The Rama Series

(originally published on 10/04/2005 in Fubaar's Books)

I completed the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke a couple of weeks ago and I'm finally getting around to writing my reviews...

Rendezvous with Rama
Premise: In the beginning of the 22nd century, a large cylindrical object enters the solar system headed on a trajectory where it will pass the Sun and then get slingshot out again. The Earth sends a crew of astronauts to check out the object before it leaves. They find that the object is actually a mini-world complete with cities and a sea...the only problem is that the world seems totally uninhabbited except for a number of robots which seem to have biological components (biots).
Review: I loved the concept and the description of the alien world. The only problem is that I finished the book and I was left feeling that nothing happened. The crew landed, got inside, observed the world through some environmental changes, saw some robots, and then left. I kept feeling that there was so much more that could have been done with the book. I almost gave up on the series, but wifey convinced me that the 2nd book had a lot more action in it.

Rama II
Premise: Written in conjunction with Gentry Lee. It's a little less than a century passed since the first Rama craft appeared in our solar system. Since that time, the world has gone through a major economical depression. The world is just getting back on it's feet again when scientists notice another Rama craft approaching. This time, the crew sent up to investigate the craft has a specific goal of trying to capture one of the biots and make contact with the alien species if possible.
Review: Ok, wifey was right, this book definitely had a lot more action in it. Also, the character development was much better...this time I felt like I really cared for some members of the crew, while I despised others. I don't want to ruin any of the twists, so I'll just leave it as a pretty good read.

Garden of Rama
Premise: Jeez, I'm realizing that if I write too much about the premise for this book then I would ruin certain parts of the 2nd book. The same will be true for the last book in the series. So the generic premise is that this is a continuation of the Rama series. =)
Review: This book is basically a discussion on human nature. It asks the question, "what would happen if the human race could start over again, would it follow the same path of war and corruption that we have seen in history?" I don't think that the authors really gave the "start over" concept a really fair chance. Still, it was a very interesting read and there is a killer cliff hanger ending.

Rama Revealed
Review: This book really needed to be cut down. After a while, I just kept saying to myself "ok, I get it, stop beating this dead horse and get to the ending". My suggestion, read the first three books. Then, check this book out of the library and read the first couple of chapters to resolve the cliff hanger ending from the previous book. Then, skip to the end and read the last couple of chapters. Most of the 300 pages in the middle could probably be cut down to 100 pages...this would make it into a much better book.

Next books on my list:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Native Son by Richard Wright