Rendezvous with Rama

Arthur C. Clarke: a man of many talents, mostly pioneering the early beginnings of what we now know as “hard sci-fi.” However, his character work leaves a lot to be desired, and the climaxes of his stories aren't always the most satisfying. This is definitely the case with Rama. Although there were plenty of neat moments and ideas—especially in terms of scientific possibilities, the plot was fairly straightforward and needlessly foreboding until the very last sentence. Perhaps that was the intention, presenting a thematic statement of “the mysteries of the universe will always be mysteries,” but it didn't land very well for me.
Again, pretty sick sci-fi ideas though.