Rendezvous with Rama

This book is fascinating. It's very much a hallmark of it's time, with a few astronomical inconsistencies now that we know better, but that doesn't detract from it. At it heart, it's about exploring a fascinating space ship from an alien civilization. You, alongside the characters, are left wondering at Rama's purpose, it's inhabitants, and how everything works. The joy of discovery is a central theme for this book. I may not remember the characters or points of the plot years from now, but I will remember Rama.

For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-rendezvous-with-rama-by.html

A promising opening of mysterious object and dry elder academic panel bickering.... oh don't let this be just a cool exploration of the physical properties of this space... in space... with bonus tangential misogyny... oh, the physical properties and some cold-war-commentary at least accelerate... pity for the futuristic anachronisms, 1973 feels closer to Jules Verne than to us.

... that is, it's 50% description of a docking maneuver, and 50% setup for an exciting book.

I guess that makes it one of those books you should read once, but I didn't manage to enjoy it much.

the characters were a bit no-nonsense and technical, but the setting was immensely good