Rendezvous With Rama
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
I always remember as a kid reading Garden of Rama first (The 3rd in the Series) and being absolutely fascinated by the book. I wanted to live aboard Rama, until the extra few thousand humans ruined it. It was years later that I read the superior first book, and reading it again now having since read the entire series, nothing beats the original.
Rendezvous with Rama is one of those unique––in my opinion––hard science books that doesn’t feel dry or overly pretentious. It has a lot of plausible science and discussion within the book, but also relatable characters and a massive sense of wonder. You’re taken on the exploration of Rama through the eyes of a capable crew, rather than simply told about Rama through equations and theories.
Rendezvous With Rama tells the story of Captain Norton and his small crew as they explore the mysterious Rama, a massive ship which made its way into our solar system and slowly headed towards the sun. No one knew how or why Rama had arrived, just that they had a few weeks to explore the mass alien craft before it rounded the sun and disappeared forever.
What a fantastic concept, and the narrative being told through the exploration crew of the Endeavour and the newly formed Rama Committee back ‘home’ means Clarke can explore all angles of this sudden scientific miracle… or potential alien threat if you’re a Mercury native.
I liked all the characters, with Norton being my favourite. His reluctance to use any lasers or explosive on Rama always won me over, whereas the doctors desire to dissect had the opposite effect. (I’m such a mark for these sort of things) Loved Jimmy’s adventure with Dragonfly too, and them sailing across the Cylindrical Sea. I was always a little disappointed not to see more of the super-chimps (aka simps) but I must admit reading it again in my forties that feels like less of a loss now.
Arthur C Clarke was one of my favourite authors when I was younger, and I miss reading his work. Rendezvous with Rama reminded me of why I loved his writing so much as a kid, and i’ll be definitely reading more over the next few years now that I’m binging Sci-Fi again.
It’s a fantastic page turner from start to finish, with its short chapters making you constantly think just one more chapter. Then some crazy shit happens on Rama that the lights turn on or there’s a slight breeze and you have to read another. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it a lot quicker than I original planned. A true Hard Sci-Fi Classic.
