Rating: 
Summary: Takes a bit of willpower to finish
Review: It's not that I thought this book was awful, it's just that it didn't have much in it that I found very good. The original Rendezvous with Rama is a classic, filled with an environment that makes you wonder about the alien intelligence and crave for more.These sequels, on the contrary, are set in the same "universe" but center around some Jerry Springer-esque quarrels amongst all the various humans. The notion that this has anything to do with Rama or aliens is secondary (or even tertiary) to the plot. In this installment, there are fleeting bits of the original wonder as the characters visit the "Node" and again when Richard visits the mysterious other dome towards the end. Sadly, this doesn't constitute very much of the overall book itself. There are also some references that hit the reader with all the subtlety of an anvil to the head: the AIDS-like RV41 virus, Nicole's impending martyrdom and the constant (and fleeting) references to her heroes Joan of Arc and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the groaner where someone confuses Richard with Jesus. Social and religious commentary are the main themes of this book (as they were in Rama II). Science fiction is merely (and IMHO unfortunately) a backdrop.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Dreadful
Review: Tedious, boring, endless. This book goes over and over the same agonizing territory, and it can do that easily because it is impossibly long. Nicole, the heroine, is an impossible jerk. She gets an acute attack of hot pants while on board a 12(?) year space ship voyage. As far as I can figure out, that is ALL the book is about. It is torture. If you hate somebody give them this book.
Rating:
Summary: Want to get ripped off? Buy this book
Review: Want to get ripped off? Buy this book. The original book in this series was very good-close to a classic. One of the few criticisms one could make of it was it was so transparently commercially manipulative was clear more books were on the way and this was as much--if not more--a money making exercise as an artistic one. But the book was good and this trilogy thing has apparently become a (bad) habit in the sci-fi world, so you give people a little leeway. Or I did till the second book, Rama II came out. If you read the first book then read Rama II, one thing is brutally clear-the books were written by different people. Clearly this book should have read "By Gentry Lee, based on the ideas of Arthur C. Clark. The 2nd book was awful-the worst sort of 4th rate pulp sci-fi fiction. Sex and sensationalism replaced sci-fi as the driving force of the book. It advanced the readers understanding of the Raman'-their form, ideas, intentions, etc.--not one whit. So why did I venture into this book? I thought that Clarke might just possibly have been sufficiently chagrined by the harsh criticism Rama II got to try to get back on track and provide a sequel worthy of the first book. Unbelievebly, this book is even worse than Rama II. Much, much worse. I won't even bother with a plot or character analysis. I really don't want anyone to even remotely think that there's anything here worth reading. It's sad to see a giant of the genre sell out but I can think of no other explanation for these recent abominations. Save your money. This book is worse than trash.
Rating:
Summary: more of the boring same
Review: This continues the continuation. It gives details of the ship, keeping its purpose a mystery and developing the personalities in depressingly predictable ways. It is not bad, but it simply fails to meet the mark of Clarke's solo works, which means either that his powers are failing or the co-author is doing the work. If you are a purist and serious sci-fi fan, don't bother with this. But if you are looking for a pretty good read that continues a story without surprises, this is OK. But it is only OK. I was profoundly disappointed with this, as with all of Clarke's sequels (with the exception of 2010 Space Od.) It is simply an insipid logical extension and you feel contantly that the author(s) are groping to extend it in an interesting way. I wish they didn't write this. If you are after real quality, don't get it.
Rating: 
Summary: Garden of Rama - not as bad as everyone thinks
Review: I enjoyed the first two Rama books. I was frustrated by the lack of completion on some of the characters of Rama II and after reading some of the reviews here, I almost didn't purchase Garden. It was very different from the first 2. We learn a significant amount about the mission and technology of the creators. This book in particular makes you think about the significance of our actions and how they can play out over time. Also a lot of Karma is explored. It gets a bit boaring near the middle with what seems like overly indepth character introductions but they turn out to be appropriate and important. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: A Betrayal
Review: This book is terrible; it betrays the majesty of Authur Clark's Rendezvous with Rama.
Rating:
Summary: Oh why can't I choose a lower rating for this junk?
Review: As people who might have read some of my reviews probably noticed - I have this really bad case against sequels - they always seem to have too many facts of the first book restricting them, and too much to live up to. This sequel is no different. I could give Rama 2 some credit for trying to fix some problems that were in the original book, and it did try to be different, as bad as the result was. This junk is even worse! We are finally destined to meet the makers of Rama, and a bunch of other aliens besides, and are exposed to some REALLY advanced technology. Wow! Then we head back to earth to pick up 200 other human 'specimen'. At first all goes well under Nicole's leadership, but since the human society is so diverse crime evolves, and the criminals take over the habitat, and Nicole's family is put in jeopardy. The last scene in this book is her escape from jail the morning beore her execution. Why read this book? We do learn a little more about Rama, about the aliens we already know, and about the ones we don't know, and get quite a big helping of the blah blah I resented so much in Rama 2 (again - this is an unfimiliar theme in other AC Clarke books - so I guess it has something to do with Gentry Lee joining in?) This book was a waste of my time and money, and I think it is a waste of yours too.
Rating:
Summary: Shocked by the good reviews
Review: I agree with those that panned this book, and I also have to agree that I thought I was getting a book written by the esteemed Arthur C Clark. Either Sir Clark has lost it, or it was written by someone else. The book has a lot of promise but squanders it, and resolves nothing. Also, the plot (especially regarding the extreme stupidity of the colonists) is not believable.
Rating:
Summary: I don't know how I finished it
Review: I enjoyed the first book tremendously, but the second book was ok, this book was just .... The first half was ok, I wanted to finished the series to see what happens, but the second half is .... Either Clarke was drunk, or he let Gentry Lee write it. It's the same style were 'Aggresiveness' on the part of the cosmonauts is looked down on, that all of them are magically passive and peaceful except for a few. In Rama II Francesca Sabatini was a horrible character and Clarke or Lee ler he slip away without any kind of confrontation with the other cosmanuauts that would make the sotry worth reading. Even in Garden of Rama it is revealed she gets away with everything, not only was this boring, it made the book unrealistic or entertaining. How Clarke or Lee wrote the second half of the book is beyond me, its basically 'Bad guy gets rid of interesting characters, rules world, but is stupid enough to let the main guys live, and the population of that place is naturally passive and stupid'. Grrrrrrrr, Nicole was the main problem for Nakamura, no one liked her anymore and was stupid not to have her executed immediately. Thats about it.... also, ignore all chapters regarding Nicole and her heritage or dreams, its boring and must have been written by Lee because Clarke could not have written that pure dribble. The only way I will finish the last book is because I'm flying home ona 4 hour ride. God, if Rama Revealed is anyworse I'll just leave it on the plane and get a cocktail. AS the books go, I suspect Rama Revealed will be even worse.
Rating:
Summary: Bait-and-Switch
Review: Arthur C. Clarke essentially leased out his good name to Gentry Lee for the Rama books that followed "Rendevouz with Rama." Instead of Clarke's spare, elegant prose, Lee's Rama novels are bad pulp fiction in a need of a good edit and a good idea. "Garden of Rama" is the worst of the trio. There are multitudinous descriptions of weird creatures and physical spaces and a complicated plot but no real content. The dialogue between characters is sophomoric. I thought I bought a novel by the author of "Childhood's End" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" but it turned out to be bait-and-switch. Clarke's involvement with this book was undoubtedly relegated to cashing the publisher's checks.
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