Rating: 
Summary: A lesser Rama
Review: Something - or someone - was a little out of focus here. I had expected a continuation of the extraordinary saga started in RAMA but instead the story seems diminished. It appears that Clarke (or Lee - they have combined on other books) could not find a way to explore the lives of the earthly characters without losing the sense of wonder on the alien beings. Some of the events in the lives of these characters also seemed rather mundane for such an epic occurrence. Here's hoping that the focus will revert to the correct source.
Rating:
Summary: A weaker. . .
Review: . . .yet still enjoyable book based on the scenario presented in "Rendevouz with Rama". Another "Rama" style spacecraft has been sighted. A manned mission, with 12 members from various nations and walks of life, meets the craft. Much of the book deals with the reactions the various crewmembers have toward the ship -- and with the interpersonal relationships on board. There is quite a bit of religious and philosophical speculation which some readers will find off-putting. Clarke and Lee ask some interesting questions, but really don't seem to have the theological background to pull them off. The book is designed to be the first of three, and thus the irritation of the rather abrupt ending is somewhat mitigated. 3 1/2 stars, rounded up, because I was entertained -- not because of any brilliance.
Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed it, it isn't rubbish like everyone says!!!
Review: This review covers the three books "Rama II", "Garden of Rama" and "Rama revealed". Arthur C. Clark has done it again, and with help from rocket scientist Gentry Lee. What I noticed when I first read the reviews from other people, is that they all think the book(s) is/are a waste of time and are treated as garbage. I, for one, was rather annoyed because I read the books last summer vacation, and I spent only a week to read Rama II from beginning to end. Garden of Rama (my favourite) and Rama revealed followed very soon. Rama II begins with the announcement of the second Raman spacecraft, 70 years after the first. By then, the Great Chaos has struck, because mankind thought Rama II would appear not long after the first. Disaster struck, and the world lived in misery for years on end. But finally, Rama II has come, and this time, world's most gifted astronauts are off to rendezvous with the giant cylinder once again.
The first part is rather uninteresting. The character design of Lee has prevailed here, and the most important characters are being tracked to know more of their lives: The Italian reporter and femme fatale Francesca Sabatini, Afro-American life-science officer Nicole des Jardins (main character in all 3 books) and Technician and Christian Michael O'Toole. The Scientific Engineer Richard Wakefield is also very important, but you don't read anything about him. After that, Rama finally gets into the picture. You read a lot about the perils of Rama, adventures of Nicole des Jardins and how Nicole, Richard and Michael finally stay behind in Rama. This is where Garden of Rama gets involved. The trio sets off into space, not knowing where they are heading. Nicole and Richard get kids, and not a few also. Eventually, they get to the Node, a command centre of the Ramans. There, everyone except Michael and a daughter of Nicole goes back to Earth in the improved Rama to pick up 2000 humans so the Ramans can research their behaviour in their own "habitat". But eventually someone wants power, gets it, and the respect for Nicole and co. is gone. Nicole is held prison, Richard meets avians, and in "Rama revealed" the whole family gets to meet the octospiders, whoohoo! War is in Rama, because the power-wanter doesn't know what to do, and it ends with the interference of the Ramans, and a dying Nicole (age: somewhere in the 80 years) saying: "I understand, and understanding is happiness". Overall, a lot of sci-fi is in it, and I'm sure most people will like it. All the reviewers here just had too high expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: Astonshingly Bad
Review: It's been at least ten years since I read a book by skipping a couple of pages, reading a few lines, skipping a few more pages, reading some lines, and so on. I don't see how you can get through Rama II any other way -- the dialogue is so stilted, the characters are so lame-brained, and the plot so high-school-1980's-politically-correct. Try Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Spare yourself the agony and disappointment!
