---
product_id: 319244354
title: "Rendezvous With Rama: A Novel"
price: "SAR 130"
currency: SAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/319244354-rendezvous-with-rama-a-novel
store_origin: SA
region: Saudi Arabia
---

# Rendezvous With Rama: A Novel

**Price:** SAR 130
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- **What is this?** Rendezvous With Rama: A Novel
- **How much does it cost?** SAR 130 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.sa](https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/319244354-rendezvous-with-rama-a-novel)

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## Description

Astronauts explore an alien spacecraft hurtling toward the sun in this Hugo and Nebula Award–winning novel ―“a stone-cold classic” of hard sci-fi ( The Guardian ). An enormous cylindrical object has entered Earth’s solar system on a collision course with the sun. A team of astronauts are sent to explore the mysterious craft, which the denizens of the solar system name Rama. What they find is astonishing evidence of a civilization far more advanced than ours. They find an interior stretching over fifty kilometers; a forbidding cylindrical sea; mysterious and inaccessible buildings; and strange machine-animal hybrids, or “biots,” that inhabit the ship. But what they don’t find is an alien presence. So who―and where―are the Ramans? Often listed as one of Clarke’s finest novels, Rendezvous with Rama won numerous awards, including the Hugo, the Nebula, the Jupiter, and the British Science Fiction Awards. A fast-paced and compelling story of an enigmatic encounter with alien technology, Rendezvous with Rama offers both answers and unsolved mysteries that will continue to fascinate readers for generations. “Mr. Clarke is splendid . . . We experience that chilling touch of the alien, the not-quite-knowable, that distinguishes SF at its most technically imaginative.” ― The New York Times

Review: awesome - Awesome story. Well paced, exciting. Totally different feel than most stories on this subject. I'll read more or Arthur's stuff.
Review: Hard Sci-Fi of the Highest Order - This feels like one of those books where I waver between four and five by mood alone. Resting on four now, as there were times whilst reading it that I felt slightly bored, but this feels like more of a 'me problem' rather than any problem with the text. 'Lot going on right now. Anyhow, who doesn't love a getting a classic science-fiction novel for Christmas?? Clarke has been on my list for as long as I've been aware of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and with the recent news that Rendezvous with Rama may be Denis Villeneuve's next project after he's finished with Dune, what better time for such a sweet gift? I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this novel. There is always a slight worry—at least for me there is—that classic novels will not hold up to the scrutiny of a contemporary gaze. Not so with Rama. Not so at all. Clarke weaves his unknowable cosmic journey with a not-at-all-concealed intelligence and a wry wit that combines into a cohesive package offering frequent moments of casual brilliance that will please readers new and old. It's true that the character work is nothing to write home about, but that simply wasn't Clarke's focus. Rama is hard sci-fi of the highest order. It is one hundred percent about the science, and yet Clarke keeps things fun and engaging (science is fun? who knew). And clocking in at just over two hundred pages, he keeps the pace up, too. There are no real lulls here, as the crew of the Endeavour explores a brand new world. Clarke's strongest offering here is the sheer sense of exploration the reader gets. The reader himself is a discoverer of an alien artifact of unimaginable magnitude. The reader herself embarks on an unknowable cosmic journey as a sleeping giant awakes. It's a ride worth taking.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #20,275 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #71 in Hard Science Fiction (Books) #96 in Alien Invasion Science Fiction #98 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 16,539 Reviews |

## Images

![Rendezvous With Rama: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cIKJbt50L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ awesome
*by A***R on July 21, 2026*

Awesome story. Well paced, exciting. Totally different feel than most stories on this subject. I'll read more or Arthur's stuff.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hard Sci-Fi of the Highest Order
*by B***D on January 20, 2022*

