Rama II by Arthur C Clarke

Clarke).
"Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed -- or had existed -- elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth's best and brightest minds is assembled to rendezvous with the massive vessel. They are armed with everything we know about Raman technology and culture. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to encounter on board Rama II: cosmic secrets that are startling, sensational -- and perhaps even deadly."

Not as good as the first one. The focus has moved dramatically, from the amazing alien technology to the cosmonauts chosen for the expedition - a crew so hopelessly clashing in personalities that it is impossible to believe that they would ever have been assembled for such an important mission.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

The setting is that humans have settled Mercury, Luna, Mars, some asteroids, and some Jovian and Saturnian moons. Each group sends an Ambassador to the United Planets, which meets on Earth's moon. Suddenly, an enormous cylindrical space ship enters the solar system and appears completely passive; it is named Rama as that is the next name in the nomenclature sequence.
Commander Norton commands the only space ship capable of docking with Rama, so he is ordered to investigate. What he finds is amazing, yet puzzling. He encounters an alien technology that is baffling, yet they find it fairly easy to understand some of what it does. The crewmembers explore Rama, finding their greatest problem to be coping with the sheer size of the vessel.

An easy to read, simple story with hidden depths. I finshed this book during my break at work and was sorry I hadn't brought the next in the series with me.

In Darkness Reborn by Alexis Morgan

Once a warrior for the Others, Barak q'Young is caught between two worlds -- exiled from his homeland, and a pariah among his enemies, the Paladins. While hunting a betrayer who's selling the precious blue gems that light the Others' world, Barak must aid geologist Lacey Sebastian in her research for the Paladins. Barak is instantly drawn to the fiery, beautiful woman, but Lacey initially despises the enemy intruder. Soon she sees beyond his violent past, though, finding the dark warrior intriguing -- and extremely sexy.

Though neither can resist the passion that blazes between them, Barak is torn between loyalties, hiding a secret gift that could prove useful to Lacey's research, at the sacrifice of his own people. But when Lacey is kidnapped and held hostage, Barak realizes he will do anything to save her . . . even risk his own life.

A very enjoyable read. Iliked the characters. Now I want the next in the series.

Three Cups of Tea: by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

"The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign
to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban's backyard. Anyone who despairs of the
individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless
mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a
chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school.
Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools - especially for girls - that offer a
balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it
chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists
and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration
of the humanitarian spirit."

A powerful book that shows that a single person can make a difference.

Really great book.

Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey

As director of the Jerhattan Parapsychic Center, telepath Rhyssa Owen coordinated the job assignments for psychically gifted Talents. And though she had her hands full dealing with the unreasonable demand for kinetics to work on the space platform that would be humankind's stepping-stone to the stars, she was always ready to welcome new Talents to the Center.

Feisty and streetwise, twelve-year-old Tirla used her extraordinary knack for languages to eke out a living in the Linear developments, where the poor struggled to make ends meet and children were conscripted or sold into menial work programs. Young Peter, paralyzed in a freak accident, hoped someday to get into space where zero gravity would enable him to function more easily. Both desperately needed help only other Talents could provide.

With the appearance in her life of one extraordinary man with no measurable Talent at all, Rhyssa suddenly found herself questioning everything she thought she knew about her people. And when two Talented children were discovered to have some very unusual -- and unexpected -- abilities, she realized that she would have to reassess the potential of all Talentkind...

Another excellent Anne McCaffrey.

Over The Moon

Experience the lure of the moon...

As a lovely werewolf in the midst of her Burning Moon must decide between two very different suitors determined to have her—no matter the cost...

In the wickedly funny lair of the Wyndham werewolves, where a vampire and a werewolf fall together—literally...

Under a dark night sky of magic and wonder, where the lines between the kingdom of the Fae and the mortal world become dangerously blurred...

In the exotic realm where souls are born of the moon, and a Mixed Blood Queen is in command...

Four all-new novellas of love and legend, myth and magic, fear and desire, as powerful and enthralling as the moon itself.

As usual in an anthology I enjoyed some stories more than others. I would like to read more by Sunny, an author new to me.

Prelude To Space by Arthur C Clarke

"Prelude to Space" is the first novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008) and was published in 1951 in the series of Galaxy Science Fiction novels. Originally this short novel was written in 1947. According to the introduction which he wrote, Clarke wrote the entire novel in just 20 days, but it took a while to get it published even though he was a successful writer of short fiction. The story is about the first manned mission to the moon. Some of the correct predictions that Clarke made include the first Lunar impact in 1959 and he had the number of astronauts on the lunar mission correct, but much more impressive was his discussion of telecommunications satellites. He didn't do too bad with his prediction of when the landing would be, as he was within a decade by setting it in 1978.

The story is told in three parts, the first of which takes place in England where we meet Dirk Alexson, a historian who has been hired by Interplanetary to record the project of sending men to the moon for posterity. This section provides the background of how man came from the end of World War II to the verge of space travel. Clarke believed that the rocket would be nuclear powered, and that the mission would be one supported by many nations, and in particular England, with Australia being the launch site due to the vast unpopulated areas in the interior. In part two the preparations are made for moving the operation to Australia in preparation for the launch. Part three details the final preparations and finishes with the launch itself. There is an epilogue which looks back from further in the future as man continues to reach out to other planets in the solar system.

The strength of this story is the science. Clarke has done an excellent job of putting together a realistic scenario of a trip to the moon, which holds up today.

A bit dated in some ways...astronauts smoking in a space shuttle?? ...but an interesting read none-the-less.