I can't understand the hating inflicted on the latter books. I read them all and was engrossed to the end. Sure there was the conflicting styles of writing by the two authors but Lee added humanity with all its warts and beauty to an otherwise sterile narrative.
The preference for the first book probably comes from those of us who appreciate the departure from bog-standard "character-driven" storytelling. The first book concentrated on the nerdy stuff (what you call "sterile" narrative), in other words. And we don't usually get that out of popular sci-fi. So when the later books went character-driven, that was a bit disappointing. I don't care to read about how humans in that situation remain just as evil and self-absorbed as they do on Earth. I read fiction to escape that stuff. I still like the later books. But that's mostly because nestled in between the character drama, there remains some good nerdy stuff.
@@delphicdescant I understand your points and I like to indulge in classic sci-fi as well. I described the first book as sterile for want of a better word but I enjoyed it very much. As it left so many unanswered questions I read the series and was surprised by the two styles, sometimes in adjacent paragraphs. It's neither here or there but most contemporary sci-fi are character driven as well, at least the ones I've read. One particular series I've enjoyed and if you allow me to indulge myself are the Rho Agenda novels by Richard Phillips which IMHO is the perfect mix of nerdy, yet plausible sci-fi with great character development.
oh, you are not the only one I love all of the Rama series. Great stuff even though Clarke simply OK'd the outlines for the later books. Still love them all.
If I remember (from decades back!) one phrase from the creators of Rama - who seem to be some kind of cosmic gardener - it's their duty sometimes to nourish - and sometimes to weed - the cosmic garden. Beyond that, I'll give no hints!
I remember reading Rama as a kid , and falling in love with A . C . Clarke books ...then being reaaaally disapointed with these sequel books, wich i read, but found really lame ... from then on i skipped all the other books wich had Clarke as a co-writer (i remember a Venus saga of sorts). BTW you should do this resumes with the Hyperion saga .
A.C Clarke wrote Garden of Rama as a disappointed man. I cannot believe that we would have to press conscripts to fulfill Rama's invitation to a Human population to visit the stars. There are enough sane and non violent romantics on Earth to fill its quota many times over.
The history of mankind's greatest nation-states has been the conquest and colonization of uncharted domains; leveraging export of enslaved peoples, ethnic/tribal minorities and/or prisoners/rejects for the labor. With audacious & ambitious, yet problematic(..either politically dangerous, embarrassing or debtor..) 'type-A' narcissists--in the roles of 'governors' & project leaders/stewards. In the face of existential risk, humanity likes send their expendables, unorthodox & undesirables into the unknown AFTER the first scientist explorers have reported; if a bigger potential threat looms the small minds usually presiding in politics tend to send canon fodder for enslavement. Or consumption. If you doubt these patterns of behavior, then just look at our presently crowded Earth--choosing 'strong men' dictators & far-right nationalist/nativists as 'leaders'. Their 'results!'-oriented pragmatism & expedient 'problem solving' driven by tight-fisted greed all seem preferable. To any audacious, science & environmentalism-based attempts to "care for everyone"...in the face of looming Climate Collapse/a '6th Great Extinction' world within 50 -75yrs time.
Absolutely fantastic review. I loved it. Only fly in the ointment is as others say. As we listen to you we visualize the scenario but sadly the AI artwork detracts from that, EG the Eagle man hybrid is definitely not that strange were- rabbit shown and kind of jolts you out from the narrative. Please don't take this harshly though. It's a small point in a fantastic video and I'll definitely be watching more from you.
Clark, et al must have discovered psychedelics after the original Rama. It’s like something an imaginative teenager would write. WAAAY out there. Clarke must’ve lived in LA. He obsesses over “Lucifer” and strangers having sex a lot. Love Rendezvous. The rest are too trippy for my taste.
yes. acid without the acid. I read the 1st Rama when I was 13 or 14. Really opened my mind to what is possible after years of looking up at the stars as a child and wondering if anybody was looking back.
Thanks for this review. I just listened to Book 1 and wondered if the sequels were worth it. Based on what you’ve said, I intend to pass. Thanks again!
the first book rendezvous with rama is a classic true arthur c clark. the other 3 are garbage written by gentry lee and with clarks name tacked on for marketing purposes . I cannot despise them greatly enough absolute rubbish.
