This book feels rather different from Rendezvous with Rama.

For the first half, I wasn’t sure that I actually liked the difference. Rather than the almost sterile science fiction that Clarke is better known for, the sequel deals a lot more with characters, drama, and to some extent matters of faith. It’s especially interesting in how long it takes them to even get to Rama, especially compared to the first book.

Through the next quarter though, it really started picking up. I started to actually care about the characters and couldn’t put it down. The feel of the ship, especially with some of the new findings, is just different enough that I wanted to know more.

At first, I wasn’t sure that I was going to read the other two sequels. After this, I’m not sure how I couldn’t.