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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
After finishing Rendezvous with Rama (an amazing classic with tight writing style, world building, characterizations of groups of people on planets, and above all - the mystery of Rama), I was aching to get my hands on the rest of the book to continue unravelling the mystery.
However, the first few chapters were disappointing. That's when I discovered that the next 3 books are written in collaboration with Gentry Lee. I did not like the change in tone of the book (and heightened verbosity on trivial details about the space personnel - not even rama!) but I slogged through more chapters to learn more about Rama & the Ramans.
Unfortunately, it kept getting worse - focus on squabbling & immature humans (even after millenias, the issues are the same as today - what a waste of futurization) over anything scientific.
I was disappointed to the point that I wished to simply read a summary of Rama II for its key Raman discoveries minus the space drama. That's when I discovered the global disappointment of fans over the Rama sequel books. Arthur wrote the Rendezvous with Rama as a standalone book - it is best enjoyed as so. The ending is not necessarily a cliffhanger but an opening of possibilities of what's out there.
The follow up 3 books are authored by Gentry Lee who borrowed the Rama spacecraft from Arthur & spun up an entirely different kind of story on it. I read reviews of many readers who slogged for the same reasons as I was & ended up regretting it.
And, so, I decided to save myself from the building frustration & forget about the Gentry Lee extensions.
I wish Arthur had never given the Rama universe to Gentree Lee. I wish that, if he had chosen to revive the Rama story, he had done so alone.
However, the first few chapters were disappointing. That's when I discovered that the next 3 books are written in collaboration with Gentry Lee. I did not like the change in tone of the book (and heightened verbosity on trivial details about the space personnel - not even rama!) but I slogged through more chapters to learn more about Rama & the Ramans.
Unfortunately, it kept getting worse - focus on squabbling & immature humans (even after millenias, the issues are the same as today - what a waste of futurization) over anything scientific.
I was disappointed to the point that I wished to simply read a summary of Rama II for its key Raman discoveries minus the space drama. That's when I discovered the global disappointment of fans over the Rama sequel books. Arthur wrote the Rendezvous with Rama as a standalone book - it is best enjoyed as so. The ending is not necessarily a cliffhanger but an opening of possibilities of what's out there.
The follow up 3 books are authored by Gentry Lee who borrowed the Rama spacecraft from Arthur & spun up an entirely different kind of story on it. I read reviews of many readers who slogged for the same reasons as I was & ended up regretting it.
And, so, I decided to save myself from the building frustration & forget about the Gentry Lee extensions.
I wish Arthur had never given the Rama universe to Gentree Lee. I wish that, if he had chosen to revive the Rama story, he had done so alone.
No where near as good as the first book, mainly due to another author being the main contributor. However, it was still a good read/listen and I am glad i did.
It does end on a cliffhanger, and i am not certain i will leap to read the next book. I think i will leave it until i have a lull in books to read.
It does end on a cliffhanger, and i am not certain i will leap to read the next book. I think i will leave it until i have a lull in books to read.
awesome. just like the first Book but more rama stuff happens. I liked these characters more too.
Despite their age Clarke's books hold up. He truly is one of the father's of modern scifi. His books are unlike other scifi in ways you would not expect. He has a talent for weaving in the human element in a skillful way. The one downfall of many of Clarke's books in that they don't have a lot of up and down. I'm sure for their time they were exciting, but compared to today's scifi they can fall a little flat. Still a great read, especially if you want to get a sense for the foundations of the evolution of genre.
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn't supper eager to read the sequel to the Rendezvous with Rama since I was satisfied with how that book ended and I didn't feel the sequel was absolutely necessary I however did end up liking this more then I expected, not as much as the first one and probably not enough to go on with the series, at least at the moment but it was more than okay. The writing is not my favorite, I do not enjoy writing of old sci-fi much mostly but the stories, and even the characters were interesting and a tad more morally gray then I would expect from an older sci-fi book. The ending wasn't what I expected at all and there were some more mysteries and not much revelations then in the first book.
Rama II was a huge disappointment after reading Rendezvous with Rama, the sci-fi classic which I had rated 5 stars. Rama II was co-written by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee; however, based on tone, style, and just awful dialogue, the book must have been written by Lee with Clarke's name slapped on for sales. Rendezvous was fascinating, focusing on the hard core science fiction of exploration. Rama II puts Rama on the back burner and instead focuses on the trite dynamics of the crew of this second mission. Reading this was a lesson on how to write a third rate soap opera set in space. Since I absolutely loved the first book, I'll continue on with the 4 part series and hope for a better read in book number 3.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As a sci-fi novel in itself, Rama II is passable. Many of the characters are unlikable, but those who we spend hte most time with are at least bearable, though Wakefield is the most special of all snowflakes; some of this bleeds over into Nicole's backstory. My main gripe is that we spend more time with the characters and their backstories than we do with the heart of the story, Rama.
The sci-fi is soft too, but remains interesting. Most of the time I managed not to have my suspension of disbelief broken. The problems around that were largely the fact that this has aged awfully - sci-fi writers really should not make pop culture references in a "serious" work. Attitudes towards gender, race and sexuality suffer from this also.
In the end, though, it's an interesting, enjoyable work. Once the story gets going - and it does take a while (I have to admit that I skim-read most of the backstory, at best) - it's definitely engrossing. I was captivated by Rama, and couldn't help but spend some of my time away from the novel wondering what it would be like to be there.
As a sequel to Rendezvous with Rama, though, this is incredibly disappointing. The sci-fi is softer (hell, there's fantasy in the mix), the focus is the largely one-dimensional and unlikeable characters rather than the alien spacecraft, it's aged terribly while it's predecessor has mostly stood the test of time (a throwaway line about men and women working together being the only patch of rust on Rendezvous). This Rama is less believable, and does not seem to be an exactly logical progression from what Clarke was getting at with the first novel.
On it's own, Rama II isn't bad - just ignore that it's supposed to be a sequel to the first Rama novel, and take it as an "inspired by" at best.
The sci-fi is soft too, but remains interesting. Most of the time I managed not to have my suspension of disbelief broken. The problems around that were largely the fact that this has aged awfully - sci-fi writers really should not make pop culture references in a "serious" work. Attitudes towards gender, race and sexuality suffer from this also.
In the end, though, it's an interesting, enjoyable work. Once the story gets going - and it does take a while (I have to admit that I skim-read most of the backstory, at best) - it's definitely engrossing. I was captivated by Rama, and couldn't help but spend some of my time away from the novel wondering what it would be like to be there.
As a sequel to Rendezvous with Rama, though, this is incredibly disappointing. The sci-fi is softer (hell, there's fantasy in the mix), the focus is the largely one-dimensional and unlikeable characters rather than the alien spacecraft, it's aged terribly while it's predecessor has mostly stood the test of time (a throwaway line about men and women working together being the only patch of rust on Rendezvous). This Rama is less believable, and does not seem to be an exactly logical progression from what Clarke was getting at with the first novel.
On it's own, Rama II isn't bad - just ignore that it's supposed to be a sequel to the first Rama novel, and take it as an "inspired by" at best.
3.5 stars: Entertaining but not one of Clarke’s stronger efforts, the story is populated by anodyne characters and reads like a Hollywood B-list thriller script.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes