Rama II: The Sequel to Rendezvous with Rama

The bottom line is, this book is good as long as you're one of those people who really enjoyed the first book and want to know what's gonna happen next. I would say that a LOT of the plot is complete ... and, sadly, many of the characters and subplots are completely irrelevent and unnecessary... Frankly, I could have written better. HOWEVER, once I reached the last third of the book, I honestly did find it very engaging and interesting. It was the first two thirds of the book that made it difficult to continue reading... Hope that helps some people when considering this book. I'm getting ready to read Rama III, so here's hoping it's better.

The book was not as entertaining or engaging as I expected it to be. I like the speculation about alien technology and culture. I do not like reading about back stabbing asshats in space unless there are pirates involved - no not metaphorical pirates - REAL pirates. Space pirates. That was a good movie. It had a sense of humor: Space herpes. Now THAT is funny! Nothing about this book was remotely funny. The little Shakespearean robots could have a been comedic gold mine.

Steal this book and then don't read it. You may prevent someone else from accidentally reading it thinking that it would be a good sequel to its predecessor. Not a chance.

Great cover art though!

Far more character development than the previous book in the series, at times I felt it spent too much time delving into the past of the characters while I was really eager to continue with the developing story line of Rama. Still, a great read and a great continuation from the first book.

The first book was great but then he partnered with another writer and they just went nuts. It is so full of touchy feely and way to much information about the characters. It is a big step down from the first book but it was still interesting to find out more about Rama and what its purpose might be.

As many other reviewers have said, this book doesn't seem to have actually been written by Clarke - if it had, it wouldn't be the steaming pile of poo that it is. Rendezvous with Rama was good if not great - but everything that made it thought-provoking has been abandoned in this sequel. I kept reading thinking that somehow it had to get better, because it couldn't get much worse. But then it did....

Even for free, it's not worth it.

Wow, what a huge disappointment. I thought I was buying a SciFi book which was supposedly a followup to Rama. But instead I got a Soap Opera with little contribution to the Rama story. Not even a good Soap Opera at that.

This second book in the series takes quite some time to get going and never hits 6th gear like the first. Too much time is spent elaborating on each character and their past. No real climax in this book. But still a decent read if you enjoyed the first book.

What fun to enjoy the imagination of this great storyteller. A splendid way to experience an adventure in space. Suspend preconceived notions, there are lessons to be imparted. Best to start at the beginning of the series.

Well written. Great pace, wonderful character development.
Too busy to write the coherent review that this excellent oeuvre deserves. We I'll have to write a new review, if possible to append it to this one

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers. Clarke probably got some flak about the cardboard characters encountered in "Rendezvous with Rama". So he decided - with Co-Author Gentry Lee, to flesh out the "human side" the next time he would visit his great idea. (the basic story is one of the greatest I have read- pure and imaginative science fiction. Unfortunately, the author is not quite up to his idea). So he sends us off to the Second Encounter with this unique cylindrical world. The crew Clarke and Lee came up with consists of the most insipid, cliché-ridden types that ever disgraced a science fiction novel. They seem to have come straight out of the worst soap operas. The notion that our civilization has no one else to go to encounter an extraterrestial spaceship is appalling. Who hired tis bunch of lunatics? In dubio pro reo- In Doubt, I`m for the Accused- perhaps it was a statement by the authors. The Earth they show us in RAMA II is not the usual glib and optimistic view of a unified and wealthy planet. Quite a departure for Arthur C. Clarke. It shows a world that just came out of a long depression. Perhaps there REALLY was no one else around to go on this mission. Also interesting: The strong religious overtones. In previous Arthur C. Clarke books, the notion of Religion was sometimes dismissed as "pious gibberish". Clarke always struck me as the typical scientist whose ratio cannot admit the psychological crutch of religion. In secret, he longs for a "supernatural" or "divine" explanation of all the mysteries encountered by the scientists. Here, the basic moral questions- should we destroy the things we don't know or cannot understand? surfaces again. But why does it have to be so heavy-handed? Again: the basic idea is great. Perhaps with todays computer graphics we will see a movie of the RAMA books that can do justice to the concept. I 'm looking forward to it!
Please excuse my English-- I have not used it for a long time.

This book is so-so. Most of it is taken up with family and interpersonal dynamics, which is not what I look for in SF. There is too little about Rama and too much about the troubles and hassles of the characters. I was, frankly, bored with the book after the first third.

...
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 this monstrosity came out.
If you read the first book then read this one, 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 book is awful-the worst sort of 4th rate pulp sci-fi fiction. Sex and sensationalism replace sci-fi as the driving force of the book. It advances the readers understanding of the Raman'-their form, ideas, intentions, etc.--not one whit. It's even a lousy read if you never had exposure to the first novel and were clueless about the whole Rama concept.
It's sad to see a giant of the genre sell out but I can think of no other explanation for this abomination.
Save your money...

This was a disappointment to read. It seemed to be very slow... with little action.
The first book in this series was great.
I did decide to read the third book and it is moving a little faster.

Something - or someone - was a little out of focus here. I had expected a continuation of the extraordinary saga started in RAMA but instead the story seems diminished. It appears that Clarke (or Lee - they have combined on other books) could not find a way to explore the lives of the earthly characters without losing the sense of wonder on the alien beings.
Some of the events in the lives of these characters also seemed rather mundane for such an epic occurrence. Here's hoping that the focus will revert to the correct source.

