Product Description

An instalment in the saga which began with the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning "Rendezvous with Rama" and "Rama II". Now "Rama II" is on its way out of the solar system. Aboard it are two men and a woman, left behind when the expedition departed. Ahead of them lies the unknown.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #350673 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

New York Times
'Arthur C. Clarke is awesomely informed about physics and astronomy, and blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print'

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION
'For many readers Arthur C. Clarke is the very personification of science fiction'

NEW YORKER
'Arthur C. Clarke is one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age ... The colossus of science fiction'

Customer Reviews

Humans and Aliens in Eden
This tremendous series continues with the third book in the Rama series. At the end of Rama II three astronauts we left trapped in a huge cylindrical spacecraft heading off towards one of our closest stars.

The first fifth of the novel is presented in the form of Nicole des Jardine's diary and is probably the highlight. It tells of their 12 year journey to "The Node" - a giant space station built by the creators of Rama. There are no warp-drive shortcuts here, Clarke and Lee brilliantly tell the story of how the astronauts start a family, not knowing how long their journey will last and their efforts (often painful) to create genetic diversity amongst their offspring.

As the returned and refitted Rama craft returns to pick up more human specimens, the book takes a breather for about 100 pages, delving you into the lives of many new characters through deep and often uninteresting characterisation. The completed colony accelerates off into space again, but 'New Eden' is not without it's problems as the des Jardine descendents and cross sections of global society struggle to integrate.

With an excellent plot, but pondering middle section "The Garden of Rama" succeeds overall, but you're left wondering about the sudden change in the colony with Nakamura takes power. We're back to full form in the last 100 pages with Wakefield investigating the other species on the ship while other events unfold in the human habitat. This is where the story picks up again but is rushed. The conclusion is pretty moving and makes you instantly want to pick up the final book "Rama Revealed."

Hmm...
Disappointing when compared to the sheer imaginative, fantastical brilliance of the first book and, to a lesser extent, the second. Hated the direction it took, the whole colony thing and that...the mystery wasn't so much lost as put aside. And the mystery was the story for me! But once over it was a good read and it recovered a little towards the end.

STODGY, DULL START BUT WORTH STICKING WITH TO THE END
It's often said of certain authors that they could write a shopping list and still get an advance of £100K for it. I must say this is not Mr. Clarke at his best and certainly this third instalment of the "Rama" series is no where near as good as the first book - however, it's still head and shoulders above "Rama II". The begining of this story of three marooned astronauts on an alien craft heading out of the solar system is slow, plodding and singularly without any excitement (plot or science wise) at all. Those less than avid Clarke readers will probably be very tempted to give up before the book finally starts to move in the middle to end section of the novel when the writing and plot development certainly move back towards what you would expect from on the best SF writers of the 20th century. This is not a book to read as a "stand alone" novel and in some places a working knowledge of it's predecessors is essential, however, it is still worth the effort to wade through the shakey start. Overall a passable effort by messrs. Clarke & Lee but one cannot help thinking that this books primary purpose is only as a foretaster of the real meat in the last book in the series "Rama revealed" and is not designed to be a story in itself.

Not bad but could have been shortened by about 100 pages without significant loss to the reader.