This feels like one of those books where I waver between four and five by mood alone. Resting on four now, as there were times whilst reading it that I felt slightly bored, but this feels like more of a 'me problem' rather than any problem with the text. 'Lot going on right now. Anyhow, who doesn't love a getting a classic science-fiction novel for Christmas?? Clarke has been on my list for as long as I've been aware of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and with the recent news that Rendezvous with Rama may be Denis Villeneuve's next project after he's finished with Dune, what better time for such a sweet gift? I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this novel. There is always a slight worry—at least for me there is—that classic novels will not hold up to the scrutiny of a contemporary gaze. Not so with Rama. Not so at all. Clarke weaves his unknowable cosmic journey with a not-at-all-concealed intelligence and a wry wit that combines into a cohesive package offering frequent moments of casual brilliance that will please readers new and old. It's true that the character work is nothing to write home about, but that simply wasn't Clarke's focus. Rama is hard sci-fi of the highest order. It is one hundred percent about the science, and yet Clarke keeps things fun and engaging (science is fun? who knew). And clocking in at just over two hundred pages, he keeps the pace up, too. There are no real lulls here, as the crew of the Endeavour explores a brand new world. Clarke's strongest offering here is the sheer sense of exploration the reader gets. The reader himself is a discoverer of an alien artifact of unimaginable magnitude. The reader herself embarks on an unknowable cosmic journey as a sleeping giant awakes. It's a ride worth taking.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ great exploration, weak characters
*by A***D on November 16, 2014*

Rendezvous with Rama is widely acclaimed as Arthur C. Clarke's best book, and it definitely deserves much of the praise it's gotten. That said, the book isn't perfect, particularly when it comes to the characters. Rendezvous with Rama starts when an large, cylindrical object is detected hurtling towards the sun. The object is named "Rama" after the Hindu god. The United Planets sends the solar survey vessel Endeavour under the command of Commander Bill Norton to investigate. The rest of the book focuses on the crew's exploration of the alien artifact. Rama is excellent at evoking a sense of wonder. Clarke manages to convey the artifact's grandeur and to create a uniquely bizarre alien world. The structures and other things encountered do not resemble the familiar sci-fi tropes. I especially liked how Clarke takes advantage of Rama's artificial gravity (generated by the object's spin) to present the astronauts with a new challenge. Even more than the alien structures, I'll always remember the description of Commander Norton climbing "down" the ladder towards Rama's "ground." That said, Clarke demonstrates an admirable amount of discipline in not revealing everything about Rama. Some mysteries remain unanswered, and are thus all the more intriguing. I can only imagine that, when the book was first published in 1973, the effect was even greater and there were fewer books about alien worlds. I haven't read the sequels, but fear they would undermine the majesty of this book. Clarke has always focused more on alien life and technology than on characters in his stories. That said, the characters in Rama are surprisingly serviceable, if not great. Commander Norton gets enough backstory to make him relatable. Norton's interest in and admiration for James Cook, captain of an earlier Endeavour, gave him some depth. For those who know their history, it also infused the story with some foreshadowing over Norton's fate. Most of the crew members at least get a few personality quirks that help distinguish them, although few are actually memorable. The lack of characterization generally works - until it doesn't. At a few points, the book places some of these characters in danger and the reader is expected to care, but I found it hard to do so. For example, two-thirds into the book, a character whom we'd never seen before, Jimmy, suddenly appears, and then the next 15% of the book focuses on him and his trials. At the least the character would have benefitted from some sort of introduction. I've criticized Clarke's problems ending some of his stories in a satisfactory manner, especially his tendency to rely upon incongruous twists or cheats to resolve plot threads (see, for example, my review of Clarke's Childhood's End). Fortunately, Rama avoids this problem. The story ends in a manner that suits the mystery and grandeur of Rama. There is a twist at the end, but it manages to be both subtle and thought-provoking at the same time. I could see how readers demanded a sequel, but the book was designed to - and mostly manages to - stand on its own. Rendezvous for Rama isn't for anybody. This book is about exploration writ large, about drive to explore rather than the discoveries. If you want a fully realized alien civilization, this isn't the book for you. However, if you want a somewhat realistic account of how man's first contact with alien technology might occur, Rama is still a classic.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Rendezvous With Rama
- The Garden of Rama
- Rama Revealed

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*Product available on Desertcart Saudi Arabia*
*Store origin: SA*
*Last updated: 2026-09-17*