Review: Man oh man! Since it is now over six months since I finished the series, I can now look back in retrospect. I can honestly say that this is by far the worst series I have ever wasted time reading! The first book, by Clarke alone, was absolutely brilliant! However, this "follow-up" series is just... not. If you like soap opera style books, than you may enjoy this. Gentry Lee spends a LOT of time on each character, introducing them and giving them a detailed back-story. This is normally a good thing, but here it is so over done that it gets extremely annoying. Most of the characters we waste our time reading about are not even in the slightest way essential to the plot! To give you an example of how long-winded the authors' pre-explanations are, the story doesn't actually get moving until well after page 150. They don't even arrive on Rama until nearly halfway through the book! In comparison, Rama I was about one-third the size of this novel, and it accomplished FAR more in it's few pages. (It had to introduce the whole concept of the thing for goodness sakes!) Here, we have an already well-established concept, yet Lee wastes well over half the pages on so-called character development! The problem is that in spite of all this, we really don't care for most of the characters - especially not the main one who takes us through the whole series: Nicole des Jardins. The writing style completely changes from book to book as well. In this one (Rama II), each chapter has a name, similar to Rama I. In the next book, they go by Journal entries for the most part, and in the last they don't even bother with names, they just use numbers for each chapter. I could really go off on how much I loath this book and it's sequels, but I hate reading lengthy reviews myself, so I won't torture you through one either. Suffice it to say that you WILL NOT like this book UNLESS you are a big fan of "Days Of Our Lives" and other soap opera material. Really, it IS that bad!! The only reason why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 was because of some interesting creatures he introduced: Octospiders. Of course, he ruins them in the last book, so don't get your hopes up too high for what they really turn out to be. You WILL be disappointed. My best advice is: Read something else.
Rating:
Summary: quite disappointing
Review: I enjoyed rendevous with rama, and therefore thought I would like this book. No such luck. The writing is really bad and the characters are one dimensional. About 50 pages into it I realized that around 30 pages were missing from the book. I put it down, disgusted, but not disappointed. I'm glad I didn't waste my time finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: Bad and boring.
Review: This book is a mess. If you read RAMA you should avoid this book. Gentry Lee has the skill of a third rate romance writer. He plops in all the drama of a TV soap opera with abandon. How much did Arthur Clarke had to do with this? Who can say but not much since all that made RAMA such a good and interesting book is gone. Silly one dimensional people populate the book and keep doing cringe worthy things thorough. They would seem to be more at home on a NBC movie of the week then in a book like this. I was disappointed that someone could take a simple and classic book like RAMA and mess it up so badly. A shame really.
Rating:
Summary: I want the time back
Review: The longer I think about this book, the dumber I get. The first book (RWR) is a gem; fascinating, innovative, succinct, and it brings to life one of the better sci-fi characters I've come across: a gargantuan spaceship, revealed in fascinating, intricate detail. RWR opened so many doors and left so many interesting questions unanswered that I was utterly astonished to discover that there exists someone so enfeebled (Gentry Lee) as to be able to write a RWR sequel that isn't even remotely interesting. Who made Rama? Where did it come from? What is its course? What are the cities? Are the biots the Ramans? No progress is made on these questions in all gazillion pages. Undertake this book only with a moistened thumb at the ready, because you'll be applying it while skipping through page after page of "character development" that would make Judy Blume readers recoil in disappointment if their hearts hadn't already stopped beating from sheer disintrest. Be prepared to wade through several chapters of religionist thought[provoking bull] between the "action sequences", not something many A.C.C. readers look forward to. Estimated total number of pages related to the exposition of Rama itself: 30/500+
Number of those presenting new information: 6
Number of pointless subplots: 27
Number of those resolved in the book: uhhh... 1? thankfully.
Transparent villains: 3 Just in case you see light at the end of the tunnel, the ending is even dumber. The only reason I finished it was because I just couldn't believe it. And from what I hear, this is the high water mark of the Gentry Lee sequels.
Rating:
Summary: pointless
Review: This was the most pointless book Ive ever read. There is no reason for this novel what so ever. The intrigue and mystery from the first book is no where to be found here and yet the story goes on and on. How can a sequal be double the size of the original anyway? I'll tell you, poor writing and no structure. The whole story seems to be made up as it goes along. There are so many chapters in this book you dont even need to read. I never thought Id come across a poor Clarke novel but Im sure it's not all on his shoulders. There are some pretty interesting things in this book but none of it makes for a better overall book. If you need to read this go right ahead, just dont expect another gem (but maybe a plastic pearl).
Rating:
Summary: True, heart-pounding suspense with a touch of humanity
Review: What a difference a few years can make. Or maybe I should say, what a difference Gentry Lee can make. "Rendezvous with Rama" is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi novels (thus making it one of my all-time favorite novels period), and "Rama II" ranks right up there next to it. While similar in structure to "Rendezvous with Rama", "Rama II" is more humane to its characters, involving us more in the lives of our explorers. The slight changes in the Rama ship create a palpable sense of terror, building steadily to a climax in true cliffhanger style. I had a hard time putting this one down, tearing through the pages with sweaty hands and a pounding heart. One of the most frightening stories I've read in recent years, this one kept me up at night with its vivid depictions of alien imagery. Leaving you thirsty for a sequel, "The Garden of Rama" is sorely disappointing. But as a sequel to an excellent novel, "Rama II" succeeds with flying colors.
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