Rating: 
Summary: Generally I felt it was a fun, quick, interesting read.
Review: Overall I don't think this is some amazing book, but it was a really fast, fun, and quick read. I must have read the book in 2 hours, and found it to be quite fun to get into the minds of the various characters of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: 98% Soap Opera, 2% Science Fiction - Pass It Up
Review: Pass up this book and buy another one of Arthur C. Clarke's books that has a general review rating of 5 stars. Sadly I wasted my time reading this book only to find that it was 98% soap opera and 2% science. The people that say don't bother with reading this really know what they're saying.
Rating:
Summary: This book will cradle your interest to the very end.
Review: The book has a great detail that leads to diffrent conections in the book. It has a great ending that is very unexspectedand gives you another perspective on alien life forms. The books climax is towards the end which gives it an unusal twist which makes it exciting. This book is definitely on my top ten list. The book has very few mistakes. It has to many details that are needed and the book would have went by a lot faster and been more exciting if these details weren't in the story. The book also starts out very slowly making it hard to get into. Once you start getting into the climax of the book you won't want to put it down till the last page making it a real winner. I feel this is a real good book if you like science fiction. Even though the alien type creatures don't get introduced until the second half the book is still very good. The book is slow till about the middle but once you start reading it you won't want to put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: A bitter disappointment
Review: The book is simply too long (almost double than tha needed pages). Tha tale articulates in 3 different paths who merely cross at the end, not developing enough the single characters. What about the religious craziness of the Commander ? Lieutenenat Todd who is he ? The speech of Nick Williams to Alien MACHINES convincing them not to fulfill tehir duty is ridiculous
Rating: 
Summary: it's too much tv-like adventure and nearly no SF
Review: The difference between Clarke and Lee evidently: Clarke wrote the sf-components and Lee wrote the soap opera part. And this mixage is terrible! There are a few nice parts at the beginning and under the sea but no more... Clarke shouldn't write with Lee...forget it
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting ideas but cookie-cutter characters
Review: There is a piece Star Trek lore that states a race of beings called the Preservers went through the galaxy picking up semi-intellegent life and planting them around the galaxy to protect them from extinction/war/meteors. Spielberg's ET is essentially this same idea, and it's the idea behind this novel, Cradle. In fact, these same authors explore the same territory to better effect in their Rama series. So why read this book?Frankly, it is inferior to the Rama series. The plot mostly focusses on a reporter trying to find a test missile she suspects was lost on a test flight. The navy, naturally, wants to prevent word of this leaking out, so are also searching for the missile. One of the absurdities of the book is that the reporter finds the missile site so easily when the navy has been looking for weeks (?) with more resources and information. There are similar absurdities throughout the book. In addition, the characters are laughably 2-dimensional, all defined by some life-altering mental or physical trauma that took place years before. Thirdly and most annoyingly, great detail is taken to explain the details of alien manufacture without telling the reader what they are assembling, so the reader must wade through 4 pages of alien automatons attaching sticks together to discover that they are building an antenna. It's really trying on the reader's patience! And yet I couldn't help but enjoy the book. The pacing is quick, the writing is usually loose and flowing (with the exception noted above), and it's an easy read. It's not nearly as good as the Rama series, but more enjoyable than much of what's out there in science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: This book does not do justice to Clarke
Review: This book does not do justice to Clarke I don't recommend this book I thought it was boring. The content of science fiction was so low it can hardly be classified as science fiction. If you want to read good science fiction I recommend: 2001 (Clarke), Rendezvous with Rama (Clarke), and The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury).
Rating: 
Summary: This is the best book I have read in a long time!
Review: This book is a must read if you love science fiction or if you love reading in general. If you like plot twists, comedy, and adventure you have it all in one book. I enjoyed this work and I am looking forward to reading some more of their work.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time.
Review: This book was very hard to follow. There was no cohesion between plot, characters, or story line.
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I read the whole thing.
Review: This is one of the stupidest books I have ever read, and I have read hundreds of science fiction novels. I kept thinking it would get better as I read farther into it, but it never did, and the ending was the worst part.
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