I used to have a serious reading addiction. I would rush to the local bookstore after work, buy a book and then spend the evening, or even the entire night reading it. For years I was doing this, mostly enjoying science fiction books, including the fantastic Rendezvous With Rama. Everything changed when I came home from the bookstore one day with Rama II. After about sixty pages of this book I threw it at the wall in disgust, and suddenly felt nauseaus at the very thought of reading a book like this one again. Since then I started spending my evenings getting drunk at the local bar and waking up in my own vomit on the street before somehow managing to stagger home and pass out again in my bed, fully clothed. This can be rather uncomfortable on the nights when I also happen to wet my pants, even more so when I wake up too late and forget to change them before hastily having my breakfast beer and rushing to work, but it's still much better than having to read something like Rama II again.

Horrible book that has NONE of the sense of wonder of the original. In fact, the characters don't even get into space until almost page 100! A very dense, overly long soap opera on paper. BORING and a waste of time and money.
The original get's 5 stars, I'd give this one minus 5 if the store allowed.
Of all the books I've ever read, this is one of the rare few that I simply hate.

I agree with Eric below. Unlike Rendezvous, which was a suspenseful, almost magical exploration of an eery, elusive world, the Rama in Rama II is merely a backdrop to transparent, squabbling characters. In addition to Clarke's shallow portrayal of his characters, the unbelievable premise that pits them against one another just adds insult to the injury already inflicted on my strained imagination. Clarke should have stuck to a proven strategy - like in Rama I, keep the characters one dimensional so that they serve as vehicles to reveal the dark secrets of this unfathomable alien world. Rama I was so fascinating because all the engineering and scientific know-how was gathered and singularly applied to this giant, metallic cylinder. As for the characters in Rama II, the intrigue and conflict among them so consumes them that Rama kind of fades into the distance as an afterthought. And anytime the characters' thoughts actually turn to Rama, they usual take some sloppy form of "What are you Rama?" Really a bad book. Please do not read.

Arthur C. Clarke does an excellent job of wrapping a number of different characters and diverse personalities into a story line that is logical and utilizes technologies that are new and current into an interesting novel. The series gives ample opportunity to develop the story line from beginning to end.

After all these personal reviews (it seems that some people find it hard to regard ACC as a regular human being), it's time to neutrally point out the flaws and interesting parts of this book. I am not a regular science fiction-reader, so I'm not really in for the purely technical details. I claim that the plot is far more important than the 'tech stuff', as one reviewer so eloquently described it. The problem with this book is that the authors make too hard an effort to build a mini-world out of the characters in the expedition. I am left utterly unconvinced by them. Whoever would select such a painfully obviously unqualified staff for such an important mission? That being said, a few interesting topics are elaborated, however superficially. Too bad that the issues are handled in a much too non-subtle way. You have to be severely dense not to grasp what the authors are hinting at. In addition, none of it is too controversial. It's not as if you marvel at the creativity displayed here... I find it impossible not to compare this book with its predecessor. The most obvious difference to me is the way moral issues are raised. In the first book, the Rama environment forced human cooperation/interaction. The focus was initially on Rama, but tended to shift to the crew exploring it. Contrary to this, in the second book, the intrigues between the crew are elaborated in a painstakingly 'common' way for what seems an eternity before they even enter Rama. Too borderline to crime/romance/soap, in my opinion. To sum up, stay away if you're looking for interesting visonary fiction (as in the first book).

Terrible book. If you love the clarity and scientific realism of other Arthur C. Clarke books then DON'T read this one. It drones on an on about meaningless relationships for a crew of people that would never be selected to be on any mission. It's just awful.

Too much of the book was about emotions, personal problems, daydreaming back to childhood events and trauma in an effort to fill the required number of pages for the book's romance/sci - fi format. Otherwise some decent sci-fi reading.

After reading the first Rama book by Arthur C. Clark I was thirsty to read the sequel. Even after reading some of the reviews I was still looking forward to it. But after maybe 10 chapters I was bummed. And hurt. And angry. Why would anyone take a masterpiece of science fiction and turn it into a piece of trash. There is no other explanation than the author wanted to cash in on a few bucks by linking this petty soap opera with RAMA. Please do not waste your money on this. It has nothing to do with the first book.

I think that RamaII is by far the BEST of the Rama series. It's easy to read, the characters are believable (and typical) and it really sets up the series to explode with a thousand new ideas and images that make the Rama series so awesome.
I think, after Rendezvous with Rama, Gentry Lee really added a lot to the entire series. Having read his alone book writen in the Rama Universe, Bright Messengers, I can see the differences in Rama II from Rendezvous that makes the difference in the entire series. I cannot imagine the Rama series surviving was it not for Gentry's additions to Clarke's work.
Having said that, read the rest of the books, I'm sure you'll understand that I am saying then.

This book expands a bit on the "Rama" universe; it has some interesting ideas but is bogged down by co-author Gentry Lee's attempt to make the universe 'grim n' gritty'. At times I wonder if he's trying to emulate what Frank Miller did to Batman with the "Dark Knight Returns" storyline in the mid-80s.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from this book; and the sexual content in the series in general seems way higher than you'd expect for an Arthur C. Clarke product.

