Rendezvous with Rama

Arthur C. Clarke, 1973

booksfhard sffirst contact

Quadrant Scores

Time Structure
LinearFractured
Pacing
Action-DrivenObservational
Threat Scale
IndividualSystemic
Protagonist Fate
VictoryAssimilation
Conflict Style
Western CombatKishōtenketsu
Price Type
PhysicalIdeological
Todorov's Stages
equilibrium
disruption
recognition
repair
new equilibrium

Characters15

Commander NortonProtagonist / mission commander

Commanding officer of Endeavour; leads southern landing on New York, manages crew interviews, authorises Pak's Dragonfly mission, crosses the Sea to rescue Pak, and coordinates response to the tidal wave.

NortonSkipperBillCommanderCaptain
Karl MercerFirst officer / life-support authority

First officer who leads the final descent into Rama, questions Norton's switch to aggressive exploration, and theorizes biots cannot distinguish humans from Ramans

KarlHub Control
Laura ErnstShip's doctor / field expedition leader

Studies the micro-organisms in the Cylindrical Sea, warns the crew about the water's toxicity, and assesses Pak's fitness before and after the Dragonfly mission.

Surgeon-Commander ErnstLauraDoc
Joe CalvertNavigating officer

Talkative junior officer; speculates on the oxygen-breathing universality of intelligent life; close companion and apparent partner of Mercer.

Lt CalvertJoe
Ambassador BoseRama Committee chairman

Chairs the Committee representing Mars; steers debate toward consensus with minimal intervention; convenes the emergency storm-warning session.

Dr BoseHis Excellency the Ambassador of Mars
Hermian AmbassadorPolitical antagonist

Mercury's United Planets representative who addresses the General Assembly warning of Rama's dangers and implicitly justifying the missile strike

the Hermian Ambassador
Ruby Barnescrew member / helmsman

Predicts the existence of docks, harbours, and ships along the Cylindrical Sea based on nautical reasoning; prompts the eastward cliff search.

Sergeant BarnesSergeant Ruby BarnesSergeant
Pieter RousseauHub observer / reconnaissance specialist

Space reconnaissance instrumentation expert; third member of Ernst's party to the Cylindrical Sea, relying on portable telescope and unaided observation.

Sergeant Pieter RousseauPieter
MyronCrew member

Considered for the descent party but excluded by Laura Ernst on fitness grounds; noted for being two kilos overweight.

Herr Doctor Professor Sergeant Myron
Boris RodrigoCommunications officer / pilot

Devout member of the Fifth Church of Christ, Cosmonaut; quiet, dignified, reliable; cautious in theological and scientific speculation; veteran of the Paris sortie.

RodLt RodrigoBoris
Dr. Carlisle PereraRama Committee scientist

Rama Committee scientist whose template-manufacturing theory is endorsed by the Hermian Ambassador; delivers the novel's final line about Ramans doing everything in threes

Dr Perera
Jimmy Pakjunior officer / aviator

Lunar Olympics sky-bike athlete who smuggles Dragonfly aboard and flies it to the southern continent; encounters the crab-creature, is stranded, and is rescued by Norton.

Lt. PakLt. James PakDragonfly
Crab creatureRaman entity

Large, possibly robotic crab-like organism that systematically dismantles Dragonfly and collects the pieces on its back before departing towards the Sea, ignoring Pak entirely.

the crabthe beetle
Jerry Kirchoffsupporting

Executive officer who crosses to the Hub during sleeping hours to deliver a can of toothpaste on the skipper's behalf

Jerrythe Exec
Sergeant Myronsupporting

Crew member who operates the laser torch to breach a building in the city called London during the final Rama expedition