Published in 1973, Rendezvous With Rama is a science fiction adventure novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. In his time, Clarke was known as one of the “Big Three” writers of science fiction alongside American authors Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. Clarke’s expertise in space flight prompted him to develop the novel and screenplay for his best-known work, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Rendezvous With Rama won major speculative fiction awards, including the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, between 1973 and 1974.

The novel takes place in a solar system that humanity has fully colonized. A large, cylindrical space vessel appears, marking humanity’s first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. The human spaceship Endeavour, led by Commander William Norton, is sent to investigate the vessel, which humans have named “Rama.” Inside, Norton and his crew behold Rama’s mysterious wonders as it follows a deadly course toward the sun. The story explores themes relating to the unknown, beauty, and human instinct.

This guide refers to the paperback first edition, published by Ballantine Books in 1974.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, death by suicide, and gender discrimination.

Plot Summary

The novel begins by describing a tragic incident that occurred in 2077, when an undetected meteorite hit Earth, killing thousands. In response, Earth’s nations pooled their resources to launch a joint defense program called Project SPACEGUARD. Fifty years later, the SPACEGUARD computers detect the presence of a large unknown object near Jupiter. At this point, humanity has colonized numerous planets and moons in the solar system. The Space Advisory Council sends a probe to investigate the alien object. Upon closer inspection, they realize that it isn’t an asteroid or a meteorite but a large, cylindrical vessel of extraterrestrial origin.

The spaceship Endeavour is sent to investigate the vessel, which humans have named “Rama.” Led by seasoned astronaut Commander William Norton, who lives on both Earth and Mars, the Endeavour lands on Rama’s north pole and unseals the first of its air locks. Meanwhile, the federation of human settlements across the solar system, known as the United Planets (UP), convenes a special committee to discuss Rama. The Rama Committee members agree that Rama may be a tomb, akin to the ancient crypt of King Tutankhamen that British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered in 1922. An alternative theory is that Rama is an ark designed to safely shepherd its passengers through space, though the members have different theories about whether Rama’s intended passengers are the Ramans themselves or humans.

Norton’s first observation is that the Ramans built everything in threes, a design pattern that seems central to their civilization. Using a flare, Norton illuminates Rama’s interior and finds a vast, bewildering world that curves inward, following the shape of the cylinder. The Endeavour’s crew quickly maps out Rama’s key features, which include towns, mountains, and a dark band of water in the cylinder’s center that they dub the “Cylindrical Sea.”

Norton organizes probe teams to traverse a system of ladders and stairs leading from Rama’s hub, where they entered, to the “Central Plain.” As the men go deeper into the ship, they discover that Rama’s air is breathable, so they can remove their helmets. Norton joins the second team, which ventures through a crystal canal called the “Straight Valley” and reaches a town that they name “Paris.” It’s full of buildings without any openings, suggesting that Paris is actually a storage facility that was sealed to preserve its contents. They discover that the Cylindrical Sea is frozen, and analysis reveals that it would be poisonous to humans.

Rama’s increasing proximity to the sun creates internal climate shifts, which threaten to melt the Cylindrical Sea. Soon, the Rama Committee urges Norton to evacuate Rama, fearing that a hurricane is imminent due to the climate shifts. When Rama gets close enough to the sun to reach a humid temperature, the Cylindrical Sea melts, catalyzing the predicted hurricane. As Norton and his crew leave Rama, they notice that the Straight Valley and five mirroring valleys have turned into linear indoor suns.

Several days later, the Rama Committee believes that the hurricane has subsided. Fearing that the Ramans sent the vessel to sap the solar system’s precious energy stores, they give Norton clearance to reenter Rama. Upon returning to Rama, the crew discovers that its interior has become a sustainable biome for oxygen-breathing organisms. Since the Cylindrical Sea is fully melted, the team makes a small raft to cross it to the large island settlement they call “New York,” which they theorize is a city-sized industrial complex. One of the crew members suggests that it uses the seawater to produce Ramans.

The next challenge facing the Endeavour’s crew involves scaling the high cliff that marks Rama’s southern continent. No one can suggest a viable strategy for reaching the continent until junior crew member James “Jimmy” Pak proposes flying along Rama’s axis to pass over the high cliff. He uses a modified sky-bike (which he smuggled onto the Endeavor) called “Dragonfly” to make the trip. Jimmy’s idea proves successful, allowing him to reach a configuration of spikes on the south pole, which he informally names “the Horns.” However, the Horns emit an electrical discharge, knocking Dragonfly out of the sky and stranding Jimmy on the southern continent. There, he encounters the first sign of animal life on Rama: a large, crab-like creature that scavenges Dragonfly for parts. Jimmy roams around the continent, observing several fields of varying terrain, the purpose of which escapes his understanding. Believing that he’s fated to die on the continent, Jimmy plucks the lone flower he spots in one of the fields.

Norton and his crew determine a way to rescue Jimmy from the southern continent. They instruct him to leap off the high cliff into the sea, using his shirt as a parachute to reduce his terminal velocity. Shortly after the crew rescues Jimmy, the Horns reactivate, setting off an earthquake on the northern continent. This changes Rama’s trajectory as it approaches perihelion. As the crew sails back to the northern continent, they witness more creatures (like the crab that Jimmy saw) emerging from the sea. Soon, other species of creatures appear. Medical officer Laura Ernst studies one that crashes, concluding that they’re all highly specialized robots built from organic material. The robot creatures, which the team informally refers to as “biots,” begin roaming Rama’s Central Plain in the hundreds, carrying out various functions from surveillance to scavenging.

The human settlement on Mercury, the Hermians, who (like the element and mythological figure) are prone to overreaction, have become increasingly paranoid about Rama and launch an interplanetary missile to destroy it. At the UP General Assembly, the ambassador from Mercury explains that the missile is a precautionary measure to defend the solar system from the possible threat that Rama poses to the human race. The Hermians theorize that Rama’s recent trajectory shift signals an intention to become a new planet in the solar system, which would affect the balance of resource supply and demand among the planets. Racked with guilt, Norton launches a mission to stop the Hermian missile before it reaches Rama. He sends Boris Rodrigo, the crew’s communications officer, to fly to the missile and disarm its ballistic capabilities. Rodrigo successfully diverts the Hermian missile, saving Rama from certain destruction.

Only a few days before Rama gets too close to the sun to sustain human life, Norton leads one last exploration mission. The crew breaks into one of the sealed town settlements, discovering a holographic catalog of tools and domestic instruments. One hologram gives the crew a sense of Raman biology, but this revelation ends abruptly when Rama enters perihelion. Norton orders immediate evacuation when Rama appears to respond to this development: The linear suns diminish in strength, and the biots throw themselves into the Cylindrical Sea.

Back on the Endeavour, Norton and his crew watch as Rama appears to hurtle itself into the sun. To their surprise, this move accelerates Rama’s power capabilities: Its trajectory suddenly shifts, and it exits the solar system and heads toward the Large Magellanic Cloud. Humanity lauds Norton as a hero, and the Martian government grants him permission to father a third child. He’s haunted, however, by Rama’s impact on his life and continues to think about whether he failed in his mission there. The novel ends as one of the Rama Committee members wakes from a dream, remembering that “Ramans do everything in threes” (274).