Rendezvous With Rama: Why Is This a Classic?

Arthur C. Clarke is one of science fiction's most influential authors, and Rendezvous with Rama is often considered one of his best novels.  Having just finished it, I'm left wondering why?

The United Planets' Spaceguard organization discovers this object of clearly not natural origins coming through the solar system and sends a team to study it.  Most of the novel follows the research of the team on the object, which has been dubbed Rama.  Rama eventually comes close to the sun and saps some energy and matter from the sun before moving on to its final location.  Nothing else happens.

The team's research, while interesting, is completely inconsequential. Even scientists in early parts of the novel consider Rama a complete waste of time.  The characters are bland and see no development over the course of the novel.

The concept is an interesting one.  A world constructed by alien life forms moving through space, its creators seemingly long gone.  There is a lot of potential here.  For a while it appeared as if the novel was building up to a big reveal of the Ramans. No such reveal comes.  Rendezvous with Rama is a prime example of a brilliant concept that suffered from excruciatingly poor execution.  Clarke's Childhood's End was a considerably more engaging read, and much more deserving of the praise this novel gets. 

The Wolverine: The Best X-Men Film In Years

             I make no secret of how I feel about Fox’s handling of their X-Men franchise.  While the first two films are entirely enjoyable superhero fare, if not entirely true to the source material, the franchise has been a disappointment since then.  X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are best not even spoken of.  And while there is nothing in particular wrong as a movie with X-Men: First Class it completely ignores the source material and even the continuity of the film franchise.  That being said, the sequel to 2009’s lackluster solo Wolverine flick, The Wolverine, was quite a bit of fun, and as best as I can expect from this failing franchise now. 

Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space

   

         Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space is a brilliant first novel.  The story’s central figure, archeologist Dan Sylveste, has spent decades researching the Amarantin.  The Amarantin were a civilization on the verge of spaceflight when their sun flared up and wiped out their entire race.  The Event, as it is referred to by Amarantin researchers, was deemed little more than a cosmic hiccup.  Sylveste believes otherwise, and is devoted to discovering what really brought about the end of Amarantin civilization.  What follows is a story of truly epic scope and presumably dire consequences for humanity in the sequel novels.