Books: Rendezvous with Rama By Arthur C. Clarke (1973)

“At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama, after the Hindu god. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at an inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence. It will kindle their wildest dreams...and fan their darkest fears. For no one knows who the Ramans are or why they have come. And now the moment of rendezvous awaits — just behind a Raman airlock door.”

 

A cornerstone of late 20^th Century science fiction, Rendezvous with Rama is a great book for what it really does not reveal. Sure, there are multiple conversations, philosophical conversations about the ship, where and why it’s here. These were the tropes that set off the imagination of writers during the Golden Years of this genre. What I appreciated from the tale was Clarke not going into great detail about how complicated it might be to get a ship to latch onto an alien one and time it would take to do it. This led to some fantastic exploration of the ship itself, with the of the Endeavour postulating of how such a spaceship might really work in terms of our Earthbound physics. Pondering things like how can it generate gravity, how could it travel? What would the aliens be like? What is the purpose a large body of water, and those featureless buildings on an island within?

Though published 51 years ago, I think the book holds up pretty well. Like all science fiction set centuries ahead, you can be cynical about what these “futurist” were thinking (like the ones published in the 50s that still had everyone smoking like chimney’s in the 21^st Century), like characters having two wives (one on Earth, one on the Moon or Mars). That seemed a weird choice for Clarke. I also appreciated the shortness of this classic take on First Contact (though not with any actual aliens, but the technology left behind). The arcs of the characters were satisfying and to the point, and everything was wrapped up (I guess) in 274 mass market paperback pages.

One interesting bit: the book was meant to stand alone, although its final sentence suggests otherwise:

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

Clarke denied that this sentence was a hint that the story might be continued. In his foreword to the book's 1989 sequel, Rama II, he stated that it was just a good way to end the first book, and that he added it during a final revision.

Still, he and Gentry Lee pen a total of four novels set in the Rama universe, including 1991’s The Garden of Rama, and 1993’s Rama Revealed (Lee would write two more novels set in the same universe without Clarke, 1995’s Bright Messengers and 1999’s Double Full Moon Night).

Books: Childhood's End By Arthur C. Clarke (1953)

 

“The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city—intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began. But at what cost? With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning?”

I made a few attempts over the decades to read this book –but it’s probably close to 30 + years since my last attempt.

The themes of a peaceful alien invasion of Earth by these mysterious Overlords, is an interesting take on the genre, and while their arrival begins decades of apparent utopia, under the indirect alien rule, the cost of it is our human identity and culture. I can see why a lot of science fiction shows –like Star Trek- lifted some ideas Clarke came up with, even while he would further use this novels subject of transcendent evolution in his later work, in particular 2001: A Space Odyssey and their sequels.

It also goes against every other sci-fi novel of the era, where humans are forbidden to leave Earth because the there is really nothing there for them – but death, I guess. But there seems to be a lot of symbolism here, both philosophical and religious –not sure I clearly got them. Also, while dubbed the Overlords, the aliens see themselves more as Guardians of Earth, which should’ve been the first clue as to where the tale was going.

I was further intrigued by the utopian ideals postulated here, where robotics and computers are advanced to the point that humans are only need to work about twenty hours a week. This enabled people to continue their education (sometimes going back several times just to learn something new),  develop new hobbies and skills, if only because ”The existence of so much leisure would have created tremendous problems a century before. Education had overcome most of these, for a well-stocked mind is safe from boredom.”

Now that I could get into. Like a lot of hard sci-fi of the era, it’s a bit dry, but I found I enjoyed the novel, even if Clarke’s vision of mid-twenty-first century America sort of resembled 1950s America.