"Rendezvous With Rama," the first novel in this series, is one of the all-time classics of science fiction, brilliantly capturing the exhilaration of discovery. "Rama II" rivals "Exorcist II: The Heretic" as perhaps the worst sequel ever. It is a bloated windbag of a book that manages to be both pretentious and trivial.
Clarke, who was about as religious as Madalyn O'Hair, somehow let himself be talked into attaching his name to this preachy soap opera, whose climactic sequence features an outer-space baptism. Think of an especially long and tedious episode of "Melrose Place" with Jerry Falwell as a guest star and you'll have a pretty good idea of this travesty.

I find this book boring....too much character development, too little action. I bought it in paperback form, and take it to appts so I have something to do while I am waiting. I'm on page 118 out of 466 and they haven't even 3nt3red Rama yet.

After reading the first book in the series, this one does not feel as powerful. The characters take a stronger lead while the mystery of Rama takes a back seat, and the reader gets the first hint that Rama hides more danger than expected.

I loved Rendezvous and I couldn't wait to read Rama II when I was done. I have just finished reading the book. Overall I liked the book, but there are still many parts that I am upset about. I agree with most of the other reviewers that the book focused way too much on the characters-and too little on Rama as a whole. Who cares about Nicole's porzo and her turning into a bird?--too unrelated too weird. Francesca and her interviews?? The ending was okay, and i am going to say what I thought about it next--so if you dont want to know the ending, don't read the next paragraph.

Anyway, I thought that ending left way too many unanswered questions that left the story incomplete. The main one I had was Why was Rama headed to Earth? Also what was the point of the birds? How could they just leave O'toole there? Wasn't Janos supposed to be supporting O'toole?? And the remaining question What are nicole, richard and otoole gonna do now that they are trapped on a ship that is supposed to continue to travel through space for another thousand or so years. I did like the biots-especially the human ones, and I liked that richard was accually able to communicate to the Ramans or something.

Despite the horrible reviews of the next Rama books, I need to read them anyway. Rama II failed to answer the question of who the Ramans are, and after starting the series, i need to find out.

Just simply an amazing story. Mr Clark does a great job of bringing the reader into the story and along for the ride. The depth of the character development really makes the reader feel that the know the characters personally which makes for a read that I just didn't want to put down.

The first half of the book was quite boring and badly written. It was as if multiple authors who were not Arthur were writing this book, but then Arthur took over in the second half and delivered it. I had stopped reading it multiple times in the first half but am glad that I persevered. I read through the second half in just a couple of sittings - that was gripping. Now onto the the third book - this one managed to retain me as a reader!

It wasn't true to the spirit of the first book. The main character's backstory seemed really far-fetched to me. The fact that characters had elaborate backstories was a surprise from a book with Arthur C. Clarke's name on it. The plot seemed to be moved forward by entirely by characters making irrational decisions.
That being said I read the whole thing, so it was interesting at least

Rama II comes back to the same universe as depicted in Rendezvous With Rama about a hundred years later when a second cylindrical craft approaches the solar system. This time every detail is lovingly described and the characters are given in complete four dimensions. You can literally see the awesome power of Rama behind your eyelids when you blink while reading this and long after. Alien landscapes, and all-too-human beings. Masterpiece.

I read Rendevous With Rama when I was a teenager. ( I won't disclose how long ago that was, but it was right around the initial publishing.) When I recently discovered that there was a whole Rama series, I immediately bought Rama II and expected it to be the same thought provoking and tantalizing Sci-Fi novel that was Rama I. Mostly, however, I was disappointed. Some parts were very engaging and reminded me of the original novel. While reading those chapters (mostly toward the end), I couldn't put it down. But the long periods of soap-opera-like character developement, with characters whose qualities are unbelievable, put a real drag on the overall pace of the story. Kind of like driving a Jaguar at a high rate of speed into a tar pit. My 10 year old son is reading Rz with Rama now, and loves it. It is his first sci fi novel, but I can't recommend Rama II to him. I don't think he would survive the bordom of it, and the unusual (for a Clarke novel) sex and violence sections, would make it inappropriate.

Pretty good, but I liked the original better. If you're familiar with Arthur C. Clarke's earlier writings, you'll see pretty quickly that this was a collaboration. Not better or worse, just a slightly different style.

Arther C Clarke did not write this book. If you want to read Arthur C Clarke, then don't read this book, or its sequels. I must admit I did, because I dont like to leave things half baked. RWR was undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read, and its status as a classic I think is well deserved. I am extremely surprised that Arthur C Clarke would allow such an extreme divergence (to sex, violence and soapy smut) from what has been such a tried and proven formula of success over the years. It is very misleading that these books be sold with a massive "Arthur C Clarke" title with a very minor "Gentry Lee" credit on the covering face. Its clearly an attempt by Gentry Lee (who appears to have impressed Clarke with his Nasa credentials) to rocket his career by using Clarke's name to market his work. Dont get me wrong, I am sure Gentry Lee's style would appeal to a market out there, but lets see how many books he can sell without the "Arthur C ! Clarke" on the front"! Leave it out gentry, and let Arthur get on with it.

