Rama II
Encyclopedia
Rama II is a novel by Gentry Lee
and Arthur C. Clarke
first published in 1989. It recounts humankind's further interaction with the Ramans, first introduced in Rendezvous with Rama
. Written primarily by Gentry Lee, Rama II has a distinctly different writing style than the original, with a more character driven narrative and a closer-to-contemporary mindset, ambience and human relations than the first novel's utopian social assumptions.
Rama II is the first novel of the "new" Rama series, as Rendezvous with Rama is not always counted as part of it. The Rama series comprises two more sequels: The Garden of Rama
and Rama Revealed
.
, Richard Wakefield and Michael O'Toole.
Unlike Rendezvous with Rama, which depicted a utopian future and focused almost entirely on the hard science fiction
elements regarding the scientific wonders of the alien spacecraft, Rama II and its sequels deconstruct Clarke's vision of human colonies throughout the solar system through a global economic crisis that forced their almost total deactivation. Then follows a very different storytelling that brings forward contemporary issues like abortion, racism, drug abuse and organized crime.
Gentry Lee also wrote two further novels set in the same Rama Universe.
Gentry Lee
Bert Gentry Lee is the chief engineer for the Planetary Flight Systems Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a science fiction writer. As an author he is best known for co-writing, with Arthur C. Clarke, the books Cradle in 1989, Rama II in 1989, The Garden of Rama in 1991 and Rama...
and Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
first published in 1989. It recounts humankind's further interaction with the Ramans, first introduced in Rendezvous with Rama
Rendezvous with Rama
Rendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...
. Written primarily by Gentry Lee, Rama II has a distinctly different writing style than the original, with a more character driven narrative and a closer-to-contemporary mindset, ambience and human relations than the first novel's utopian social assumptions.
Rama II is the first novel of the "new" Rama series, as Rendezvous with Rama is not always counted as part of it. The Rama series comprises two more sequels: The Garden of Rama
The Garden of Rama
The Garden of Rama is a novel by Gentry Lee and Arthur C. Clarke. It is the third book in the four-book Rama series: Rendezvous with Rama, Rama II, The Garden of Rama, and Rama Revealed, and follows on from where Rama II left off.-Plot summary:The book picks up the story nine months...
and Rama Revealed
Rama Revealed
Rama Revealed is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. It is the last of three sequels to Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama by these authors, and as the title suggests reveals the mysteries behind the enigmatic Rama spacecraft.- Plot summary :The book picks up the story...
.
Plot summary
70 years after the events of Rendezvous with Rama, a second Raman vessel enters our solar system. Its arrival is expected and an expedition is sent to unlock more of Rama's mysteries, but the crew are unprepared both for what they find and for the conflicts that arise between them. Rama II brings new characters into a new story and is mostly unrelated to the original and largely serves to set up its own sequels. It ends with three of the twelve astronauts stranded inside Rama as it travels out of the solar system, Nicole des Jardins WakefieldNicole des Jardins Wakefield
Nicole des Jardins Wakefield is a fictional character and the central protagonist of the three sequels to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. She is an African-European woman, of heritage from both France and the Ivory Coast...
, Richard Wakefield and Michael O'Toole.
Unlike Rendezvous with Rama, which depicted a utopian future and focused almost entirely on the hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
elements regarding the scientific wonders of the alien spacecraft, Rama II and its sequels deconstruct Clarke's vision of human colonies throughout the solar system through a global economic crisis that forced their almost total deactivation. Then follows a very different storytelling that brings forward contemporary issues like abortion, racism, drug abuse and organized crime.
Characters in "Rama II"
Crew of the Newton- Richard Wakefield
- Francesca Sabatini
- David Brown
- Shigeru Takagishi
- Janos Tabori
- Valeriy Borzov
- Nicole des JardinsNicole des Jardins WakefieldNicole des Jardins Wakefield is a fictional character and the central protagonist of the three sequels to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. She is an African-European woman, of heritage from both France and the Ivory Coast...
- Michael O'Toole
- Irina Turgenyev
- Hiro Yamanaka
- Reggie Wilson
- Otto Heilmann
Books in the series
- Rendezvous with RamaRendezvous with RamaRendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...
(19721972 in literatureThe year 1972 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Fiction:*Richard Adams - Watership Down*Jorge Amado - Teresa Batista Cansada da Guerra *Martin Amis - The Rachel Papers...
) - Rama II (19891989 in literatureThe year 1989 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.-Literature:...
) - The Garden of RamaThe Garden of RamaThe Garden of Rama is a novel by Gentry Lee and Arthur C. Clarke. It is the third book in the four-book Rama series: Rendezvous with Rama, Rama II, The Garden of Rama, and Rama Revealed, and follows on from where Rama II left off.-Plot summary:The book picks up the story nine months...
(19911991 in literatureThe year 1991 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation....
) - Rama RevealedRama RevealedRama Revealed is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. It is the last of three sequels to Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama by these authors, and as the title suggests reveals the mysteries behind the enigmatic Rama spacecraft.- Plot summary :The book picks up the story...
(19931993 in literatureThe year 1993 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, becomes the longest running book on the bestseller list of The Sunday Times....
)
Gentry Lee also wrote two further novels set in the same Rama Universe.
- Bright Messengers (19961996 in literatureThe year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...
) - Double Full Moon Night (20002000 in literatureThe year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...
)