Just wanted to state that you made a slight mistake, Rama had not been refit for Octospider habitation until the return to the node, at the same time as the Avian/Myrmicat and Human refits. The Rama II exploration crew even visited the Southern Hemi-cylinder at many points, and it’s where the death at the hands of the Crab Biot occurred
The evidence I use for saying that their habitat was already there is this. 1. Rama had been altered between its first trip to the solar system and the second. They state that there are a few differences from what was mapped in the southern hemi cylinder during Rendezvous, and what they found in rama 2. But none in the north. They just never state exactly what the difference is. Considering that every one of the "cities" is supposedly a previous colony. I can see why they wouldn't make a big deal out of a single new 'city'. Or possibly even just a retrofit one that was already there. 2. There are said to be hundreds if not a couple thousand octospiders going across the ice when the Horns make their light show before acceleration to the node. This would fit the amount of people that the Node askes for from earth. While at the same time there are only a few avians, no myrmicats, and a few humans. 3. While at the node, the eagle mentions that only 1 other colony is being installed right then. Meaning that one was already there. And we know for a fact that the 2 being worked on are the human and myrmicat/avian colonies. 4. This would also explain a lot of details like how the octospiders have an entire tram system and such set up in their lair on New York. Their numbers. How they have already learned how to access so many systems of the rama computer. Their behavior. The museum where they apparently took down a full sized Bulldozer biot. etc.
There was so much promise in the first book, but the sequels are simply awful.
very stately octo-spider. Anybody hating can illustrate more octo portraits. There simply aren't enough currently.
Way to modify the AI biots!
Dude, thank u so much for "suffering" thru these so we dont have to yet we get to have our curiosities satisfied!
I can't understand the hating inflicted on the latter books. I read them all and was engrossed to the end. Sure there was the conflicting styles of writing by the two authors but Lee added humanity with all its warts and beauty to an otherwise sterile narrative.
The preference for the first book probably comes from those of us who appreciate the departure from bog-standard "character-driven" storytelling. The first book concentrated on the nerdy stuff (what you call "sterile" narrative), in other words. And we don't usually get that out of popular sci-fi. So when the later books went character-driven, that was a bit disappointing.
I don't care to read about how humans in that situation remain just as evil and self-absorbed as they do on Earth. I read fiction to escape that stuff.
I still like the later books. But that's mostly because nestled in between the character drama, there remains some good nerdy stuff.
@@delphicdescant Exactly !
Huh? You think humans will stop being human when we leave Earth?
@@delphicdescant I understand your points and I like to indulge in classic sci-fi as well. I described the first book as sterile for want of a better word but I enjoyed it very much. As it left so many unanswered questions I read the series and was surprised by the two styles, sometimes in adjacent paragraphs. It's neither here or there but most contemporary sci-fi are character driven as well, at least the ones I've read. One particular series I've enjoyed and if you allow me to indulge myself are the Rho Agenda novels by Richard Phillips which IMHO is the perfect mix of nerdy, yet plausible sci-fi with great character development.
@@floreshime We can hope that some day humans will develop reading comprehension.
I feel like I'm the only one who enjoy all 4 books.
oh, you are not the only one
I love all of the Rama series. Great stuff even though Clarke simply OK'd the outlines for the later books. Still love them all.
I love them, specially the end.
The first Rama book was great. Second and third bored me to tears - so much so, I never knew until now that there was a fourth
Can we get a summary of Rama Revealed? 🥺🙏🏼 I wanna know how all of this ends! lol Thank You
If I remember (from decades back!) one phrase from the creators of Rama - who seem to be some kind of cosmic gardener - it's their duty sometimes to nourish - and sometimes to weed - the cosmic garden. Beyond that, I'll give no hints!
honestly dont bother reading it.
Ai art was a nice touch. could you cover Iain M Banks Surface Detail. really need a good summary of that.
I remember reading Rama as a kid , and falling in love with A . C . Clarke books ...then being reaaaally disapointed with these sequel books, wich i read, but found really lame ... from then on i skipped all the other books wich had Clarke as a co-writer (i remember a Venus saga of sorts). BTW you should do this resumes with the Hyperion saga .
Easily the worst of the series.
A.C Clarke wrote Garden of Rama as a disappointed man. I cannot believe that we would have to press conscripts to fulfill Rama's invitation to a Human population to visit the stars. There are enough sane and non violent romantics on Earth to fill its quota many times over.