I tend to agree with the people putting down this book. Even though it does have it's moments of revelations about Rama, they are just too few.

I bought all 3 Rama sequels expecting more of the great writing from Rendezvous With Rama (RWR). I admit it was a let down. RWR sort of had Rama as the main 'character'. Well, the sequels just plays out in (and around) Rama, but the main characters are the humans now. It's an ok novel with the usual plot of imperfect people, but it isn't an Arthur C. Clarke novel.

If I could I would give it 2½ stars. It's not a great novel, but it does have some reading value. Although I do feel it could have been written in 2 books in stead of 3, with more focus on Rama and less on the humans.

I guess it tries to tell us: Humans still behave like an immature race, no matter what enviroment we are put in.

I am quite certain that a contradiction of this scale will be quite tough to come across . 'Rendevous with Rama ' is , and will always be one of the best books I have read . But the whole 'Rama' series will I am sure be the worst series that I ever read .

I actually feel sorry for A.C.Clarke , that outstanding ( and my favourite ) author , who has his name printed , in jumbo-size , on the cover of this and the other two atrocious Rama books .

He couldn't have had much say in the compilation of these books , surely !!

Whan you think of Clarke , you think of his stylish , almost poetrical prose , his authentic science , and his crisp ,no-nonsense style of writing . These three Rama books lie at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum .

Gentry Lee was the chief engineer of the NASA's 'Galileo' program ' I've heard . Maybe he's a good engineer , because I surely know what he's NOT good at . Any thoughts of a career shift should be rapidly discouraged !!

In brief - Read 'Rendevouz' , and don't go anywhere near the others .

And I still feel the rating I gave this book is one too much ...

Not nearly as good as the first one. Don't even bother with the sequels, just read the first one and be happy with the mystery of Rama. Avoid the ones co-written (ghost-written?) by Gentry Lee as well.

I have been for many years an ardent fan of the authorship of Arthur C. Clarcke and this is my reason for giving this warning.
This book is not Arthur C.Clarke, it is Gentry Lee and the publishers taking advantage of his name to get an utterly inferior line of books marketed.
The plot in the trilogy is slow and tedious. It takes a determined effort to work through the three big volumes.I only finished the job in the hope, that somewhere the genius of Clarcke would break through, but it never happened.
I am sorry, the rating forces me to give one star - I would have preferred a system, where I could give no stars at all.
The final conclusion (which I shall not disclose) is both unrealistic and ridiculous, something which would never be the case in a true Clarcke book

Like many, I loved Clarke's "Rendevous with Rama", so much that I ignored the poor reviews for "Rama II" and the sequels. Surely it can't be that bad, can it? Oh, yes, it can! No, actually, it's worse. If you must, check it out from the library (like I did) so you don't have to waste even a bargain $1.99 deal of the month on it. Believe me, you'll waste hours reading it and won't even get $2 worth of enjoyment from it.

I read Rendezvous with Rama, and then I immediately jumped into Rama II. The first thing I noticed was that Gentry Lee writes and elaborates a lot more than Arthur C. Clark. Also, he spends way too long on trying to develop stupid, simpleminded characters while barely spending any time on the PLOT. Unfortunately, I read onward. Some of the book was interesting, but no thought was given to the facts that perspective changed and so did the view of Rama. The plot goes more and more downhill, and the end parts were really stupid. Although this book stunk, I won't spoil the end. I will just say that the next book is worse.

For a science fiction novel it wasn't bad; for part of the Rama series, I was disappointed. The writing seemed elementary in some parts (in some cases, so did the characters), and boy do I hope that wasn't Clarke's doing because that suggests some pretty severe deterioration. I think any sequel, or series, would have a hard time living up to Rendezvous; what I liked the most about that novel was the uncertainty put into terms I could comprehend--who are, or were, the Ramans? It wasn't sensational, and much less Earthcentric that a lot of science fiction--not only did they not try to conquer Earth, or consider Earth a major threat, Earth was ignored altogether. I got a sense of space and how little we know about what was out there. That said, I couldn't put this one down. I haven't read anything with quite so much interest in a long time. It was worth the paper it was printed on.

Unfortunately I couldn't resist and picked the book up despite what I read in the reviews.

What an epic piece of trash. I can't fathom how the author(s) could have taken such a fertile backdrop of genuinely good (great!) science fiction and decided to tell a completely unbelievable story about a dysfunctional group of prepubescently shallow characters who have somehow been chosen to take part in the most important mission undertaken by humanity in decades. It is the worst concoction of cheap conspiracy theory with reality television personalities.

The majority of reviews already posted regarding the book are spot on and I feel that there isn't much I can add.
So I will say only this: This ruined the amazing original for me. It *is* as bad as the reviews say. Do yourself a favor and skip it.

I'm astonished at all the horrible reviews this book got. Frankly, I don't think it deserves that treatment. I read a LOT of sci-fi...I mean a LOT...it's pretty much all I read. The Rama I book was great but I actually found myself totally intrigued with how this book fleshes out some of the inner workings of Rama. It seems that too many readers here want to lambast the book because the characters ended up finding things that they could actually understand within the Rama universe and not everything was left to the imagination or as "beyond human comprehension" (which is quite cliche).

If you read Rama I...read this book.

