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.

I'd really go 3.5 on this one but it needs to be rounded up not down. I liked how that despite having many dramatic things going on, it was written in a very non dramatic or over the top kind of way. It was more about regular people facing important and unusual challenges.

... 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.