Title: Rendezvous with Rama
Author: Arthur C. Clarke
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 256
Rating: 4.5/5
I’ve had this book on my radar for a while now, but I have to say that it exceeded my expectations. I’ve been reading a lot of Arthur C. Clarke lately, and some of it has been better than others. This stands out as one of the best.
The idea here is that future man identifies something coming from the stars and is able to send out a ship to intercept it. The bulk of the novel takes place on Rama, the cylindrical meteorite-like thing that’s whizzing through the solar system.
What’s most interesting to me is that while the setup is good, the story itself really shines and reminds me of an adventure novel. In some ways, it reminded me of Jules Verne or even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, and in a good way. Sure, the science was fantastic and I loved some of the questions that Clarke poses to the reader, but the story itself is a cracker and it’s that which kept me turning the pages.
I’d have to say that of all of the Arthur C. Clarke that I’ve read so far, this is probably the best of the lot. It’s one of those rare books where it was difficult to put down because the plot and the characterisation were so gripping that I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Definitely one that I’d recommend.
