Books Like Rendezvous With Rama
Arthur C. Clarke is one of the biggest names in classic science fiction and his 1973 novel Rendezvous with Rama is still one of the most exciting tales of the genre. The story features a group of human explorers attempting to discover the mysteries behind an alien starship that enters the Solar System. Since the interstellar space ship will only remain in the Solar System for a brief period a survey vessel is quickly scrambled to study it. The story chronicles the adventures of the Endeavor crew as they board the ship, nicknamed Rama, and try to figure out what its purpose is. Rendezvous With Rama won numerous awards and Spaceguard, the program for cataloging and studying near-Earth objects, took its name from the novel. For more thrilling novels about mankind encountering mysterious alien objects check out these following books like Rendezvous With Rama.
Rama II
by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee
Initially, Arthur C. Clarke only meant for Rendezvous with Rama to be a standalone novel and for many years this remained the case. Then, in 1989, a sequel was released titled Rama II. However, this novel was written primarily by Gentry Lee and has a different writing style compared to the original novel. The story takes place seventy years after the events of the first novel and sees a second alien ship entering the Solar System. Once again a crew is sent to try and unravel the mysteries of the ship, but this time there are new surprises in store for them. Rama II is a different story compared to the original, but still features plenty of intriguing elements. It also set up the story for two sequels of its own, The Garden of Rama (1991) and Rama Revealed (1993).
Pushing Ice
by Alastair Reynolds
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds is a 2005 novel that is set in a different universe from his Revelation Space novels. The protagonist, Bella Lind, is the captain of a huge commercial spacecraft designed to move comets back to the inner worlds for processing. One day, much to the surprise of everyone, one of Saturn's moons suddenly breaks its orbit and begins accelerating out of the Solar System. It turns out that it was never a moon, but hidden beneath its icy mantle was an alien spacecraft that has been parked in orbit for millions of years. Bella Lind and her crew aboard The Rockhopper IV is tasked with pursuing the ship to gather information but becomes trapped in the pull. Everyone aboard The Rockhopper IV finds themselves hurled across time and space where they end up inside a vast, alien-constructed chamber. They find themselves with access to dangerous technologies, but also discover that they are not alone in the chamber.
The Enigma Cube
by Douglas E. Richards
The Enigma Cube by Douglas E. Richards is a 2020 thriller that also features an alien object with breathtaking capabilities. One of the protagonists, Dr. Kelly Connolly, is one of the members of the top-secret team tasked with trying to unlock the mysteries of the Enigma Cube. It is believed that the technology of the cube can catapult civilization to dizzying heights, but years of attempts have failed to yield any results. Then a series of events result in all hell breaking loose and Kelly is forced to team up with Justin Boyd, a black-ops commando, to keep the cube out of enemy hands. The situation continues to escalate and Kelly is shocked to discover that the cube poses a far greater danger than what she could ever have imagined.
The Last Astronaut
by David Wellington
The Last Astronaut is a 2019 novel by David Wellington and features a huge alien object that has entered the Solar System. However, unlike Rama, this object ends up poised directly above Earth. Since it does not attempt to communicate NASA decides to send the last living astronaut on Earth on a First Contact mission. The astronaut, Commander Sally Jansen, is accompanied by a team of raw recruits for this dangerous mission, but soon finds themselves in a desperate struggle for survival. The Last Astronaut features a lot of the science fiction elements that have made Rendezvous With Rama so popular, but the inclusion of some horror elements adds to the thrills.
Ringworld
by Larry Niven
Ringworld, the 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven was published before Rendezvous With Rama but shares a lot of similar themes. It is about a diverse group, consisting of both humans and aliens, setting out to an artificially constructed object in space called the Ringworld. The origins of Ringworld is shrouded in mystery, but it is vast enough to hold 3 million times the area of Earth within its high walls. The purpose of the mission is to discover whether the Ringworld poses any threat, but the crew ends up crash landing on the object after their ship is disabled by automated meteoroid-defense systems. The story then follows the crew as they explore the mysterious Ringworld and try to figure out how to leave again. Just like Rendezvous With Rama, Ringworld has been very influential in the world of science fiction and many other books, movies and even games such as the popular Halo series, have borrowed its concepts.
Ancestral Night
by Elizabeth Bear
Ancestral Night is a 2019 novel by Elizabeth Bear starring a space salvager named Haimey Dz. Haimey and her small crew are busy with a routine salvage mission when they not only discover evidence of a terrible crime, but also relics of powerful ancient technology. They don't have a lot of time to process their discovery as they are immediately attacked by pirates, which forces them to focus on their survival. Matters become even direr when Haimey realizes that the authorities are corrupt and she might be the only one who can keep the universe-changing technology from falling into the wrong hands.
