Rendezvous with Rama

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Rendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a thirty-mile-long cylindrical alien starship that passes through Earth's solar system on its way past the sun, and a group of human explorers sent to examine it. The story is told from the point of view of the humans.

Related Topics:
Arthur C. Clarke - 1972 - 22nd century - Starship - Solar system

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The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards upon its release, and is widely regarded as one of the cornerstones in Clarke's bibliography, and a science fiction classic.

Related Topics:
Hugo - Nebula - Science fiction

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A movie based on this novel, starring Morgan Freeman, is said to be in development.

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The "Rama" of the title is the starship, which is initially mistaken for an asteroid and named after the Hindu deity Rama. (By the 22nd century, we are told, scientists have run out of Roman mythological figures to name astronomical bodies after.) The nature and purpose of the starship and its creators remains enigmatic.

Related Topics:
Rama - Roman

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The book was meant to be a stand-alone, but the final sentence of the book convinced almost everyone who read it that there would be at least two more sequels:

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:And on far-off Earth, Dr Carlisle Perera had as yet told no one how he had woken from a restless sleep with the message from his subconscious still echoing in his brain: The Ramans do everything in threes.

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Facing such enormous pressure, Clarke paired up with Gentry Lee for the remainder of the series, but some fans consider these sequels as inferior to the original. It is often believed that Lee did most of the actual writing of the sequels, as the large focus on characterization in these books was different from Clarke's usual story-driven style (with the relatively stereotypical characters that is common in hard science fiction).

Related Topics:
Gentry Lee - Characterization - Hard science fiction

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