I've read the original Rama many years ago, perhaps even when it was released in 1990, but still the story was fresh, deep in my mind, enough to keep me under Rama's spell. Still, this #2 sequel was quite dissimilar, unbalanced, despite being so interesting you can't keep your eyes off off it. There was this character developing concern, but if it offers you at least one or two plausible human beings on one side to the other you have two or three that could never be aboard the military spaceship or even be my neighbours!... Too many flashbacks of the 12th/13th or whatever centuries (! ) and that religious issue that somewhat unfocused our attention off God's marvellous creation: Rama! Looks like half of a book, half a story... needed more and more Rama, but still it's a very catchy tune overall. Onward to The Garden of Rama!

I thought this was a great book! I have a sleep disorder, and it put me right to sleep! The only good thing about the last three books in the series IS NOT THIS BOOK (it's the last one, where I think ACC put his foot down or something)! I think that they should stick Gentry Lee in his Galileo spacecraft and launch it inside the orbit of Venus. The characters were pretty good, but I think that that was because I had played the game (way better than the book) and had learned more about them than I could have in the novel (I was reading in Richard's voice).

This review covers the three books "Rama II", "Garden of Rama" and "Rama revealed". Arthur C. Clark has done it again, and with help from rocket scientist Gentry Lee. What I noticed when I first read the reviews from other people, is that they all think the book(s) is/are a waste of time and are treated as garbage. I, for one, was rather annoyed because I read the books last summer vacation, and I spent only a week to read Rama II from beginning to end. Garden of Rama (my favourite) and Rama revealed followed very soon.
Rama II begins with the announcement of the second Raman spacecraft, 70 years after the first. By then, the Great Chaos has struck, because mankind thought Rama II would appear not long after the first. Disaster struck, and the world lived in misery for years on end. But finally, Rama II has come, and this time, world's most gifted astronauts are off to rendezvous with the giant cylinder once again.
The first part is rather uninteresting. The character design of Lee has prevailed here, and the most important characters are being tracked to know more of their lives: The Italian reporter and femme fatale Francesca Sabatini, Afro-American life-science officer Nicole des Jardins (main character in all 3 books) and Technician and Christian Michael O'Toole. The Scientific Engineer Richard Wakefield is also very important, but you don't read anything about him. After that, Rama finally gets into the picture. You read a lot about the perils of Rama, adventures of Nicole des Jardins and how Nicole, Richard and Michael finally stay behind in Rama. This is where Garden of Rama gets involved. The trio sets off into space, not knowing where they are heading. Nicole and Richard get kids, and not a few also. Eventually, they get to the Node, a command centre of the Ramans. There, everyone except Michael and a daughter of Nicole goes back to Earth in the improved Rama to pick up 2000 humans so the Ramans can research their behaviour in their own "habitat". But eventually someone wants power, gets it, and the respect for Nicole and co. is gone. Nicole is held prison, Richard meets avians, and in "Rama revealed" the whole family gets to meet the octospiders, whoohoo! War is in Rama, because the power-wanter doesn't know what to do, and it ends with the interference of the Ramans, and a dying Nicole (age: somewhere in the 80 years) saying: "I understand, and understanding is happiness".
Overall, a lot of sci-fi is in it, and I'm sure most people will like it. All the reviewers here just had too high expectations.

Fans of science fiction, steer away. Read just Rendezvous with Rama, and pretend the sequels don't exist.

Fans of talky fantasy adventure intermixed with preaching about religion, go right ahead.

This book took everything that was good about the Rendezvous with Rama and clubbed it to death. It was as if someone had said "science is boring, let's put some soap operatic garbage in so that it has more mass appeal". You might like this book if you enjoy reading about sordid personal details, but otherwise skip it.

Rama II is actually a better book than Rendezvous with Rama. The characters and personal situations are more complex. The wonder of
Rama is explored thoroughly if a little late in the book. I would definitely recommend this book. Unfortunately I will not get to read the others as
they are not on Kindle Unlimited.

It's tough to accuse Mr. Clarke of characterization. Despite his huge cannon, even works like 2001 and 2010 render characters on the whole rather flat.
But this isn't a criticism. Clarke is about imagination, and science applied to futuristic vision. And, along with Asimov, at this he is a master.
So, Rendezvous with Rama, is a work of pure imagination. A 'what if'. Hard science re-engineered to an alien world. Rama II on the other hand is a different beast.
Who told Gentry Lee that importing stock cardboard characters, tired cliche plot elements and possibly the worst dialogue ever committed to paper would improve upon the Rama experiance? I think we should be told.
I approach the rest of the series with a certain sense of dread.

This was more humanizing of the astronauts than the first Rama book, but that came at the expense of the pacing and Neat Alien Stuff. Although we wound up with much more Neat Alien Stuff. If you think this book might be your thing, absolutely worth your time.

