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by Analemma_ 109 days ago
Officially, all the Rama sequels were co-authored by Clarke and Gentry Lee. Clarke claimed that Lee did virtually all the writing and he was only a consultant, although AFAICT the only source for this claim was in an interview many years after they were published, presumably after Clarke was aware of their negative reception, so who knows how much of that is true vs. reputation management.

But yeah, they're awful. I read them when I was 12-13 and it was one of my first introductions to the idea that sequels to great books could be so bad (and then for some reason I went on to read the Brian Herbert Dune prequels, which are even worse). Read the first one, and pretend it stopped there.
3 comments
metaphor 109 days ago
In my mind, the prose of the sequels were so unlike Clarke when I read them as a teen that it created a long stint of aversion towards spending time on anything with co-authors. I owe Rendezvous a lot though; had I not discovered that book as a kid, there's little chance I'd be reading recreationally today.
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rendleflag 109 days ago
The sequel series was one of my favorite sets of books. It’s markedly different from Rendezvous, but I found them an enjoyable read. It was contrived at points, but the series had my favorite ending for a character.
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ggm-at-algebras 109 days ago
It would seem passing strange that Gentry Lee came up with all the awful bits and the consulting oversight didn't.
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BeetleB 109 days ago
I've read almost all of Arthur C. Clarke's novels. The Rama sequels are nothing like his work. It's easy to believe that he barely contributed.
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rbanffy 109 days ago
By the same time he did The Hammer of God, which is great.
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rbanffy 109 days ago
I always felt that Gentry Lee kidnapped Clarke and forced him to be his co-author.

Clarke was so much of a better writer than the [2010|Rama] sequels indicate. He would not be able to screw it up so thoroughly without extensive "help".

Clarke also made some good partnerships - Richter 10 is a very good book. Sadly, the partner died and never worked with Clarke again. Gentry Lee would be my main suspect.

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Sharlin 109 days ago
The terrible bits were all stuff that Clarke never wrote in any of his solo novels.
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