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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Olvídense de Katniss, o de Hermione, ¿quieren personajes femeninos fuertes, independientes e inteligentes? Pues no hay nada como Nicole De Jardins en Rama II! Extraordinaria novela de ciencia ficción.
La veritat és que no sé com descriure aquest llibre, i no sé si recomanar-lo o no.
La història és molt interessant. Els personatges estan molt ben aconseguits i hi ha una mica de tot. I, quan acabes de llegir-lo, tens ganes de llegir els dos següents, per saber com continua la cosa.
El problema, però (perquè, és clar, si no sé com descriure'l és que hi ha un problema) és que hi ha trossos que són... infumables? D'acord, potser m'he passat, però hi ha trossos en els que em podia passar un parell de setmanes sense agafar el llibre i no tenia cap mena de necessitat d'agafar-lo.
Sí, molt bé, han entrat a Rama, però... i què? M'interessa el que ha de passar, però sé que es passarà 50 pàgines amb algun tipus de rotllo espiritual, que, de fet, quan l'has llegit és interessant, però pel camí...
Ai, no ho sé. Sembla que l'estigui deixant pel terra, i no és el cas. Però el fet que hagi trigat gairebé 5 mesos a acabar-lo ja és algun tipus d'alarma.
Això sí, tinc ganes de llegir el següent :-)
If you liked Rendezvous with Rama, skip this unless you're the world's biggest fan of Gentry Lee. An almost completely unrelated book, this is filled with third-grade soap opera and constant, petty digressions from Clarke's fascinating ideas.
Clarke is not the world's greatest writer and the first Rama book was stilted and nerdy, but it was also ripe with enthusiasm and seriously awe-inspiring ideas. The addition of B-movie drama here doesn't deepen, humanize, or in any way improve Rama; it just cheapens it.
Clarke is not the world's greatest writer and the first Rama book was stilted and nerdy, but it was also ripe with enthusiasm and seriously awe-inspiring ideas. The addition of B-movie drama here doesn't deepen, humanize, or in any way improve Rama; it just cheapens it.
I truly don't understand how this book has such a high rating on here - it was nearly unreadable - I forced myself to finish only because of how much I loved the Rendezvous with Rama.
Other people have done a great job of eviscerating this book but I just want to say that I cringed nearly the whole way through, especially any time a character was described or when there was any dialog.
It lacked any of the impact and wonder of the original and turned an epic story of discovery into a tedious (and mildly racist and sexist IMHO) interpersonal drama that wasn't even good at being that.
Other people have done a great job of eviscerating this book but I just want to say that I cringed nearly the whole way through, especially any time a character was described or when there was any dialog.
It lacked any of the impact and wonder of the original and turned an epic story of discovery into a tedious (and mildly racist and sexist IMHO) interpersonal drama that wasn't even good at being that.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
В „Рама II” имаше това, което ми липсваше в „Среща с Рама“ – хората, и по-точно човешкото. В първата част действието сякаш се развиваше в един утопичен свят, където единствената задача на хората е събирането на информация относно космическия кораб „Рама“.
Във втората част се повтаря същото действие. Космически кораб пристига в близост до Земята, и група учени са изпратени да съберат информация. Къде е разликата? Разликата не е в „Рама“, тя е в хората. Във втората част Земята е по-скоро дистопичен свят поради кризата, в която се намира. Тази криза се отразява и на начина на възприемане на „Рама“. Докато в „Среща с Рама“ човечеството е изпълнено с любопитство спрямо този обект, то в „Рама II“ хората се страхуват от него. Другата съществена разлика е екипажът, на който му е възложена задача събере информация от кораба. В първата част екипажът работи в екип, и следва една обща цел. Но по съвсем различен начин стоят нещата в продължението. Членовете на второто посещение на „Рама“ са много по-себични. Те се водят от собствени цели, които нямат нищо общо с мисията, която трябва да изпълнят.
Това, което на мен ми направи впечатление е, че как при едно и също явление, нагласите в хората са движещия фактор при взимане на решение за това, как да се реши проблемът.
Във втората част се повтаря същото действие. Космически кораб пристига в близост до Земята, и група учени са изпратени да съберат информация. Къде е разликата? Разликата не е в „Рама“, тя е в хората. Във втората част Земята е по-скоро дистопичен свят поради кризата, в която се намира. Тази криза се отразява и на начина на възприемане на „Рама“. Докато в „Среща с Рама“ човечеството е изпълнено с любопитство спрямо този обект, то в „Рама II“ хората се страхуват от него. Другата съществена разлика е екипажът, на който му е възложена задача събере информация от кораба. В първата част екипажът работи в екип, и следва една обща цел. Но по съвсем различен начин стоят нещата в продължението. Членовете на второто посещение на „Рама“ са много по-себични. Те се водят от собствени цели, които нямат нищо общо с мисията, която трябва да изпълнят.
Това, което на мен ми направи впечатление е, че как при едно и също явление, нагласите в хората са движещия фактор при взимане на решение за това, как да се реши проблемът.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a 1989 sequel to Arthur C. Clarke's 1973 novel Rendevous with Rama. That book put you inside a mysterious and awe-inspiring alien spacecraft. But it lacked characterization.
Enter Rama II with a cast that includes:
Enter Rama II with a cast that includes:
- A mixed race life science officer, Nicole des Jardins, who was a former Olympic champion that rubbed elbows (and more) with royalty.
- The narcissistic head science officer Dr. David Brown.
- The nothing- gets-in-her-way, uber-ambitious, and sexy reporter Francesca Sabatini.
There is also an ethically conflicted Catholic general, a Shakespeare loving engineer, a Japanese scientist with a heart defect and assorted other characters on the crew.
There were surprises in the plot, such as an unexpected course correction, discovery of human artifacts, and living creatures. I would sometimes pause and try to predict what would come next. To my delight, I was often wrong. There was tension within the crew driven by personality conflicts and ego. Again, nice change from Rendevous with Rama.
There were surprises in the plot, such as an unexpected course correction, discovery of human artifacts, and living creatures. I would sometimes pause and try to predict what would come next. To my delight, I was often wrong. There was tension within the crew driven by personality conflicts and ego. Again, nice change from Rendevous with Rama.
However, when reading this novel, it’s helpful to know that the principal writer, Gentry Lee, is a space engineer and scientist by trade (Mr. Clarke acted as an advisor). The writing is good but not elegant. For example, there was too much internal monologue that often felt intrusive. Personally, I feel indirect discourse would have been more effective in conveying the thought and emotion. Physical interactions such as hand holding, hugging, and even sexual intercourse felt sterile. I know the characters felt emotions because the narrator told us, but that deep connection with the reader is missing.
That said, I enjoyed the book even more than Rendevous with Rama. Midway through I adjusted my expectations and didn’t expect to be wowed. The characters, though flat, were interesting and mystery surrounding the ship builders kept me engaged. However, like Rendevous with Rama, those ship builders remain hidden from us the readers. I guess we could find out in the next two books in the series, but I will likely pass on those and explore other books. While a fun read, the ending didn't leave me thirsting for more.
I am obviously in the minority here but I enjoyed this novel... is it even safe to say that I enjoyed it more than the first one? Full review to come. Bought the last 2 books in the series too, even though I'm 100% certain that I will take a break from this series for a while.
A good sequel to the first novel. This one has more character development and less science fiction adventure.