Interesting and classic first contact story, Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama distinguishes itself in the way that the first contact almost feels like a dud. The tension of the encounter with Rama and its surprising interior is captivating and well-executed. The brilliance of the novel is that the aliens do not care about humanity and simply passes us over, on the way to somewhere else. That we are completely insignificant, even to the point of being completely ignored by the first intelligent life encountered, is a masterful reversal of our own self-centeredness