Look, I can understand why you'd want to read this book. "Rendezvous With Rama" was a gem of a science fiction book. Maybe it was a little short on character development, but with such a wonderful world to explore, who cares? Around every corner of the exploration were wonders... flights over a cylindrical sea, biots, mile-long stairways... Wasn't it great? Didn't you feel like you were reading the journals of explorers who themselves felt like ants in a cathedral? Didn't the whole book just blow your mind?
Well you WON'T find any of those virtues in this book or any of the sequale that follow.
Gentry Lee seems to have been given the seemingly impossible task of making RAMA--a space-bourn Grand Canyob-sized artifact of an alien culture--a boring place. What's his secret? He filled Rama with insipid caricatures straight from a 20th century soap opera.
Remember that heroic group from the first book that pulled together in the face of catastrophe? Gone! Rama II and it's sequals leave us with short-sighted bureaucrats, beautiful-but-power-mad Italian women, impossibly altruistic scientists, amoral lawyers, American corporate types who want to use Raman technology to create new weapons (boy, that's not cliche!), cowboy presidents, the pope, African-American gangsters, chess-playing Russians, oversexed teens, murderously jealous lovers, and a computer geek who overcomes his social ineptness to save the day and win the girl (Gentry Lee, not surprisingly, is a computer guy).
Maybe Clarke and Lee were worried that Commander Norton and his crew were all cut from the same "noble scientist" cloth that many of Clarke's characters use. If so, they overcompensated drastically. A spear-toting Eskimo or a peg-legged pirate wouldn't seem out of place in this group, but an intelligently written character would.
Most of the gaggle of Knots Landing rejects don't care at all about Rama II and since the book focuses on their bickering, their pregnancies, and their murders, neither will you.
After this one the books actually get worse. And by the time the Ramans reveal themself you (and conincidentally enough, many of the characters) are completly indifferent.
If you've read "Rendezvous with Rama" and haven't read this book yet, then please please PLEASE don't read it!
You'll be sorry you did.

I enjoyed rendevous with rama, and therefore thought I would like this book. No such luck. The writing is really bad and the characters are one dimensional. About 50 pages into it I realized that around 30 pages were missing from the book. I put it down, disgusted, but not disappointed. I'm glad I didn't waste my time finishing it.

Giving a 1 star review might seem extreme, but this book deserves it. I think I was on page 120 when I threw this book across the room in frustration, as they had not even left planet earth yet in the midst of a soap opera drama. This book is NOT Rama, not in anyway shape or form. The first 120 pages are an exercise in pettiness between competing people to get on the ship to meet Rama. Essentially its Beverly Hills 90210 triteness, with a science fiction backdrop. I could go on and on, but there is limited time to read all the great books out there and this one has taken up too much of my time already.

Several years ago I read Rendezvous with Rama and really enjoyed it. Just last week, I was poking around in my dad's large book collection and found Rama II and decided to give it a try. For the first 100 or so pages I couldn't seem to get into it because it was so different from the orriginal that I remembered. However, once I said to myself "This is a different kind of book", the problem was gone, and I found myself glued. I relised it was a charicter-driven book, unlike most of Clarke's, and I thought it was very well done. You get a selfish, sex-crazed villian Fransesca Sabatini, who you love to hate. You get the unassuming brilliant engineer Richard Wakefield, and most of all you get Nicole. I really loved the charicter of Nicole and enjoyed following her through her adventures. I was delighted when Richard came to find Nicole and they paired up. I remember being on the edge of my seat as I pleaded with Michael O'Toole not to agree to blow up Rama, and was happy when his own moral compass overcame the pressure he was getting from dang near everyone. I rooted for the three of them as they went against the will of their corrupt crew and politicians who left them to die, and was finally happy when they managed to save Rama and in awe as they were left stranded on the ship as it floated out of the solar system. I finished this entire book in two days and immediately went rooting around in the basement for the next book.

I was a bit suprised that well over half of Arthur C. Clarke fans tend to hate this book and the other two. Indeed, Gentry Lee did write the book and Clarke only made minor revisions and suggestions. I very much love Arthur C. Clarke's work and I loved the orriginal very much. But Gentry Lee adds a different dimension to the book. Okay, there are a few stumbling blocks here and there, and there are a few chilches here and there. But he really creates charicters you can fall in love with. Many people also had a problem with the fact that the story centered more around the drama of the charicters than of Rama itself. I understand that can be a turn-off to many, but I thought the humanity of the story over the magnificent backdrop of Rama was a great way of looking at ourselves.

A full five stars for this one. If your interest is in deep, hard science fiction alone then this book isn't for you and you should stick to the orriginal. But if you don't mind drama and humanity, then you will really enjoy this book.

It's been at least ten years since I read a book by skipping a couple of pages, reading a few lines, skipping a few more pages, reading some lines, and so on. I don't see how you can get through Rama II any other way -- the dialogue is so stilted, the characters are so lame-brained, and the plot so high-school-1980's-politically-correct.
Try Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age instead.

Arthur C Clarke was one of the most scientific of the SciFi writers but he was always so full of surprises keeping us on the edge as we wait for the next something to happen. This is a great follow up to the original. I can't wait to see what happens next. Does the world ever grow up or are we always destined to hate and kill anything different.

Clarke has done it again. Masterfully created. I could not put this book down. Each night I would close it for bed and couldn't wait for the next day like a TV show. His description even gives people without an imagination a view of a totally alien vessel in all its glory!

This is the second time I've read this series. So much I had forgotten. I think I first read them out of sequence. Imagine if this were true. Why not, who says we are the only species in the universe.
God if you believe their is one or not would not be willing to create only one of a kind.
I recommend this series for that thinking person. Start now.

