Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages
English language
Published Nov. 1, 1990 by Spectra.
"At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge. It weighs more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system as inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for man's first encounter with alien intelligence." P. [4] of cover.
A promising opening of mysterious object and dry elder academic panel bickering.... oh don't let this be just a cool exploration of the physical properties of this space... in space... with bonus tangential misogyny... oh, the physical properties and some cold-war-commentary at least accelerate... pity for the futuristic anachronisms, 1973 feels closer to Jules Verne than to us.
... that is, it's 50% description of a docking maneuver, and 50% setup for an exciting book.
I guess that makes it one of those books you should read once, but I didn't manage to enjoy it much.
the characters were a bit no-nonsense and technical, but the setting was immensely good
It was my first Arthur C. Clarke book. And even though it is a classic I didn't have any spoilers before I read it. The idea of finding an unknown object in the sky with extraterrestrial suspicions, and going there to actually explore it was very thrilling. And well, it is hard sci-fi, so I expected a lot of scientific explanations and musings on the laws of physics. I had some hard time trying to imagine the interior of Rama. The scale and complexity of what was inside was very difficult for me to grasp. But I tried to imagine Rama like "The Citadel" of the video game "Mass Effect", at least to understand the cylinder design of the spacecraft.I really expected there would be more answers in this book about the purpose of Rama and the "biots" inside. Of course, the author leaves a hint at the end indicating …
It was my first Arthur C. Clarke book. And even though it is a classic I didn't have any spoilers before I read it. The idea of finding an unknown object in the sky with extraterrestrial suspicions, and going there to actually explore it was very thrilling. And well, it is hard sci-fi, so I expected a lot of scientific explanations and musings on the laws of physics. I had some hard time trying to imagine the interior of Rama. The scale and complexity of what was inside was very difficult for me to grasp. But I tried to imagine Rama like "The Citadel" of the video game "Mass Effect", at least to understand the cylinder design of the spacecraft.I really expected there would be more answers in this book about the purpose of Rama and the "biots" inside. Of course, the author leaves a hint at the end indicating that there is more to the mystery.
