Storyline: 4/5 
 Characters: 3/5 
 Writing Style: 3/5 
 World: 4/5 
 I feel I've read enough of the "Big Three" - Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein - to offer my opinion as to the one I like the best, and Clarke is the clear winner. Clarke grasps a facet I highly value in novels: discovery. Experiencing the characters' or the world's awe or stunning reactions to shocking science fiction developments is something I find highly enjoyable. Clarke manages it better than either Asimov or Heinlein. Still, Clarke is no literary genius. He has neat ideas, and his novels are immensely satisfying to read, but they're not quality literature. They're fun sci fi that are leaps above pulp science fiction but somewhat behind the products of genuinely gifted writers. Rendezvous with Rama demonstrates all of this: good (but not great) suspense, hard (but not clunky) science, wonder (that could have been even more intense), three dimensional (but still not deep) characters, and acceptable (yet surely imperfect) pacing. I can see why others might choose a different favorite from among the three, but I can't see anyone denying this as a science fiction classic.