In the long-awaited conclusion to one of the most heralded science fiction series ever, Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee reveal the ultimate Raman plan for humanity. The Hugo and Nebula award-winning Rendezvous with Rama, the bestselling Rama II, and The Garden of Rama were only the prelude to this stunning conclusion to an epic journey. On its mysterious voyage through interstellar space, a massive, alien starship carries its passengers to the end of a generations-long odyssey. For the great experiment conceived by the Ramans has failed. Rama III, with its carefully designed Earth habitat, as well as environments to house other intelligent species, has become a battleground. Instead of creating a utopia, the human contingent has brought forth a tyrant who seeks to conquer the other sectors of the vast Raman ark. Cosmonaut Nicole des Jardins, a lone voice for reason who is now jailed and awaiting execution, is aided in a daring escape by two tiny robots. On New York Island, the dark, brood deserted city in the midst of Rama III's cylindrical sea, Nicole is reunited with her long-lost husband, Richard Wakefield, whom she'd given up for dead. Joined by their children and other rebels from the Earth sector, Nicole and Richard enter New York's labyrinthine underground aboard a ghostly subway hoping to find the ship's secret inner workings. What they find instead is the emerald-domed lair of the technologically advanced species that rules this fabulous subraman world: the octospiders. These arachnidlike creatures are luring Nicole and the rebels into their domain, but the Earth group is divided as to whether the octospiders are allies or enemies - and anxious to discover the fate of two of their group abducted by the enigmatic aliens. Yet even as this drama unfolds, Rama III continues its inexorable course to its final destination: the Node. To some, the Node is a vast engineering station; to others, it is a place of wonder and miracles. From here a powerful force has been monitoring all of the lifeforms on Rama III, summoning the survivors to a final judgment. And it is here that the stunning climax of the Rama journey awaits: the shattering revelation of the true identity of the beings behind this strange, glittering trek across the cosmos.