Rating: 
Summary: Must be early Gentry Lee
Review: I had a very hard time with this book. I was quite confused, as I had read the whole Rama series as they came out. While perusing lists for something to read, I came across Cradle.The beginning vignette about the "zoo craft" was, IMHO, written moderately well, but as soon as Carol comes on the scene, it gets very, well, amatuerish. I even went back and reviewed the Rama books, thinking that maybe I had read them so long ago that maybe they [were bad] then, but no, alas, they were (mostly) well constructed plots, with characters with whom I could relate, and relatively few confusing sections. Rama (original) did seem quite different from the others, but that made sense, since Clarke did the original in 1979 (or so, I think), and Lee came on with Rama II. The opening vignette in Cradle seemed as if it were written by a totally different author, then shipped across the sea to another author who finished the rest of the book. Then, it dawned on me, Cradle was either a) Written by an amateur author (Gentry Lee), with very little involvement with Clarke, or b) written by an entirely different author than the Rama series, again with little Clarke influence. The constant switching "mindpoints" (where in one paragraph you hear what Carol is thinking, then the very next sentence you hear what Nick is thinking) is a typical early "learning writer" syndrome. There is a lot of "telling" instead of "showing". The plot points are haphazardly structured throughout, with interesting tidbits thrown in here and there without an uberpurpose. I felt throughout the whole novel that it might not go anywhere, and sho-nuff, it really didn't. In the Rama II and beyond series, these problems are significantly improved, and show levels of improvement over the evolution of the series. My hypothesis supported conclusion "A" above. I thought it might just be me, and I was too critical (since I am learning about crafting novels and writing, and checking how well-written novels are crafted), so I looked on Amazon to see what others had said. A majority didn't rate this book well either, for reasons I primarily agree with. I then looked at when the books came out, and realized that Cradle came out in 1989, Rama II in 1990, Garden in 1992, and Revealed in 1995. So, my conclusion is that this is the work of an early, learning writer. I gave it a mercy 2 stars, not 1, because it is an early work, and (presumably) Lee has improved significantly, but I've certainly read better.
Rating:
Summary: Must be early Gentry Lee
Review: I had a very hard time with this book. I was quite confused, as I had read the whole Rama series as they came out. While perusing lists for something to read, I came across Cradle. The beginning vignette about the "zoo craft" was, IMHO, written moderately well, but as soon as Carol comes on the scene, it gets very, well, amatuerish. I even went back and reviewed the Rama books, thinking that maybe I had read them so long ago that maybe they [were bad] then, but no, alas, they were (mostly) well constructed plots, with characters with whom I could relate, and relatively few confusing sections. Rama (original) did seem quite different from the others, but that made sense, since Clarke did the original in 1979 (or so, I think), and Lee came on with Rama II. The opening vignette in Cradle seemed as if it were written by a totally different author, then shipped across the sea to another author who finished the rest of the book. Then, it dawned on me, Cradle was either a) Written by an amateur author (Gentry Lee), with very little involvement with Clarke, or b) written by an entirely different author than the Rama series, again with little Clarke influence. The constant switching "mindpoints" (where in one paragraph you hear what Carol is thinking, then the very next sentence you hear what Nick is thinking) is a typical early "learning writer" syndrome. There is a lot of "telling" instead of "showing". The plot points are haphazardly structured throughout, with interesting tidbits thrown in here and there without an uberpurpose. I felt throughout the whole novel that it might not go anywhere, and sho-nuff, it really didn't. In the Rama II and beyond series, these problems are significantly improved, and show levels of improvement over the evolution of the series. My hypothesis supported conclusion "A" above. I thought it might just be me, and I was too critical (since I am learning about crafting novels and writing, and checking how well-written novels are crafted), so I looked on Amazon to see what others had said. A majority didn't rate this book well either, for reasons I primarily agree with. I then looked at when the books came out, and realized that Cradle came out in 1989, Rama II in 1990, Garden in 1992, and Revealed in 1995. So, my conclusion is that this is the work of an early, learning writer. I gave it a mercy 2 stars, not 1, because it is an early work, and (presumably) Lee has improved significantly, but I've certainly read better.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the usual standard
Review: I hate saying unpleasant things about other people's work because I'd hate it if they did it to me, but on this occasion I have to make an exception. Cradle has to be the worst book I've read in ages. The problem lies not in description or character interest but in plot and setting. The whole alien business which is supposedly the subject of the book gets pushed to one side by long soap-opera stories about the pasts of the characters, some of whom actually do virtually nothing to affect the main story (e.g. the naval commander, who turns up at the end after taking little or no active role up till then and suddenly gets made to feel good about himself again).Between them, the human characters must have just about every emotional problem known to man! Also, nearly everything to do with the alien ship is obvious to the reader but not to the characters by about halfway throughthanks to the chapters about the aliens, and the one major thing not revealed gets sorted out no problem by the characters after a quick bit of soul-searching. Actually, I have just realised that the whole story resembles nothing more than one of the duller episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Finally, an interesting plotline - the message to the aliens from "Power #2" - is not developed at all. The setting of the novel in the very near future also denies Clarke the chance to use one of his greatest skills - the projection of humankind's future development. This is usually the best aspect of his books and is totally lacking here. Clarke and Lee can do considerably better than this. I have read another of their collaborations, Rama II, which also puts a strong emphasis on character description, but not nearly so much at the expense of plot. If you want to read some good revelatory Clarke material, I would recommend Childhood's End, which is a really ingenious work. Cradle, I am afraid, falls well below his usual standards.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the usual standard
