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The Garden of Rama

Rama Series, Book 3

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The Garden of Rama

By: Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee
Narrated by: Toby Longworth, Louise Jameson
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About this listen

In the year 2130 a mysterious spaceship, Rama, arrived in the solar system. It was huge, but empty - apparently abandoned. By the time Rama departed for its next unknown destination many wonders had been uncovered, but few mysteries solved. Only one thing was clear: everything the enigmatic builders of Rama did, they did in threes.

Eighty years later the second alien craft arrived in the solar system. This time, Earth had been waiting. Now Rama II is on its way out of the solar system. Aboard it are three humans, two men and a woman, left behind when the expedition departed. Ahead of them lies the unknown, a voyage no human has ever experienced; and at the end of it may lie the truth about Rama.

Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead in 1917. During the Second World War he served as an RAF radar instructor, rising to the rank of Flight-Lieutenant. After the war he won a BSc in physics and mathematics with first class honours from King's College, London. One of the most respected of all science-fiction writers, he also won Kalinga Prize, The Aviation Space-Writers' Prize and the Westinghouse Science Writing Prize. He shared an Oscar nomination with Stanley Kubrick for the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was based on his story, 'The Sentinel'. He lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death in 2008.

©1991 Arthur C. Clarkes & Gentry Lee (P)2014 Audible Studios
Science Fiction
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What listeners say about The Garden of Rama

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

different type of storytelling

this third Rama wasn't my cup of tea. too little science fiction and too much social politics. it isn't terrible, but Rama 3 feels completely different to the previous two books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrible French accent

The beginning part is narrated terribly

It gets better though so push through until Toby long worth starts narrating again

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Darkness & Light. Really enjoyable

Would you listen to The Garden of Rama again? Why?

Yes I would, in a year or so. I'm sure I'd enjoy it again. There is so much detail in the Rama books that you are bound to find bits you missed the first time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

They're all good, human and alien. Are the Octospiders goodies or baddies?

What does Toby Longworth and Louise Jameson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Toby Longworth is a brilliant narrator. He is interesting to listen to. The main advantage to audio files over physical books is that you can multi task. I usually have a book running while I'm cooking the evening meal.
I'm sure Louise Jameson reads well in her natural voice, but she makes a hash of her section of this book. I would have given up if she had been the only reader. Her attempt at a French accent is like the proverbial "car crash". Her accent comes across as a mash up of German, Chinese & a little French. She's simply awful. I breathed a sigh of relief when her section was finished :-(

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end. Left me wanting more. Luckily there was another volume to follow.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this classic book. Each Rama book is better than the last. It demonstrates both the best and especially the worst of human nature. Best read in sequence after Rendezvous with Rama but before Rama Revealed. If you like Clarke, you will like these books.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

slow start

first few hours are absolutely dull. gets better when original narrator takes over and plot moves on.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great listen

great story with some wonderful twists and turns. definitely worth another listen again in the future

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book

This is a great and interesting story although the social aspects are dated considering this is set well in the future. The story line is quite drawn out and bleak in areas although as a whole it works well. The audiobook hasn't been well edited and on several occasions the text is repeated with slightly different tones. Would recommend though.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit of a hard slog

I read this series about 40 years ago, or at least the earlier books. I thought I’d remind myself as I’d forgotten almost all the details. This, the third of the four in the series was really hard going, not as I remember it. There was no need for an English person to do a French accent for several hours - just get a Frenchwoman to narrate if you really must have the accent! In the end it was just a soap opera showing how man ruins the places he lives in….. but 12 hours to say it was just much more than needed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Overall compelling book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Garden of Rama to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

What did you like best about this story?

How richly things are described.

What does Toby Longworth and Louise Jameson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Toby is the master of interpretation. I love how he gets into each of the characters and makes you feel you actually listen to the real guys. He brings the russian, the hungarian, the itailan and all other accents to life. I don't even know how he does it. Brilliant!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Hasn't improved with age...

i suspect that most of this book was written by Gentry Lee. There's some Clarke in there but as the story wears on it descends into a weak family drama, hard to complete.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Badly edited

Great story, but very badly edited, so many repeated sentences. Someone should have listened to this before releasing!

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