Rama II was much more character and dialogue driven than Rendevous. This isn't necessarily a good thing. Much of the beauty of Clarke's writing is his ability to convey big ideas in a plain and economic way. Much of this novel was spent on character, secret motivations and subplot. The crew of the expedition came across as petty and incompetent for the most part. I personally feel that Clarke would have given us a better story without his coauthor.

Unlike most of the people who reviewed this book, I really liked it. Yes, it was a little soap operish, but I've always liked character driven stories. That's why Rendevous with Rama left me feeling so empty. The religious themes were,in my opinion, part of what made the ending so spectacular! My favorite parts were the avians and the character backgrounds. You find yourself really feeling for our heroes, especially when some of them die! All in all, if you're looking for a science-centered story, like Clarke's other novels, I can understand why you wouldn't like this book. But as a college history major with very little scientific background, I thought Rama II rocked!

As some have pointed out, this is diffrent from the first Rama, but that does not make it a lesser book. There is much more character devlopment in it, and I've found it to be much more then just a good book. There is so much to this, I would recommed it to anyone.

A plot line that wanders with no place to go. It seems the authors sat down at the word processor without an outline or any idea where or what their characters were going to do.. If your going to read it, check it out of the library

A good science fiction book should have you wanting to read it. You would not want to put it down, waiting to know what would happen next. This book seemed to drag on. Everything that I found interesting in the first book was not there. Instead there was nothing but a small but slightly interesting shell of a story wrapped up in a soap opera like atmosphere. It also has an obsession with sex that I can not explain. (but it gets A LOT worse in the third book) The series goes downhill geometricly after this one so dont bother.

This is an excellent novel and I believe that Gentry Lee spruced up Clarkes already supurb writing style by adding a more human side to the turmoil. I am a hard core science fiction fan, but if all that is being discussed is biots, with no human plots at all, you might as well be reading a technical manual. It is very realistic how the authors portray the events following the original discovery and exploration of Rama I. The downfall is portrayed extremely logically. As for the characters, they annoy and enthral you. Thier arrogance and cut throat tactics for self serving purposes annoyed me over and over. However, that is what a book should provoke, a multitude of varying reactions. All in all, I recomend this book to all who enjoy a good novel eclectically spread from sci-fi to personal struggles between characters that are definently more momorable than the Norton crew. On i go to the next book...

I loved "Rendezvous with Rama," and as a child, I'd spend time thinking about what it would be like to get left behind. I was excited to find this book - until I read it. It's not anything like book 1. The wonder, the focus on Rama itself is replaced by a focus on the characters - and most are flawed. In this and the next two books, humans come in and basically ruin everything. It's just depressing.

... especially in this case. Rendevous With Rama was a breathless 1 day read, full of tension and amazement. It leaves you desprately trying to picture the thing in your mind. Rama II is simply drivel. Clarke tries to give us lots of stuff about his "characters" but writes like a schoolboy. Who cares about the characters? You won't, that's for sure. Then there are the tedious, naive descriptions of the earth's history since the first Rama.... skip past them. In fact skip the whole book. Or read Rendevous again which is a classic. Or go and find something else. Don't waste your money.

This book is nothing like Rendezvous with Rama; it isboring, overlong and does not read like an Arthur C Clarke novel.It appears Lee did most of the writing and unfortunately it shows. My recommendation: Skip it.

Having read the first Rama book, I was looking forward to learning more about the Rama culture and technology through their second starship. To my dismay, the book was more like a soap opera between the human crew, with Rama taking a distant second in importance.

In fact, it takes 1/3rd of the book before they even get on the ship, with almost nothing to show for it. Even after that, there are many boring conversations (almost unrelated to Rama) that that wash out the few islands of interesting reading.

I love Arthur C. Clarke, most of the time. I loved "Rendevouz", but felt that it was a little too austere. The sequels went the other way and I welcomed the change. I think blending a good character developer like Gentry Lee with a high concept genius like Clarke gives us the best of both worlds. I can't give it five stars because it isn't the best SF I've ever read, that goes to Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars Trilogy". That probably tells you something about my biases.

Although this book might not have been as good as the first, it was mostly due to the fact that all this information was introduced so not AS new. However, definitely answered many questions from last book. I am a religious man, however I am normally really turned off by it in fiction. This novel did well at introducing a characters religious beliefs without making the reader feel uncomfortable or like someone else's views were being pushed on them.

Typing on this Kindle is painful but hope this helps.

I think that writing a sequel to such a Sci-Fi classic masterpiece as 'Rendezvous With Rama' is a nearly unaccomplishable task, so I think that 'Rama II', while nowhere in the vicinity of its predecessor's heights, makes do nicely. It is entertaining, lively, and kind of keeps you on edge. The characters are varied (I loved Sabatini's meanness) and imaginative (maybe too politically correct), and the plot has the unmistakable Clarke's grandness, so what else can you wish? And the computer game makes a great companion for this book, too!

First and foremost, this Rama is discovered 70 years after the first one AND after global economic depression on Earth. The same utopian and wide-eyed explorer mentality is lost due to tragic global events on Earth. Humanity isn't the same. Humanity has reverted back to an earlier time (some could argue our current time). That is why this book is so great. It takes a flawed group of humans into a scientific marvel. A marvel that raises age-old human questions. In my opinion, many people just don't like the gritty humanity of Rama II. I enjoyed both the gritty humanity and the wonderful science. No warp speed here. Just pure science with lots of humanity. I highly recommend.

