widely acclaimed as Arthur C.

Rama clarke