Customer Reviews

Heaven's Reach (Uplift Trilogy)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This book is deeply flawed. Most importantly, I got the feeling that about halfway through, David Brin looked up at his clock and said, "Oh my God, I have to FINISH this!" As a result, where Brin devoted the first 5/6 of the series developing plots and full-bodied characters, sometimes in aggravating detail, he spends the last 1/6 hacking off plot lines with abandon. In many cases, key events take place outside of the narrative, and we learn what happened in another character's often colorless retrospective. Some characters just disappear. Others are transformed from full-bodied characters to author-surrogates whose sole function is to spout descriptions of what's going on around them. And even with this mad rush for the finish line, Brin doesn't manage to tie up all the loose ends. In general, this all reminded me of some of my less successful answers to college essay exams -- slow and thoughtful at the beginning, but frantic and incomplete at the end as I struggled to finish by the deadline.

The characters in Heaven's Reach are also much flatter than in the earlier books. Their reactions are generally predictable and Brin omits the little touches that previously made them aggravating, endearing, or inspiring, and, in the process, made them more real.

The books is partially redeemed by Brin's facility with ideas and plot development. Even though the characters are plastic and the pace is uneven, the book is stuffed with new ideas and plot twists. Those kept me interested. I'm glad I read this book, but I am sorry that it doesn't come close to the author's normally high standards

Do not expect anything like a resolution to the events of StarTide Rising here. Brilliant, up-to-date space opera that unfortunately suffers from the Too Much Of A Good Thing syndrome that has bedeviled an awful lot of SF since Frank Herbert set the sequel-itis meme loose big time. In other words: bloat. Heaven's Reach would have benefitted more by including less -- less of repetition, less of dizzying detail, less of all that impressive multi-dimensional, multi-species, multi-incident "dross" that only frustrates the story's impetus and, sadly, obscures our interest in its characters. This novel is a mind-boggler, no doubt about that. Chock full of wonderful, awesome, cosmic ideas. But...get ready for the NEXT Uplift trilogy, no doubt cooking on Mr. Brin's already overheated word processor right now. And let's hope for the best from the rest!

I love the Uplift universe. The last two books in this 2nd trilogy have been a disappointment, however. They don't seem to be thoughtfully written. As one reviewer noted, they seem to be dashed off. I am very, very tired of the literary ploy where each chapter is ended at a moment of crisis, and then the next chapter starts up with a different character, particularly when, when the characters in crisis reappear in a later chapter, often the crisis is not taken up where it left off; indeed it seemed that at least twice the crisis wasn't even refered to in retrospect, which astonished me. This stylistic "technique" gave me a headache.

I loved David's Startide Rising. I was delighted to find the 2nd Uplift trilogy this year, written and published some years ago, after being "away" from this series for 13 years. Now I'm less than delighted. I feel cheated.

When I read a book, I want a beginning and an ending, and lots of great reading in between. When I've read the last book--the *last* last book, mind you--I expect closure, and resolution. After finishing, for example, Lord Of The Rings, I wept because there would be no more (at least that's what I thought) to read and know of Middle Earth--but there was closure. A story was completed properly. All the plot lines were concluded; I was satisfied that I'd read to "The End", while knowing there were many more stories that could rise out of that 'world'.

Brin, in Heaven's Reach, put no heroes, or villians to rest for Ever and Ever. The characters I came to like and root for in the earlier series have either been abandoned during the "quest to do the right thing", or are still around at the end of this book (along with many more I've come to like and root for), with unfinished business (and in the case of most of the principals of the first three books, as much unaccomplished as at the end of book 3, "The Uplift War".

I'm much more than annoyed. This has become soap opera, not at all what innovative compelling Uplift universe Brin created began as. This is 5 times as grating as Shatner's crew barging into Picard's or Janeway's universes because many watchers (or studios) need repetition, not innovation.

Also, considering myself intelligent and able of memory, I deplore the repetition of 'plot reminders' throughout all three books of this trilogy, which, as the author stated, were originally one book which got 'out of hand'. Knowing that discerning readers read from book 1 through book 6 (or at least from 4 through 6), the waste of verbage spent on making sure we, the readers, "remember" what's going on could have been profitably spent on finishing. Finishing anything. Please.

This entire book suffers from David Brin's worst fault. In my opinion David Brin is a fantastic author, who creates vivid, new ideas or tweaks old ones in a new way. His only fault, in my humble opinion, is his tendency to end a book very quickly.

