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Summary: More "Variation on a Theme" than anything...
Review: Clarke and Lee have produced a trilogy which, rather than reproducing "Rendezvous with Rama", expands on and then departs from the original novel. The primary feature of the trilogy is a constant sense of wonder: what the hell is going on, behind the scenes in Rama?The lead character is interesting but a bit pious for my tastes; Richard (the male love interest) is fascinating, however. But in the end, it is Rama itself that is the star of the book. Unimaginably vast and full of mystery and enigma, Rama is like a haunted house...but instead of ghosts, each new creature offers deeper mystery and greater revelation. I should warn you that the rest of the series is of varying quality -- I found them marvelous, frankly, but that was a long time ago. The books loosely deal, respectively, with "Rama", "People", and "God". But with the escalation of the subject matter, the story moves farther away from the riveting "hard SF" that characterized "Rendezvous" and "Rama II". The second half of the series is a profoundly human story; expect that, and you will sure gain a lot from these books. As for Gentry Lee's additions: I can only say that the books are brisk and well-written, but that longtime Clarke fans may find Lee's prose distasteful.
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Summary: Rama II shines with the richness of great sci-fi & drama
Review: Never have I read a book that includes both a rich and traditional style of sci-fi with stimulating human drama. Rama II far exceeeds "Rendezvous" in its plot and character development. Its reading was a joy.
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Summary: This Book Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book is great. The charcter devopment is good, and so is the sci - fi. Gentry Lee ADDS to Arthur C. Clarke style (this is not true in cradle) anybody who doesn't like this book is, really, an idiot. And if you think this is good wait til you read Garden and Rama Revealed. There even better!!!!!!!
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Summary: Amazingly engaging--can't put it down
Review: The first Rama book (Rendezvous with Rama) only left me hungry for more about this wonderfully orginal and engaging story. This book fulfills that hunger with more fascinating detail, and real characters. I've read where others consider it "soap opera trash," but the emotional aspects of the characters makes it seem more real than the first novel, in my opinion.
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Summary: Much better than the oiginal, in my opinion
Review: The criticisms that some people have written about this book I believe to be unfounded and misguided. Rama II is a masterpiece, and deserved a Hugo or a Nebula award. Does it measure up to RWR? In my opinion, it EXCEEDS its predecessor, but it really depends on what you are looking for. Rama II is definetely worlds apart form RWR. The character development is much more developed (in fact, there was NO charachter development in the original, Arthur C. Clarke is known for this weakness). This character development makes the characters of this sequel seem like real people, not static comic-book charcters. The people in the book have emotions and weaknesses, they are not "robots", like in the first book. This allows you to relate to them more--and doesn't that enhance the reading experience of hard sci-fi? The plot is also much better than RWR. Some people complained that Rama II wasn't exciting, it relied too heavily on the characters personal issues and was thus too long (which MIGHT be true) and therefore boring. I just don't get this. These same people praise RWR, and let's face it, RWR WAS boring! There are few moments of genuine suspense and excitment in that book, but Rama II, to quote a reviewer "offers one surprise after another." This could not be more true. RWR was slow-paced, but the ACTION really begins in this sequel. No, Rama II does not offer much--if any answers about the Ramans. And yes, it is a cliff-hanger. If you were desiring "more of the same", than you won't like this book. Rama II moves forward in the mytery, and if you had strong expectations of something different, such as more slow-paced mystery, and you are not open-minded to anyhing else, than you probably will be dissapointed.
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Summary: Amazing Story..
Review: I love this book, and all it's sequels, and I would recommend it to anyone. However, I believe that Gentry Lee kinda ruins it by diverging into 'soap'opera' sci-fi. A.C Clarke has made an awesome book here.
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Summary: This WAS NOT Arthur Clarke, Thank You
Review: Gentry Lee writes like some desperate pulp magazine serial writer. The only development for the characters is: 1. So-and-so is good/bad 2. I think there is some sort of conflict 2. Some idiots die 3. Some of them do the nasty 4. New characters are introduced; they are bad 5. The book about ends at this point
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Summary: Rama goes from interesting subject to soap opera backdrop!
Review: RWR is one of my favourite books, Rama II was a huge dissapointment. As opposed to being the amazing and mind expanding subject, it became the backdrop for a very ordinary soap opera.
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Summary: The Ramans Are Coming For the Second Time!
