Rendezvous with Rama
by Arthur C. Clarke
List Price:
Our Price: $3.50
You Save: $4.49 (56%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur C. ClarkeEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN: 0553287893
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of Rendezvous with Rama
Book Review: No region on Earth left for safe celestial target practice
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all: thanks to the Scandinavian parts of Texas for pointing me to A.Clarke, whom I had previously known only on a 'no name basis' as the writer of 2001 Space Odyssey. I have high respect and liking for the SF genre, but not much knowledge of it, apart from one or the other Verne, Wells, Samjatin, Huxley, Orwell, Bradbury, Asimov, Lem... Of course not counting Douglas Adams, who played another ball game, didn't he?
Rama is a worth while experience. Good Science Fiction is usually also about 'science', but if it is good, it is much about society, about history, usually in the future. The evil cliche term of the paradigm comes to practical use when you read good SF. (The word was invented by evil consultants who needed excuses for the havoc they caused.) SF is about changing paradigms. There is lots of that going on here.
In the 22nd century, the United Planets, which seem to be essentially Earth, Mercury and Mars (which are Earthling colonies) plus some moons are confronted with a scary phenomenon: a huge artificial space body travelling with high speed near the Earth. Luckily the initially silly Star Wars technology had later been developed to the advantage of peaceful purposes and helps arranging a 'rendezvous' with the alien craft, named Rama because the Roman and Greek mythologies have been exhausted in the process of naming space. The process of exploring the strange space body and of thinking through its implications is the actual plot.
Go for it!
Summary of Rendezvous with Rama
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 inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredible, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence. It will kindle their wildest dreams... and fan their darkest fears. For no one knows who the Ramans are or why they have come. And now the moment of rendezvous awaits -- just behind a Raman airlock door.An all-time science fiction classic, Rendezvous with Rama is also one of Clarke's best novels--it won the Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, and Nebula Awards. A huge, mysterious, cylindrical object appears in space, swooping in toward the sun. The citizens of the solar system send a ship to investigate before the enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears. The astronauts given the task of exploring the hollow cylindrical ship are able to decipher some, but definitely not all, of the extraterrestrial vehicle's puzzles. From the ubiquitous trilateral symmetry of its structures to its cylindrical sea and machine-island, Rama's secrets are strange evidence of an advanced civilization. But who, and where, are the Ramans, and what do they want with humans? Perhaps the answer lies with the busily working biots, or the sealed-off buildings, or the inaccessible "southern" half of the enormous cylinder. Rama's unsolved mysteries are tantalizing indeed. Rendezvous with Rama is fast moving, fascinating, and a must-read for science fiction fans. Clarke collaborated with Gentry Lee in writing several Rama sequels, beginning with Rama II.
Clarke, Arthur C. Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in My favorite Classic Science Fiction
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fishby Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 1999-03-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)by Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 1995-09-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
The Restaurant at the End of the Universeby Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 1997-06-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.41
Price in other shops:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyby Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 1995-09-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Silver Metal Loverby Tanith Lee
Spectra; Published: 1999-05-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.67
Price in other shops:
A Case of Conscience (Del Rey Impact)by James Blish
Del Rey; Published: 2000-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.19
Price in other shops:
Midsummer CenturyDoubleday; Published: 1972; Hardcover; Book
Nightfall and Other Stories (Crest Science Fiction, P1969)by Isaac Asimov
Fawcett Publications, Inc.; Published: 1972; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Nine Tomorrows (Tales of the Near Future)by Isaac Asimov
Fawcett Crest; Published: 1970; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $125.00
I, Robot (The Isaac Asimov Collection)by Isaac Asimov
Doubleday; Published: 1988; Hardcover; Book
Similar Books and other products
Ringworldby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1985-09-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
3001 The Final Odysseyby Arthur C. Clarke
Del Rey; Published: 1999-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.60
Price in other shops:
2010: Odyssey Twoby Arthur C. Clarke
Del Rey; Published: 1997-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops:
Foundation (Foundation Novels)by Isaac Asimov
Spectra; Published: 1991-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.70
Price in other shops:
Songs of Distant Earthby Arthur C. Clarke
Del Rey; Published: 1987-04-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
2001 A Space Odysseyby Arthur C. Clarke
Published: 2000-09-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $25.36
Price in other shops:
Rama Revealed (Bantam Spectra Book)by Arthur C. Clarke
Spectra; Published: 1995-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Garden of Ramaby Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee
Spectra; Published: 1992-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Childhood's Endby Arthur C. Clarke
Del Rey; Published: 1987-05-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.84
Price in other shops:
Rama II: The Sequel to Rendezvous with Ramaby Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee
Spectra; Published: 1990-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.73
Price in other shops: