The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.
Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. It’s possible to argue that Stanislaw Lem is the best science fiction writer ever, and Solaris is his most famous book. They screw up, are late, fail to see the whole picture, act irrationally, and even the brightest of them can be swayed by vanity and pride. Lem’s humans are some of the best in science fiction as well, because they are profoundly human. Communication with them is often impossible, and the humans that attempt to interact with them are well-intentioned but unsuccessful. Rendezvous with Rama is fast-moving, fascinating, and a must-read for science fiction fans.Īuthor Stanislaw Lem has the best aliens, mostly because he makes them completely and profoundly, well, alien. Rama’s unsolved mysteries are tantalizing indeed. But who, and where, are the Ramans, and what do they want with humans? Perhaps the answer lies with the busily working biots, or the sealed-off buildings, or the inaccessible “southern” half of the enormous cylinder. From the ubiquitous trilateral symmetry of its structures to its cylindrical sea and machine-island, Rama’s secrets are strange evidence of an advanced civilization.
The astronauts given the task of exploring the hollow cylindrical ship are able to decipher some, but definitely not all, of the extraterrestrial vehicle’s puzzles. The citizens of the solar system send a ship to investigate before the enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears. “Vinge offers heart-pounding, mind-expanding science fiction at its best.”Īn uncontested sci-fi classic, Rendezvous with Rama is also one of Clarke’s best novels, winning the Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, and Nebula Awards.Ī huge, mysterious, cylindrical object appears in space, swooping in toward the sun. A rescue mission, composed not entirely of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these “regions of thought,” but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.įleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind’s potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function.
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