Teaser

Our solar system has many asteroids, but none like Rama. Coming from beyond the Kuiper Belt, Rama is only passing through, leaving only a small window of opportunity for study before it is gone forever . . .

Review

Well, it took me all of his short fiction, a co-written work with Stephen Baxter, and seven solo novels, but I’ve finally done it. I’ve found the reason Arthur C. Clarke is so highly regarded in the world of science fiction. I’ve had a very hit-and-miss reaction to Clarke’s body of work, but Rendezvous with Rama is far and away the best of his books that I’ve read. I’m not the only one who thinks so. It won the best novel award at the Hugos, Nebula, BSFA, Locus, and John W. Campbell Memorial ceremonies, making it the Best Novel of every major SF literary award running at the time. Even if you don’t follow award ceremonies closely, that’s an undeniably successful book.

Rendezvous with Rama is one of those stories that’s so famous I couldn’t help but have some idea of what the plot is. A massive alien object enters the solar system, and is predicted to continue until it leaves again. A small group of astronauts are able to land on the object and use their limited time to make a study. That’s all the novel is about. It’s an exploration of an alien megastructure that essentially set the template for what some people call the BDO (Big Dumb Object) genre. Coming to Rendezvous with Rama fifty-two years after publication, and having read countless SF books since then, I can’t help but draw parallels with other, equally well-known books. Greg Bear’s Eon (1986) now strikes me as a pale imitation of Rama, while the exploration and scientific joy of Clarke’s work is easily superior to Larry Niven’s Ringworld (1970).

Like a lot of stories from its time, Rendezvous with Rama is a book based on ideas. It’s a hard SF exploration of an impossible alien object. Or is it impossible? Clarke has always been good at writing realistic space travel, and Rama itself is on another scale altogether. It’s a vessel measure in miles, and with entire cities and oceans held within. It’s one of the earlier versions of an O’Neill cylinder I’ve seen in fiction, which is fascinating in and of itself, but even so it’s a great example. People sometimes think SF is all about concrete evidence and explanations, but Rendezvous with Rama leaves a lot left to the imagination. We never know for sure what the Ramans looked like, or why they built Rama. All we get is a glimpse of a universe much larger than we previously imagined. It’s not always true that the question is more interesting than the answer, but this is as an excellent example of just such a phenomenon. It’s a book that leaves you satisfied, but still deep in thought.

This is all stuff I sort of expected, in one form or another. But there’s a lot more to go alongside that. There’s some politics that feels quietly influential on modern space operas like The Expanse, with Earth and Moon and Mars and, somewhat surprisingly, Mercury all in contention for political power. There are subtle hints of future sports and cultural endeavours that are only occasionally relevant to the plot. There’s a shockingly positive portrayal of polygamous relationships, which feels like the fringes of the New Wave of Science Fiction brushing against the otherwise fairly traditional Clarke saga of exploration. Though combined with 2001‘s Star-Child, perhaps his reputation as a master of technological prophecy has overshadowed a more interesting approach to social studies.

This is one case where I’m in total agreement with the major SF Awards. Clarke wrote a mixed bag of books, but this really is the cream of the crop. if you read only one Arthur C. Clarke novel in your life, make sure it’s Rendezvous with Rama.

Audio Stats

• Narrated by Toby Longworth
• Rama Series #1
• First Published 1973
• Runtime 7hrs 21 mins