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Rama II(novel)

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Rama II
Dust-jacket from the UK edition
AuthorGentry Lee&
Arthur C. Clarke
LanguageEnglish
SeriesRama
GenreScience fiction
PublisherGollancz
Publication date
1989
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardback&Paperback)
Pages377
ISBN0-575-04545-0
OCLC20852483
LC ClassPR6005.L36 R36 1989b
Preceded byRendezvous with Rama
Followed byThe Garden of Rama

Rama IIis ascience fictionnovel byGentry LeeandArthur C. Clarke,first published in 1989. It recounts humankind's further interaction with the Ramans, first introduced inRendezvous with Rama.Written primarily by Lee,[1]Rama IIhas 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 more futuristic tones. Rama IIis the first novel of the "new"Ramaseries, asRendezvous with Ramais not always counted as part of it. TheRamaseries includes two more sequels:The Garden of RamaandRama Revealed.

Plot summary[edit]

Seventy years after the events ofRendezvous with Rama,a second Raman vessel enters theSolar System.Its arrival is expected, and on Earth the chosen crew of twelve readies for the voyage to unlock more of Rama's mysteries. Interpersonal conflicts among crew members begin prior to the launch date.

After arriving, an accident kills the leader of the group while still outside Rama, and there is debate over who the replacement should be. The tools and vehicles the crew bring to Rama, based on knowledge from the first expedition, make exploring Rama easier.

The novel ends with three of the twelve astronauts abandoned inside Rama as it travels out of the Solar System.

Characters[edit]

Crew of theNewton:

  • Richard Wakefield: British electrical engineer
  • Francesca Sabatini: Italian journalist
  • David Brown: American scientific leader
  • Shigeru Takagishi: Japanese scientist, expert on first Rama craft
  • Janos Tabori: Russian cosmonaut
  • Valeriy Borzov: Russian General and Rama II mission commander
  • Nicole des Jardins: French chief medical and life-sciences officer
  • Michael O'Toole: American general
  • Irina Turgenyev: Russian cosmonaut and pilot
  • Hiro Yamanaka: Japanese cosmonaut and pilot
  • Reggie Wilson: American videographer working with Sabatini
  • Otto Heilmann: German admiral

Books in the series[edit]

Gentry Lee also wrote two further novels set in the same Rama Universe.

Adaptations[edit]

Video game[edit]

Sierra EntertainmentcreatedRamain 1996 as a point and click adventure game in the style ofMyst.Along with highly detailed graphics, Arthur C. Clarke also appeared in the game as the guide for the player. This game featured characters from Rama II.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^George Zebrowski (23 July 2008)."Arthur C. Clarke | Interviews | SCI FI Weekly".SciFi.com.NBCUniversal. Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2008.Retrieved2 February2021.Since then Gentry has collaborated on Rama II and The Garden of Rama, and Rama Revealed, which was written virtually entirely by him, though with consultation with me. I've described our collaboration in the preface, "Co-Authors and Other Nuisances," I think in Rama II.
  2. ^Sierra On-Line (17 November 1996)."Sierra WebNews, November 17, 1996".Newsgroup:alt.anonymous.messages.Archivedfrom the original on 31 December 2023.Retrieved30 January2024.


External links[edit]