I've been reading "Cradle" by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee

I've got to say that it's one of the worst books I've ever read. The plot, the writing, and the characters are all so horrible that I'm glad that I got it as part of a $2.00-per-bag at a local book sale.

I've known for some time that Clarke wasn't the best character writer, but this is awful even for him. I know nothing of Gentry Lee, so I don't know how much of this books stinkiosity is the result of his contribution and how much can be blamed on Clarke.

I know that it's unseemly to speak ill of the dead, especially after they've invented the communcations satellite, but I promise you this: if Zombie Clarke shows up at my door, the first thing I plan to say to him is "Cradle sucks!"

there's a lot of speculation about those collaborations and how/where to place the burden of blame the most. IMHO it's a case of a sad ending note to an otherwise interesting if not perfect literary legacy.

Either way, Clarke's career went steadily downhill for a long time.

This quick review from Amazon sums it up nicely;

The early 21st century ushers in a revolution in unified field theory, and free-thinking physicist Jeffrey Horton and his team are pushing the cutting edge. Sequestered on a maximum-security research campus, the scientists are testing "Baby," a device they hope will create "a laser for gravity," a tractor beam. But during an early run, every gun in the area (and even a secret stash of fireworks) simultaneously explodes. Follow-up tests soon prove their device was responsible--that it can in fact neutralize every conventional gun, bomb, and explosive--and that's when Baby becomes the "Trigger."

This speculative novel by sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke and genre workman Michael Kube-McDowell follows the vast sea changes such an invention would bring, reading as part thriller, part social tract. Horton and his Trigger follow a course not unlike that of Einstein and the A-bomb, but ratcheted up by an order of magnitude--idealistic scientists, overwhelmed politicians, rabid lobbyists, and entrenched generals must deal with the device's deployment and consequences, both political and social, in a gun-rich, gun-dependent culture. A well-researched, plausible plot line keeps The Trigger not just readable but downright engrossing, despite its sometimes distracting lack of subtlety. All in all, a worthwhile, entertaining meditation on how technological progress always proves as unpredictable as it is inevitable. --Paul Hughes

I thought the book was excellent.

But Cradle sucked. :)

$0.25 for the paperback.

I liked Rendezvous with Rama rather a lot. I found that it was lacking in characterization, as is most of Clarke's work, but the story and the execution were brilliant.

I'd also read that the sequels weren't great.

Well, I'm about 30 pages in to Rama II, and I have to say that at least 28 pages so far have sucked. We go from little or no characterization in the first book to heavy-handed and unbearably trite characterization in the second. Truly, it's astonishingly bad. Of all the people Clarke could have chosen as a collaborator, how did Lee make the final cut?

Should I keep reading?

Learn from my sad experience. The Rama sequels get exponentially worse with each one. By the time third one rolled around I couldn't believe it was the same author. And as a prior poster noted, it probably wasn't Clarke who was really writing those stinkfests. Far better to re-read Clarke's classics then pursue the Rama series. And despite weak characterization, Clarke is a giant in the field for a reason. He wrote some damn fine science fiction.

The substantial majority are very, very good. I have almost no interest in his "White Hart" stories, because they seem smug and "too clever by half," as the expression goes.

But his pure s/f stuff is really strong.


Thanks for the tip. I abandoned Cradle after just a few chapters. Looks like I'll be heaving Rama II onto that same pile...

Doean't have the depth, but he has the imagination.