It depended on the story, really. Many of the Foundation stories contain awkward prose, but I find "The Mule" to flow pretty well, and his description of the Mule's instrument and the affect it had upon people (what the hell was it called? A visi-sonor?) wasn't bad. Some of his best description can be found in The Gods Themselves, written midway through his career. It's the only time IMO he ever successfully wrote a believeably alien group of aliens. Highly recommended.
Rendezvous With Rama
- Thread starter T J
- Start date
Well it certainly helps that the Mule was one of Asimov's few interesting characters.
I had the game, but I don't think I could play it now..its too bad they couldn't make a new one, not with ACC at least.
An update, I found these great CGI 3D views of the interior of RAMA.
http://ebruneton.free.fr/rama3/rama.html
I also recommend McDevitt's whole "Academy series" especially Engines of God.
http://ebruneton.free.fr/rama3/rama.html
Incidentally, for those who like these "Sense Of Wonder" novels like Rama, I highly recommend Chindi by Jack McDevitt; it really comes close to catching that same feeling (and McDevitt is a great writer in the mold of Clarke and Asimov). And there's an even better pseudo-sequel to Rama in the anthology The RH Factor, which I even more highly recommend.
I also recommend McDevitt's whole "Academy series" especially Engines of God.
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An update, I found these great CGI 3D views of the interior of RAMA.
http://ebruneton.free.fr/rama3/rama.html
Incidentally, for those who like these "Sense Of Wonder" novels like Rama, I highly recommend Chindi by Jack McDevitt; it really comes close to catching that same feeling (and McDevitt is a great writer in the mold of Clarke and Asimov). And there's an even better pseudo-sequel to Rama in the anthology The RH Factor, which I even more highly recommend.
I also recommend McDevitt's whole "Academy series" especially Engines of God.
I'm backing this call. Chindi is one of several he wrote with a high "Gosh Wow!" factor.
^^ Yes, I've read most the "Academy" series (I'm pretty sure Priscilla Hutchins is a descendant of mine 
) and I just finished Polaris. Great stuff. 
) and I just finished Polaris. Great stuff. 
Thoughts after reading. Very good book. Fascinating descriptions and concepts. The mystery of it all was very well played. Apparently the crew had an orgy on the ship after all was said and done... ok... 
In the end it holds it's place as a sci-fi classic and should most certainly be made into a movie. I think audiences are sophisticated enough to make it a cult classic at the very least.
I'll consider the sequels in the future. For now I'm moving on to The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer.
In the end it holds it's place as a sci-fi classic and should most certainly be made into a movie. I think audiences are sophisticated enough to make it a cult classic at the very least.
I'll consider the sequels in the future. For now I'm moving on to The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer.
Thoughts after reading. Very good book. Fascinating descriptions and concepts. The mystery of it all was very well played. Apparently the crew had an orgy on the ship after all was said and done... ok...
In the end it holds it's place as a sci-fi classic and should most certainly be made into a movie. I think audiences are sophisticated enough to make it a cult classic at the very least.
I'll consider the sequels in the future. For now I'm moving on to The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer.
Its a fast and engrossing read. I JUST re-read it, and decided I totally hate paperpacks, so I am currently in the process of acquiring a hardback copy from online...inexpensive too.
A collection of Rendevous with RAMA covers:http://www.librarything.com/work/7180/covers/
RAMA
The last one in the top row is the edition I have.
A Vancouver Film School student made a 3:47 length video showing
feature some key moments from the novel
http://vimeo.com/9739256
via
http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/05/r...ed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Kuriositas+(Kuriositas)
feature some key moments from the novel
http://vimeo.com/9739256
via
http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/05/r...ed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Kuriositas+(Kuriositas)
Good Lord. Make this into a major motion picture, NOW.
An adaptation of Rendezvous could easily be on par with 2001. Actually, it could be better. Even a flawed telling of the story would probably end up being one of the better sci-films of the last twenty years.
It's too bad Hollywood is too busy cooking up remakes and superhero movies.
An adaptation of Rendezvous could easily be on par with 2001. Actually, it could be better. Even a flawed telling of the story would probably end up being one of the better sci-films of the last twenty years.
It's too bad Hollywood is too busy cooking up remakes and superhero movies.
I had RAMA II on tape, narrated by Alfrie Woodard, and listened to it quite often, so I have a special fondness for it.
As far as reimaginings go, the Rama sequels weren't bad-- certainly better than the Second Foundation Trilogy or nuTrek or anything like that. I still can't consider them part of the same Universe as the original, though.
And that clip was beautiful. And done by a film student. With stuff like that (and the quality of fan films), it makes you wonder why Hollywood films cost so damned much (to usually create such garbage). Obviously quality can be had without spending obscene amounts of money.
And that clip was beautiful. And done by a film student. With stuff like that (and the quality of fan films), it makes you wonder why Hollywood films cost so damned much (to usually create such garbage). Obviously quality can be had without spending obscene amounts of money.
Motion Picture workers, and actors unions. (I'd include the Writer's unions, but their leadership is incompotent and the 'Hollywood Machine' just rolls over them).
I'm surprised you care for the Rama sequels, honestly. I thought they were dreadful. In fact, they're the only Clarke novels I've actually taken to the used book store after finishing them. Too much melodrama for a series that is ostensibly about exploring Rama, and they're far too drawn out. I'll just stick to the original.
I love the clip, but it's five minutes with a little dialogue from the Clarke novel, a nonprofessional actor or two, and some visual effects that aren't up to feature or television standards. Is it really that surprising that these things are so expensive? A film like Moon is a financial miracle at $5 million dollars, and any Rama film would be several orders of magnitude more complex and expensive than that.
That's because they're not really Clarke novels. They're Gentry Lee novels with some input by Clarke in the plotting stage.
Same here. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one Rama novel.
Clarke and Lee were honest about this in interviews, and (IIRC) the introduction to RAMA II. But Clarke's name is still big above Lee's on the front of the books, which is a little misleading. It's obvious why, of course (who wanted to buy a Rama sequel by Gentry Lee?), but it's still annoying.
A point I forgot to mention before was that I prefer the PC adventure game Rama over the sequel books (the game is essentially the story of the RAMA II novel). It's worth seeking out if you're interested in a game in the style of Myst. It certainly puts much less of a focus on the interpersonal relationships which sink the book version of the story.
EDIT: Guess I made that point much earlier in the thread. I'm repeating myself faster than the writers of 24 it would seem...
Snap!
I love the simplicity of it, the fact the crew are made of the right stuff and not some crap teenage-like angst-ridden or emo crap.
I got about five or six chapters into the second book and got bored with it. Not a patch on the first one.
I would love to visit Rama one day.
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