Finished Rendezvous with Rama

I just finished RwR last night and I'm still thinking about the last sentence in the book. This has easily beat any other Clarke book I've ever read ( maybe I'll have to re-read 2001). The thing I liked so much about the book was the pacing. A few of the other Clarke books I've read had some teadious moments that I felt I had to get through and sometimes the pay off wasnt worth it. This book always had something going on. Reading it at night was a joy because each chapter added something and gave you something to look foreword to.

Caution: Spoilers!

Reading RWR was like looking up at the sky and feeling small. The conclusion of the book is that Rama wasnt sent to earth it was mearly passing through on its way to someplace else. What a small feeling to know that there are other life forms out there and they either dont know about you or dont care. It's quite an interesting look at how we might meet an other race someday. I rather like it because it takes our Ego out of the way. To the Rama's we just arent important. In every other sort of first contact kind of situation we are either the ones being contacted or attacked and in both situations we are significant.

There was a real sense of wonder throught out the book. Which was a real pleasure to read. Each character in the story added to perection of what was around them. Now not all the characters are well rounded or even fully explored. You mostly see the story from the captains perspective. It's that kind of wonder that would be difficult to capture on film. But in a book it's wonderfully spacious. That's the trick to 2001 is that the monolith is so foreign to us it's hard to give it a frame of reference. but in Rama we see things that are familar just in a very different place.

I would consider this to be the Clarke book to read and I would recomend it to anybody looking for a fun book. It's not that long and it reads pretty quick. So if you are so inclined, give it a shot and let me know what you think.