Have read half of it and am stopping. Cheese. Basically, take everything intriguing about the first book, remove it, and write a dissociated uninteresting soap opera that could take place on daytime television. However, "Rendezvous with Rama" (the first book, written 15 years before "Rama II") is truly a work of art-read it. Clarke even warns you in the introduction that he wrote "Rama II" because he didn't have any other ideas. Gentry Lee should stick to administration.

There is a reason the "author's" name is in quotation marks. This book is probably 10% (or less) Clarke and 90% his co-author. It is bad. Lots of personal melodrama amongst the characters that is totally out of place in Sir Artuhr's classic work. I loved Rama, hated Rama II. Recycled it a quarter of the way through. I will not be continuing with the Rama series. Be warned.

I have no choice but to blame Gentry Lee otherwise I would have to re-evaluate Clarke's greatness. I had to read RAMA II after reading RAMA right? Now, just like 2061 ruined 3001, I will probably never read RAMA revealed.

The plot developed slowly due to the need for character development and to provide a basis for philosophical conjecture. I am glad I stuck with it for Rama II was not only thought provoking, but very exciting over the last third of the novel.

I have not read a lot of fiction in my 59 years, but this past year I have read quite a variety. I purchased Rama I, II and IV, believing I had the series. Having just finished Rama II, I got online to find Rama III, and I was blown away by the moaning, groaning and gnashing of teeth that you one- and two-star reviewers have spewed forth on the post Rama I issues(as I also looked at your reviews of Rama III).

Possibly, I suffer from a view through rose colored glasses in that I have only read Clark's Rama I, II and 2001, but I thought Rama II was an excellent follow-up to Rama I. Granted Rama I was such a beautiful sci-fi read, but I was excited and compelled by the intrigue, asides and global historical speculations in Rama II.

I will certainly have to find III and read IV, and decide for myself whether the books are worthy to me, but I would welcome some reading suggestions from you radical Clark fans on favorite reads from Clark and any other stellar sci-fi writer that you hold in high esteem.

Nanoo, nanoo.

This book is *not* written by Arthur C Clarke, it was written by Gentry Lee alone. The promotion of the book as an ACC book is highly misleading.
Gentry Lee belongs on the slushpile. His writing is full of magic and fantasy rather than science fiction. This book contains lengthy, irrelevant asides. The SF component is trivial; the book is basically a large character study.
It is astonishing how bad this book is by comparison to the excellent, simple narrative "Rendezvous with Rama"

Rama II and Rama III are awful. I'm embarrassed to see Mr. Clarke's name associated with these so-called sequels. They reflect nothing of the science fiction wonder and imagination seen in Rendezvous with Rama and most of his other stories. Rama II & III are completely polluted with political, sociological & religious nonsense and modern emotionalism. Not worth reading. Certainly not worth adding to a fine collection of Clarke books.

Reading this novel made me feel embarrassed -- it felt like Rama II was written by a high school freshman, so obviously wanting to sound mature and sophisticated. The novel also reminded me of some of the worst Hollywood action movies. Sorry Arthur Clarke, this was one of the worst books I've looked at to my memory, so laughable, so pathetic.

This book and the sequels were clearly written by Lee. And it shows. The character development is too long and completely unnecessary in many instances. The villains are transparent. I was dissapointed that Clarke decided to sell out on his his brilliant RWR. It could have been so much more than this transgalactic soap opera. Do something else with your time, this book and the ones following this are not worth of your time.

As you can tell for the entire Rama sequel trilogy, you either love it or hate it. I for one felt that the book dealt to much with the stupid characterization. No longer is this a sci-fi, but more of a grotesque liberalized piece of ethnic garbage. However, when the focus switches from the characterization then it turns into a very good book. Nothing short of genius.

I could tell who wrote what in the book. Clarke was the Science Fiction (the good stuff) and Lee wrote the smut. The book would have been a 10 had only Clarke written it!

I think that Gentry Lee has brought a bad name to Science Fiction authors.

But, the book is still readable. I kept me up till 2 in the morning reading!

This book is great. The charcter devopment is good, and so is the sci - fi. Gentry Lee ADDS to Arthur C. Clarke style (this is not true in cradle) anybody who doesn't like this book is, really, an idiot. And if you think this is good wait til you read Garden and Rama Revealed. There even better!!!!!!!

Rendezvous with Rama is an excellent book. Rama II is one of the worst, most poorly written books I have ever read. Lee would get an F in any creative writing class. Please, do not waste your money on this clich?d, idiotic, boring book.

I just read Rama II. I read the first one back in college in 1990.

I see why people are giving it bad marks because of the characters

but I felt it still held my attention. The excessive character stuff did keep it

from being as good as it could have been but I still recommend it.

Now I going back to re-read the first one.

Please, do not waste your time. I love Author Clark but this book is incredibly bad and the characters are totally unbelievable. I could give you may examples but it gives me a headache just thinking about it. Read the reviews on Rama Revealed for more bad reviews.

lousy sequel to great original Rendezvous with Rama. contaminated with pc by bimbo co-author. same goes for sequel 3.