The Rama series

In the first book in the series, Rendezvous with Rama a spaceship, a huge cylinder, appears in our solar system in the year 2131 and is of course examined by a group of astronauts. The rest of the book deals with the astronauts trying to make sense of their discoveries within the alien vessel. Arthur C. Clarke wrote the first book in the Rama series by himself and it has a certain sense of awe that the best science fiction novels have. It's a classic and deservedly so. Three more book exist in the Rama series. Clarke wrote these with Gentry Lee, a NASA scientist. It seems to me(yes I'm guessing!) that Lee did most of the writing and essentially took over the series. I also enjoyed the second book in the series, Rama II. Some of the mysteries from the first book are here given an explanation. The plot and the characterizations were intriguing. Unfortunately the last two books in the series Garden of Rama and Rama revealed are not so well written and I think Lee and Clarke should have left the series at Rama II. The plot really deteriorates and especially Rama revealed was a boring read. Why attempt to give explanations for the Rama when the original idea in the first book was that Rama was a mystery that could not be comprehended by us.

2001 - A Space Odyssey

The novel 2001 is based on the filmscript from Stanley Kubrick's epic science fiction movie from 1968. The motion picture in turn is loosely based on Clarke's novel The Sentinel.
In 2001 a black monolith is discovered on the moon. Upon being touched the monolith transmits a signal to the planet Jupiter where a much larger monolith orbiting Jupiter receives the signal. The spaceship Discovery with the revolutionary computer HAL 9000 is sent to Jupiter to investigate. The journey is uneventful until Discovery reaches Jupiter. Soon after arrival the computer, HAL begins to behave strangely.


This novel has a very claustrophobic atmosphere, you can really sense how far away from Earth the crew is and how they are completely left to their own devices. There isn't much character development involved, the computer HAL, surprise surprise, is by far the most interesting personality in the story. The astronauts on the other hand remain almost complete strangers. This is not a major drawback, this novel has so many other qualities. There is a lot of symbolism to be found in this novel. The main idea in the book I think is: 'Is man really in control of her technology or is the reverse true ?'. Clarke's inclination towards the mysterious is evident in the story. If you've seen the movie and were baffled by it then you'll find that the book will provide you with more answers and clarify some matters, especially towards the end. Everything that happens in the novel isn't given an explanation though. If mankind were to discover other lifeforms then there would be more questions than answers of course.

2010 - Odyssey Two

In the sequel to 2001, a new spaceship is sent to Jupiter with a mixed crew of russians and americans to try and find out what happened to the Discovery and her crew. 2010 is a good book but it is nowhere near as good a science fiction story as 2001. It lacks most of the qualities found in its predecessor. Some of the more mysterious passages in 2001 are explained. I did like the idea of bringing together the russians and americans in a joint venture, Clarke foresaw the need to cooperate in space. The cold war was still on when this book was written, and the cooperation meant that the superpowers had to give up a lot of prestige. So 2010 is very much a novel about the need for peace and an end to the rivalry between the two nations I believe.

2061 - Odyssey Three

In the third book in the Odyssey-series, Arthur C. Clarke demonstrates his knowledge of space and science. This book is interesting if you're fascinated by space exploration, and who isn't ? The story involves a rendezvous with Halley's Comet and a landing on Jupiter's moon Europe. This was hot scientific stuff when the book was published and it still is with the Galileo probe orbiting Jupiter. There has been some speculation that Europe could possibly have primitive life. I suppose you've already guessed that science is more in evidence than the plot in this book and you're right. The story is based on the two earlier novels but rather loosely. This is a piece of interesting hard science fiction but it's nowhere near as good a story as 2001 and 2010.

3001 - The Final Odyssey

The series takes a giant leap into the future, suddenly the year is 3001 and the future is here. Society has of course changed considerably. One of the astronauts on board the Discovery who died in 2001, Frank Poole, is miraculously found in cold space and is revived using medical techniques belonging to the far future. Clarke lets Poole have a brief convalescense and then the old astronaut gets to know about the major advances in science and society in the last 1000 years. Here Clarke speculates and tries to predict what the future might look like with marvelous new gadgets etc. Clarke has a real talent for this with his scientific understanding. Eventually Poole returns to Jupiter(what remains of Jupiter) to confront the old mysteries still lurking there. He still has one more task to accomplish...


Did you know that Clarke can be really funny ? Well he proves it in 3001, there are some good jokes waiting for you. Unfortunately the sense of humour and Clarke's vision of what the future may be like are all there is to this novel. This book has a serious flaw, Clarke turns the premise for the earlier books in the series upside down in the end. That's all I want to write here, I don't want to give the story away. If you've read the three other book in the series you'll probably want to read this book as well, a compulsory read if you've read the other books. But it may annoy you!