My biggest criticism of my other recent walk through sci-fi territory was a lack of intimacy between characters. The characters in Nemesis by Asimov were missing a sense of humanness that would've made them more believable, more conducive to provoking various levels of sympathy and kinship in the reader. This novel suffers form the same weakness, but I can't remember a single moment where I cared at all.
The only character of any importance in Rendezvous with Rama is Rama itself. The cylinder of metal spinning through the solar system stole every ounce of spotlight, leaving the characters tasked with exploring the object and discussing it from afar mostly ignored. Sure, attempts were made to explain the futuristic culture and some textures of emotion, but Clarke did such a great job building suspense, peppering small details in at very strategic moments. It was as if I was exploring the alien terrarium that is Rama with my own eyes rather than through the eyes of the crew. And Rama itself was infinitely interesting to explore. I rarely blast through books so quickly, but I needed to see everything, I needed to know the purpose, to investigate why Rama had flown into our plot of space instead of any other.
But Rama didn't care at all, which was obviously my favorite part of the book. All of the characters assumed Rama had come with the purpose of making contact with the human race, for reasons of enlightenment or destruction or resources. But, all Rama needed was to recharge it's batteries by way of the sun, then it sped off without the slightest interest in anything human. Rama's mission was obviously infinitely more complex than our selfish, monkey brains could wrap around. It was a humbling moment that was infinitely appreciated. So even though my perception of sci-fi as less human hasn't changed, the brilliant unfolding of events in this novel makes it essential reading for anyone who digs an adventure.
5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment