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Rendezvous with Rama
An аll-time science fiction classic, Rendezvous wіth Rama іѕ аlѕο one οf Clarke’s best novels–іt won thе Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, аnd Nebula Awards. A hυgе, mysterious, cylindrical object appears іn space, swooping іn toward thе sun. Thе citizens οf thе solar system send a ship tο investigate before thе enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears. Thе astronauts given thе task οf exploring thе hollow cylindrical ship аrе аblе tο decipher ѕοmе, bυt сеrtаіnlу nοt аll, οf thе extraterrestria
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An ancient friend, and still a fantastic read,
In my youth, when I started reading SF, I was never a major devotee of Arthur C. Clarke; I was mostly into Heinlein and Asimov. But I read this one when it was first published (1973) and I liked it so well I kept the hardback for years and years.
I’m not sure what finally happened to it, but at any rate I’ve just recently gotten around to replacing it. And the tale is still as fantastic a read as it was when it was new. I can’t claim to have read everything Clarke ever wrote, but this is certainly the best of his works that I _have_ read.
Other reviewers have pointed out, entirely correctly, that this isn’t a book to read for character development. That’s right of Clarke’s books in general, I reckon, but it’s especially apt here, everywhere the ‘star’ of the book is an artifact of an alien civilization. In fact, even the ‘star’ doesn’t get a lot of development, since in the end it remains deeply mysterious. (I don’t know what happens in the sequels; I haven’t read them and I haven’t heard excellent things about them. I’m treating this as a standalone work.)
But man, if you want to read a gripping, haunting tale about the first human exploration of a space probe (or something) from an extraterrestrial civilization — and if you want to watch the exploration process unfold and feel as though you’re participating in the discovery yourself — then this is a book for you. This is what Clarke does best: when you read a tale through his eyes, you’re looking outward at the objects of scientific investigation, and helping yourself to a chunk of the intellectual wonder and joy that goes with such investigation.
The excitement here is the excitement of hard science, not of character development. If that’s what you want, you’ll probably like this book.
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|The greatest mystery,
Briefly; a very large cylinder appears in our solar system and an expedition is sent out to investigate what obviously is an extraterrestrial object. They are able to enter the cylinder and watch it slowly “wake up” from the inside. The alien technology they encounter is highly advanced and awe inspiring but still possible to know.
The tale develops in a honestly slow pace, but it is full of suspense and mystery. The discoveries that the astronauts make are so fantastic and described with such lucid imagination that all I could feel even as reading this book was anticipation and awe. Furthermore, the more the astronauts explore and learn the deeper the mysteries seem to grow. One thing I really like about Arthur C. Clarke is that his descriptions are scientifically plausible and still very imaginative. I highly recommend this Sci-Fi novel.
Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite Science Fiction author and Rendezvous with Rama is one of my favorites. It was a collection of small tales that included my all time favorite small tale “The wall of darkness” that originally got me hooked on Arthur C. Clarke (review coming). Arthur C. Clarke will never be forgotten.
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