Review: Clarke has done it again. Masterfully created. I could not put this book down. Each night I would close it for bed and couldn't wait for the next day like a TV show. His description even gives people without an imagination a view of a totally alien vessel in all its glory!
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Summary: A Slow Beginning to a Wondrous Tale
Review: One of the best known series in all of science fiction, the Rama story is a truly captivating tale that keeps you glued to the pages. Though slow at times, this is a story that no sci-fi fan should miss. It is a story that examines so many aspects of humanity: love, the bonds within family, greed, jealousy, tyranny, determination, moral dilemmas, the environmental and social problems that currently plague our planet, and the hopes and dreams of the future of mankind and how we might react in the face of the unknown wonders that await us as we venture from our cradle here on Earth and into the vastness of space. It is a story that will make you think about your own life and ponder the path that you have chosen over the years. It will make you think both while you are reading and for a long time after you finish. I started out reading "Rendezvous with Rama" earlier this summer and found it to be a very entertaining story. About a year ago, one of my best friends read "Rendezvous" and told me how much he enjoyed it. He then started on "Rama II", but where "Rendezvous" is a short book that can quickly be read straight through, "Rama II" is quite long and the beginning is a bit slow. As my friend began reading it, he complained about how boring it was and stopped after about 100 pages. That's too bad, because what follows is an amazing tale. Given my friend's opinion of "Rama II", plus my previous experience with Clarke and Lee's first joint venture "Cradle", I was very skeptical about "Rama II". Originally I had no plans to read it at all, but after "Rendezvous" I found myself curious about the rest of the tale. It is not exactly a sequel, but rather a new beginning. Now, few readers who have encountered Lee have many good things to say about him. "Cradle" was dreadful and much of his writing would be more at home in a Harlequin Romance novel. But apparently Clarke feels that Lee's perspectives on human nature add to the characters' believability. Perhaps I agree. At times it is too much, but I did find that I knew the characters in "Rama" (though not those in "Cradle") and it added much to my experience. But the bottom line is that I was very skeptical going in and had very low expectations. As I worked my way through "Rama II", my fears seemed to be coming true. There is a great deal of character development that is typically Lee and involves a lot of unnecessary sexual detail, not to mention seemingly having nothing to do with the story. But I was determined to move on through the book and see where it would lead. In the last quarter of "Rama II" the story begins to get very interesting and by the end I found myself wanting more. As it turned out, all of the seemingly meaningless details of the characters lives turned out to be quite important in the end. This may seem obvious to some, but it was not the case with "Cradle", and so I was not certain that Lee was leading me up to something meaningful. Taken alone, this book may seem like just a lot of detailed character development, often of the type seen on daytime television, simply grafted onto the original "Rendezvous" premise. But you must keep in mind that this is only about 25% of the overall story and in that sense it serves its purpose well. I have heard many readers complain that the ending was just a ploy to make money, that it screamed 'buy my sequel!' Come on. Give the authors the freedom to write. This was not just a ploy to make money. Would you want to carry around an 1,800-page book or would you rather read three that are in the 500- to 600-page range? If you want an example of multi-book money making schemes, take a look at Peter David's 4-book "Star Trek: New Frontier" introduction where each book was around 150 pages or Steven King's 6-book "The Green Mile". Another complaint that I have heard is that the story is not science fiction because it is filled with violence, sex, and emotional issues. This is what science fiction is about. Science fiction at its best is a journey into human nature. Violence, sex, and emotional issues. It doesn't get any more human than that. This is not a perfect book, and it will not keep you riveted until you get close to the end. The plot often seems to be going nowhere and Lee sometimes gets carried away with too many unnecessary sexual details. But my advice is to read this book, and not just the end but the entire thing. While it may seem boring for much of the first three-quarters, if you don't read this part you'll really wish you had later on and you will have missed out on much of one of the most captivating stories ever. This is not a book that has a plot setup in the beginning, developed in the middle, and resolved at the end. If you are looking for this then you will be disappointed. To get that you must read the next two books as well. This is the beginning of a very long story that spans the entire lifetime of the characters. If you take it as that, then you're in for a treat. If you are young and are looking for an action-oriented, simple sci-fi story and cannot yet appreciate a serious examinations of human nature, then you will not enjoy the Rama story. But if you have a family, have ever been deeply in love, or are concerned about what we are doing to ourselves as a species, then this story will make you think.
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