Rating: 
Summary: Rama - a funny experiment(of future and present)
Review: ......no,no,no it is a nightmare.....then i woke up.....oh oh oh aha the review.... So,the book is like a coin it all depends on a way you turn the books contetext.But its a wonderfull mix of future and present humanity.Its a summer kind reading if you need a book to get rid of boredom and just have a space adventure run for it!
Rating:
Summary: Not too nicey-nice...
Review: The sub-text to the title reads "the ultimate encounter." And this sub-text is appropriate. This is the fourth installment to the Rama series and reads very well, very simply. Two thirds of the book is kept inside the Rama environment and continues the story of Nicole, her husband, and their children, and the political chaos that erupted in The Garden of Rama. It is a return to the spider-like creatures and how Nicole befriends them and learns from them. This book is just as much a statement about the human condition left to its own devices as it is about first contact with aliens in a controlled environment. As soon as the human population becomes statistically large enough, the violent and, and often unintelligent, course of human history begins to repeat itself. What was most interesting to me was the spider creatures and their view of life, intelligence, and social structure. This book takes the old optimistic course that higher aliens are also smarter aliens, and in comparison to them, humans are ignorant and barbaric. And it does appear that humans are indeed this way with the exception of a very few. The Nicole contingency has its own trouble adapting and trusting but eventually sees through their own ignorance and fear. At times this book was a little too simplistic a little too nicey nice. Sometimes the dialog bordered on adolescent, the characters too contrived and obvious (particularly Max Puckett). But in the end there was death and grit and even to a small degree betrayal. In the end Rama is finally revealed. The aliens are benevolent and vastly smarter than anything we can imagine. The authors seem to try and appease even the religious readers in making the ultimate alien encounter be God. There is not an overabundance of science to make this a hard sci-fi story. It is optimistic with enough pain thrown in to make it less hokey. The way it's written makes the story almost universal in its accessibility to all readers. I was particularly touched by the slow but sure course Nicole took to her own death. I thought in this context it was very real and made me think about how I would want to leave my final days. In all, this is a warm story filled with great imaginings and hope. It is very much the Arthur C. Clarke that millions of sci-fi readers have grownup with. It's a comfort book even though it brought me to anger at times for how stupid some of the characters could be. And I suppose that's really how it is. Humans are incredibly ignorant. Frustratingly so when you consider the arrogance that often accompanies this ignorance.
Rating: 
Summary: Not with a bang, but with a wimper?
Review: The conclusion to the Rama series, like many of the better works of science fiction, leaves us with many questions, but seems to answer the basics. Rama is more or less "revealed" in this last chapter, so for those who were worried about being left cold, don't. However, as other criticism has indicated, there is a fair amout of cliche in the story working up to the end. However, the cliche elements could have been a part of the overall design of the series, leading up to the ultimate questions regarding Rama, the Node, and their missions. A person, in short, reads a large amount of story essentially to wind up at the last few chapters... a fair amount of drugery when looked back upon, but perhaps worth it in the end. For those uncertain about whether they want to spend the time reading the last 600 pages of the series, the only answer I can give is this: you've come this far, why stop now? 600 pages, by the way, is nothing in the last book. Its a quick read. Nothing too difficult.
Rating: 
Summary: The Excellence of Rama
Review: The whole concept behind this fascinating series is that there is too little that we would know about other alien species to be able to criticize accurately. As the top reviewer has suggested, the dialogue becomes to technical and unrealistic at times. I would agree, except the dialogue itself encompasses a field of study which we could never comprehend. There is not onve of the events in the entire series, including Nakamura, which is not possible, or better yet, not likely to occur had it been a real life situation. This novel is the example of perfection as a conclusion to the most heralded SF series of all time. Do not miss out on this series.
Rating:
Summary: Seek the Node
Review: This one surely makes up for the slightly racy motherhood scenes of "Garden of Rama," and in a big way. If I could only give you one reason to read this book, it would be the Octospiders. Clarke has already lead us on a fairy tale chase of the Ramans, but in this novel, he introduces us to the entire social, economic, and political society of the Octospiders. He has created a whole new race from nothing, complete with strengths and faults that are believable and profound (. . .) Not only does Clarke create a whole new civilization, he creates another also. The Myrmicat/Sessile/Avian triad is another marvel. Read the book and marvel at the genius of Arthur C. Clarke.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Endings Reign
Review: I just set the book down after breathless non-stop reading literally leaping through the last half of the book mezmerised. It was really good.... But, I felt so dissappointed by the ending. That the distributed intelligence that is Rama failed to 'invasively guide' the outcome in spite of the importance of Nicole is/was unthinkable. The book begged at least one extra chapter! Don't leave us hanging like this. Either actually kill the heroine off or rescue her! (Rescue being preferred). With such grave dissappointments I am not sure whther to buy the fourth book or not. Lastly, I really wish I could share my beloved SciFi with my children. But, almost everything I've read in the past six years has NOT neen PG-13. The ending I would love to have seen? The executioners being 300 series biots are deactivared moments before Nicoles execution, and Nakamura in a prideful rage takes the switch himself only to discover that Rama has redirected all power to the switch itself instantly vaporising the tyrant!
Rating:
Summary: one of the better books ive read in the past 2 years
Review: great book even though it diddnt go into as much detail as i would have liked.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great work
Review: Arthur C. Clarke has done it again. I really enjoyed this book. I thought something between Max and Eponine would spark. I thought the end was amazing, when Nicole is reunited with Simone and Micheal O'Toole. I'm 13 and I loved the last three books in the series
Rating:
Summary: POW!
Review: I thought I'd spew a few unintelligent words on the breadth of the book. Science fiction fans will like; but if you're only looking for ray guns and little green men you'll be snoozing after page one. If you are a human human (as many say people person), read the book and watch the cancers grow out of your brains!...this book is healthy bacteria! Please read steadily...
Rating: 
Summary: Hairy chest.
Review: Wow. Astonishing. After the hideousness that was RamaII, and the horid mess calling itself 'Garden of Rama', Gentry Lee has managed to amaze us all by releasing an even larger pile of claptrap. Lawks. From the amount of words he has committed to paper over the last few years you'd think the guy would have learned how to write, plot, characterize, basic dialogue. Apparently not. What is even more astonishing is that this piece of drivel has an average 4 star rating on Amazon. Perhaps this says something about the state of sci-fi today. I don't know, and I'm not going to speculate. The plot : Rama returns to Earth bearing the paragon of vitue Nicole Des Jardins, her hubby and some of her children. They pick up a bunch of people, who happen to be criminals, and go back to Rama Central. Ensuing complications. Poor character development. Atrocious plotting. Ack. For those who don't throw the book into the fire after the first five pages, trust me, it only goes downhill. My real regret is that I have spent a significant portion of my leisure time over the past week reading these 3 books. AP
| 
