I read the book some years ago. It's not really on par with Clerk's better works such as 3001 (my favorite), 2001, The Songs of Distant Earth and his collaborative work Richter 10 (which was almost a Soft-Dan Brown Thriller). I still have to read the other 3 books.
RE: (IJCH) Another Favorite Book is going to be a movie - Arthur C. Clark's "Rendezvous with Rama"!