Rendezvous With Rama Review

I first found out about this book because the director of Dune (2021) Denis Villeneuve said he wanted to direct a Rendezvous With Rama film. I am basically a super fanboy of Villeneuve’s work so Rendezvous With Rama got placed on my reading list instantly. Having now read Rendezvous With Rama written by the great Arthur C. Clarke I can say this book would make an amazing film.

If there was one word I would use to describe Rendezvous With Rama it would be “exploration”. You follow a team of astronauts exploring an alien mega ship for the first time. This ship named the Rama is enormous, to say the least. A cylindrical world with islands and mountains making up its interior. The book has some similarities to The Martian by Andy Weir. A strong sense of unknowing is handled by specialized experts in the field. Having finished the book I am left with many questions while also feeling like I was one of the astronauts who explored Rama.

The novel does an amazing job at visual storytelling. I never felt lost or confused by what I was being shown as fantastical as a lot of it was. The sheer sense of scale really shone through here. If I were to call out flaws I would say it's the characters. They all take back seats to the spectacle. If anything I would say the main character is the Rama itself. The ship is really what you are following and want to know more about. What mysteries d0e's the Rama hold? The characters have the same questions you do as the reader and they exist mainly to facilitate trying to answer these questions. They are so forgettable in fact that having literally just finished reading it I can’t remember a single character's name. Yet I think I could work as a tour guide for the Rama.

Final Verdict

Rendezvous With Rama is one of the better books I’ve read this year in general and one of the better sci-fi novels I’ve read overall. It is also a short and easy read. If alien space exploration is your thing then this is something I highly recommend giving a read. Solid 8/10.

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