Review: I hate saying unpleasant things about other people's work because I'd hate it if they did it to me, but on this occasion I have to make an exception. Cradle has to be the worst book I've read in ages. The problem lies not in description or character interest but in plot and setting. The whole alien business which is supposedly the subject of the book gets pushed to one side by long soap-opera stories about the pasts of the characters, some of whom actually do virtually nothing to affect the main story (e.g. the naval commander, who turns up at the end after taking little or no active role up till then and suddenly gets made to feel good about himself again).Between them, the human characters must have just about every emotional problem known to man! Also, nearly everything to do with the alien ship is obvious to the reader but not to the characters by about halfway throughthanks to the chapters about the aliens, and the one major thing not revealed gets sorted out no problem by the characters after a quick bit of soul-searching. Actually, I have just realised that the whole story resembles nothing more than one of the duller episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Finally, an interesting plotline - the message to the aliens from "Power #2" - is not developed at all. The setting of the novel in the very near future also denies Clarke the chance to use one of his greatest skills - the projection of humankind's future development. This is usually the best aspect of his books and is totally lacking here. Clarke and Lee can do considerably better than this. I have read another of their collaborations, Rama II, which also puts a strong emphasis on character description, but not nearly so much at the expense of plot. If you want to read some good revelatory Clarke material, I would recommend Childhood's End, which is a really ingenious work. Cradle, I am afraid, falls well below his usual standards.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Clarke's attempts to bring in a co-author.
Review: I have to agree with the other reviewers on this novel, it is not one of Clarke's best.
Obviously riding on the coattails of the Odyssey series of novels, Cradle is a story that they thought they could publish for quick buck.
Read this novel only if you have run out of other Clarke novels and are in desperate need.
Rating: 
Summary: This book has what it takes to keep my attention
Review: I read this book when it first came out back in 1990, and it took me three days to finish it. It was stolen along with my car and because it had held my attention so completely, I just had to go out and buy it again so I could read it once more and add it to my collection. The first pages of Cradle caught me by the immagination, and from then I was hooked. Maybe I'm not as much a hard core sci-fi reader as the rest of these other people are but I didn't seemed to be bogged down a bit in the character development that was assumably Gentry Lee's contribution of the novel. I say that it served its purpose to make the novel more personal. I found myself rooting for our reporter friend and her two co-conspirators that they keep the knowledge of their find away from the treasure hunting "bad guys" for their own sakes, The coincidence that the military would lose on of its missiles in the same vicinity just turned up the heat on the plot. I felt sorry for Winters, that he couldn't escape his own life and duty. I had to read this book twice because I thought it was that good!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not Clark
Review: I think that Clark wanted to show us that he can write about not-tech stuff too. Not bad, when trying, but the plot is a little unconnected. I didn't like it. My advice, try another book, it is not worse than 3001, but almost.
Rating:
Summary: It was grotesque, out of Clarke's style
Review: I was disappointed to read a book by Arthur C. Clarke in
which his finess of style was lost due to the co-authorship
of a scientist who has no such a trait.
I was sorry to read their first venture together in The
Gardens of Rama, and my reading of this "last" novel
confirmed my first impression. I am sorry to say that I will
not buy another book which includes Gentry Lee as an author.
Rating:
Summary: Buy something else
Review: If you like Clarke, do not buy this book or you will be disappointed. If you have not read Clarke before, do not buy the book or you will think that all his novels are like this. There is very little of sci-fi; most of the book delves in the past life of the characters, trying to demonstrate that all of them have some sort of childhood trauma. The Sci-fi part lacks punch, and there is nothing "scary" about the world menace. Do not waste your money; buy something else (Rendezvous with Rama and Songs of Distant Earth for example).
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: It has been a number of years since I read any science fiction, so I decided to play it safe and pick up something by an author with a long and outstanding track record. I chose a real lemon. While the alien sequences are compelling and believable, much of the book is wasted on petty and BORING development of the human characters. I really can't recomnend it. I should have checked the reviews on Amazon before I dropped the bucks for this book.
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