Rama II (Rama Series #2) » (Reprint)

Arthur C. Clarke has long been considered the greatest science fiction writer of all time. He was an international treasure in many other ways, including the fact that a 1945 article by him led to the invention of satellite technology. Books by Clarke -- both fiction and nonfiction -- have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. He died in 2008.

Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien  spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as  mind-boggling proof that life existed — or  had existed — elsewhere in the  universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century,  another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A  crew of Earth's best and brightest minds is  assembled to rendezvous with the massive vessel. They  are armed with everything we know about Raman  technology and culture. But nothing can prepare them  for what they are about to encounter on board  Rama II: cosmic secrets that are  startling, sensational — and perhaps even  deadly.

Publishers Weekly

In 1973, Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama won the Hugo, Nebula and Campbell awards. This new novel is the second in a trilogy about the mystifying world-ships and their flybys of our solar system. Unfortunately, the focus is no longer on alien mysteries, but on the petty concerns of an unlikely assortment of cosmonauts. The 12 specialists chosen to explore a second Raman craft passing through human space 70 years after the first are more involved with adultery, religion and media contracts than they are with scientific advancement. Not only are their actions unrealistic, but the chapter titles telegraph what comes next. The excitement of discovery that was present in the first book is altogether missing from this soap opera plot. (Nov.)