Pros: Exploration for the many fans of the seminal original, of the world of Rama
Cons: Disappointing dilution of Clarkes creative gift by the depressing cynical influence of Lee
The Bottom Line: Read it to know what was behind the ramans and their vessel. Dont read it if you are turned off by rape, murder, suicide, and cant skip past it.
snpmurray's Full Review: Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee - Rama Revealed
The climax of the series will again depress lovers of the original. Arthur C Clarke is constantly reigned back by Gentry Lee repeatedly interjecting irrelevant random character developments, which neither enhance the narrative, nor appeal to the reason you want to read this....to see more of the fascinating world of Rama. If you loved the original for its exciting, succinct portrayal of an explosive-paced tour of the Raman world, prepare to be depressed. Depressed by the meaningless extinguishing of the alien exploration you hoped to share. Extinguished by the interjection into the plot by the deeply cynical, invasive, and not-at-all-welcome comments on contemporary society which I can only attribute to Gentry Lee. You will see the exploration again disrupted, as in previous sequels, by domestic human squabbles, rape, murder, drug abuse, suicide, politics and other things you were definately NOT here to read. BUT, there is a but.....!
If you are comfortable skim-reading past bits you can live without, the final book in the series at least contains enough pure-bred Clarke on most pages to keep you stimulated. Unlike Garden of Rama, which spookily appeared to be "first half by clarke, second half by Lee", this novel does not leave one with the sense that you have swum through miles of mollasses by the time you finish it. The styles are more thoroughly mixed, giving some hard science fiction nearly every other page. Fans of Clarkes hard style will neatly be able to decipher the code here....Bathe themselves resplendantly in explorations of the other races which are revealed, and excite at the improvisations of the mind of Richard Wakefield. And then skim rapidly over the emotional angst which Gentry Lee inflicts like a cancer on the pages. Any paragraph beginning with Nicole DeJardin dreaming about France should alert the astute Rama fan that "Two Words per half-page" is sufficient depth of interrogation for that page. In spirit, this finale is the most like the original. I frequently extol skipping all intermediate sequels, and going from "Rendevuos" to this book directly, thereby missing a great deal of pain.
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