But they have no political power. Only the insane grasp power. The sane yearn but seldom decide.
The history of mankind's greatest nation-states has been the conquest and colonization of uncharted domains; leveraging export of enslaved peoples, ethnic/tribal minorities and/or prisoners/rejects for the labor. With audacious & ambitious, yet problematic(..either politically dangerous, embarrassing or debtor..) 'type-A' narcissists--in the roles of 'governors' & project leaders/stewards. In the face of existential risk, humanity likes send their expendables, unorthodox & undesirables into the unknown AFTER the first scientist explorers have reported; if a bigger potential threat looms the small minds usually presiding in politics tend to send canon fodder for enslavement. Or consumption. If you doubt these patterns of behavior, then just look at our presently crowded Earth--choosing 'strong men' dictators & far-right nationalist/nativists as 'leaders'. Their 'results!'-oriented pragmatism & expedient 'problem solving' driven by tight-fisted greed all seem preferable. To any audacious, science & environmentalism-based attempts to "care for everyone"...in the face of looming Climate Collapse/a '6th Great Extinction' world within 50 -75yrs time.
Absolutely fantastic review. I loved it. Only fly in the ointment is as others say. As we listen to you we visualize the scenario but sadly the AI artwork detracts from that, EG the Eagle man hybrid is definitely not that strange were- rabbit shown and kind of jolts you out from the narrative. Please don't take this harshly though. It's a small point in a fantastic video and I'll definitely be watching more from you.
Nothing to stop you closing your eyes and just listening!
The sequels explain too much. Same for the 2001 trilogy. Leaving the reader with doubts and unsolved misteries is much better
Thank you for this. I haven't read any of them but I will now. Again, thank you for doing a great job on these
Clark, et al must have discovered psychedelics after the original Rama. It’s like something an imaginative teenager would write. WAAAY out there. Clarke must’ve lived in LA. He obsesses over “Lucifer” and strangers having sex a lot. Love Rendezvous. The rest are too trippy for my taste.
yes. acid without the acid. I read the 1st Rama when I was 13 or 14. Really opened my mind to what is possible after years of looking up at the stars as a child and wondering if anybody was looking back.
Thanks for this review. I just listened to Book 1 and wondered if the sequels were worth it. Based on what you’ve said, I intend to pass. Thanks again!
the first book rendezvous with rama is a classic true arthur c clark. the other 3 are garbage written by gentry lee and with clarks name tacked on for marketing purposes . I cannot despise them greatly enough absolute rubbish.
Dude, skip the AI imagery... it sucks. Not ready for prime time.
Ta wenardo bro, sigue así uwur
This guy is cool
Great job dude
Thanks for the warning!
Wow, thats a brutal ending
Just wanted to state that you made a slight mistake, Rama had not been refit for Octospider habitation until the return to the node, at the same time as the Avian/Myrmicat and Human refits. The Rama II exploration crew even visited the Southern Hemi-cylinder at many points, and it’s where the death at the hands of the Crab Biot occurred
The evidence I use for saying that their habitat was already there is this.
1. Rama had been altered between its first trip to the solar system and the second. They state that there are a few differences from what was mapped in the southern hemi cylinder during Rendezvous, and what they found in rama 2. But none in the north. They just never state exactly what the difference is. Considering that every one of the "cities" is supposedly a previous colony. I can see why they wouldn't make a big deal out of a single new 'city'. Or possibly even just a retrofit one that was already there.
2. There are said to be hundreds if not a couple thousand octospiders going across the ice when the Horns make their light show before acceleration to the node. This would fit the amount of people that the Node askes for from earth. While at the same time there are only a few avians, no myrmicats, and a few humans.
3. While at the node, the eagle mentions that only 1 other colony is being installed right then. Meaning that one was already there. And we know for a fact that the 2 being worked on are the human and myrmicat/avian colonies.
4. This would also explain a lot of details like how the octospiders have an entire tram system and such set up in their lair on New York. Their numbers. How they have already learned how to access so many systems of the rama computer. Their behavior. The museum where they apparently took down a full sized Bulldozer biot. etc.
@@SciFiSecrets I guess it’s really up to interpretation, it works with the story in both directions
Thanks for this video
This was great.
Jesus, old sci fi was the worst kind of dull, pretentious misanthropic bollocks.
>AI "art"
Mate, I really like your channel, but this makes it borderline unwatchable