When an immense object near the asteroid belt is detected by space telescopes, astronomers and scientists across the United Planets set their minds to investigate it. The investigators name the unidentified object Rama (a hindu god) and try to find out everything they can through their radars and space telescopes. As Rama comes near earth and flies beyond, they identify its shape as a perfect cylinder which seems to be rotating around its long axis at considerable speed. Not much else is learned from a distance. Now that Rama flies towards Mercury's orbit a decision is made to send a party to intercept and investigate the object.
Bill Norton in charge of Solar Survey Research Vessel Rendezvous and his crew have to land on Rama and find a way to get inside the gigantic object. As they carry out their mission we learn about the nature of Rama and the mentality of the beings who built it.
Opinion: this is a short, fast read. An excellent premise for a first contact story. Excellent plot, including scientific elements and a bit of mystery but with flat non relatable characters. I have to say that I didn't mind about this last issue that much as I was immersed into discovering Rama as a reader. Every chapter something new happened, revealing in small doses the mysteries of Rama. The characters seemed to me like ants working their way through the object, all of them undistinguishable between them. However the actual object, Rama, felt to me a much better character. It came to live with a little bit of personality and history of its own. It lead to some interesting scientific and philosophical questions. (Who built it? Why did they come? How many years has it been travelling? How does it work?) I liked the open ended finale, leaving quite a few unanswered questions, as this way the story felt more realistic.
My edition is a SF Masterworks published in 2006 by Gollancz. It has 252 pages.
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