RSS BotRendezvous with Rama
Wonderful book!
I disagree with the blog author, though. The sequels are worth your time. Yes, Gentry’s attempts at character development can be downright grating but you absolutely can tell when Clarke takes over.
The wonder is there and fills the void left by the end of Rama proper: You get another dopamine hit of wonder from Clarke.
tenchikenHeartily agree about the sequels.
The first was… Ok. Great notions, but very dry.
The sequels had much better overall cohesion and I feel, if approached properly, would make an excellent couple of movies or a series akin to how Foundation has been approached.
Yes, I too agree that the sequels just/only feel a bit different, a bit less sciency-technical stuff, more intra-individuals/cultural things, but having good alien species/cultures/values presented as actually alien was amazing.
I wouldn’t say I like the sequels any less than the first book tho, most importantly I think they together form an even greater & complete series (life of Nicole was very cool).
I remember reading as a kid, so good. It still mostly holds up now. I’m excited for Denis Villeneuve to make it into a movie, although who knows if that’ll happen.
They are making a movie? Oh nyo. They are gonna try to make it “interesting” and actiony, aren’t they?
It’s Denis Villeneuve. He does not make shit.
I used to think this way but had an epiphany along the way.
The book is excellent and exists no matter what. Someone making an adaptation to film doesn’t ruin the book. It just interprets it and allows me to dip into that world again for a second chance at rediscovering it.
If the movie is a failure then that’s just a failure to me. At the very least it influenced just one other person to go read the book and get the experience I once did.
If the movie is successful then the series is again relevant to a new generation and maybe even more of them will go check out the book upon which it’s based. Either way, the art I love is being discovered by more people.
The movie is not the book and the book is not the movie. Any interpretation of the source material is not a personal slight to me because I see them as two separate entities.
I agree with that totally, I don’t care about it changing my feelings about the books (why would it), it’s just me expecting a great interpretation but instead getting a short simplified story with explosions & edgy oneliners. They could change the Earth crew to be Star Trek characters as long as it’s good.