This novel I believe is the ending to a series and has a long line of events that make little to no sense. The book moves away from the planet Jijo and into outer space. Although being back with the Streaker again from "Startide Rising" is fantastic, its confused wanderings across the cosmos have little purpose. Additionally the characters that once illicited interest both on the Streaker and from Jijo are suddenly uninteresting.

Overall I found this an unexciting conclusion to a series that had great premise - the conflict arising on Jijo seemed truly thrilling. All of Brin's other books I have read are truly worthy works, this is just a sad failing.

"Brightness Reef" and "Infinity's Shore" were both wonderful books. I liked the characters and the setting. The dilemas they faced were interesting and exciting. There is a feeling running through both books that is both poignant and bittersweet Many times I had to stop reading after I'd finished a chapter and take time to think about what I'd just read.

"Heaven's Reach" just didn't effect me the same way, and I was disappointed. I can understand that perhaps the author wanted to delve further into the whole Uplift universe that he's created, and to see what other wonders were lurking there. However, I felt like too many things were introduced and the orginal storyline seemed to get lost. The planet Jijo is never revisited, so we don't know what happened to the inhabitants there. I wasn't nearly as interested in the fate of the five galaxies as I was in the fate of the kidnapped dolphin, Peepoe. Too many of the characters became flat and uninteresting. Gillian Baskin in particular was dull and lifeless, but even Emerson and Sara didn't do, say, or think anything memorable.

There is a lot going on in the book, and those who like a lot of speculative science as opposed to strong character development may find "Heaven's Reach" an enjoyable read. We do finally find out the fate of The Streaker, although I was a little disappointed in the way the ending of Streaker's saga was handled and in Herbie's identity. Several mysteries are simply left unanswered. Who/what were The Progenitors? What joke were the Buyur planning, and where did they go? Why were the Noor/Tytlal present on Jijo? What happened to Peepoe, Nelo, and the other residents of Jijo, and what about the Jophur ships spotted near Jijo at the end? What ultimately happened to Creideiki & Co.? It was a let-down to find that these questions were unaswered, since they were mentioned many times in the books.

In this, the final volume of the Second Uplift Trilogy, Brin finally concludes the odyssey of the starship Streaker, whose mysterious discovery that promises to change the balance of power among all starfaring species, was begun back in Startide Rising, the second volume of the first Uplift Trilogy. After five books and thousands of pages, one can be excused for anticipating one heck of a payoff. Sadly, Heaven's Reach isn't nearly the book we'd hoped for.

Even without all the buildup, this wouldn't have been a very good novel, and if you haven't read volumes 2, 4, and 5 of the series, you'll have no connection to the characters or their predicament. But the worst problem is that by the time you've slogged your way through the myriad plot threads that lead you to this book, you're really eager, perhaps desperate, to see how Brin ties it all together. Seemingly endless questions were raised in Startide, almost none of which were answered in volumes 3,4,or 5. Instead, Brin continued introducing new characters, new alien species, whole new worlds, all desperately struggling against overwhelming odds to maintain their own freedom. And after spending many weeks (more likely months) rooting for these characters, you can scarcely wait to find out how they defeat their oppressors and live happily ever after.

And that's why this book is such a disappointment. The dozen-odd plot threads that we followed breathlessly through Brightness Reef, and with increasing agitation through Infinity's Shore, merely fizzle out in different directions. Instead of a grand climactic battle in which all of the heroes we've become so involved with all join together and vanquish their enemies, we get a rabbit-out-of-the-hat ending that basically renders the two previous volumes moot. One certainly gets the impression that Brin didn't know where he was going when he started the second trilogy, began stories that he had no real plan for, and then wound up having to finish the series before he was really ready. The scenes in the alternate universe seemed particularly pointless and out of place, but that shouldn't surprise us, since introducing twists that undercut everything that came before is something that Brin does again and again. If the planet Jijo had been uninhabited, the entire trilogy could have been boiled down into one medium length novel, and resolved just as many questions about Streaker and the Uplift War as these 1400+ pages did. Of course we would have missed the fine adventure and unique alien creations of Brightness Reef, but this reviewer isn't convinced that the journey is worthwhile for its own sake - and surely the destination isn't any justification at all. This volume is rambling and muddled, with no character development, and too many god-in-a-machine miracles out of nowhere. Read Startide through Brightness Reef, and then make up your own ending. It won't be any worse than Brin's.

Currently, there are six books in Brin's Uplift saga. It's kind of hard to categorize these books as elements of a series, though. The first three books in the saga, "Sundiver," "Startide Rising," and "The Uplift War," are not really a trilogy or a series in the normal sense. Instead, "Sundiver" relates to the rest of the saga as Tolkien's "The Hobbit" relates to his "Lord of the Rings:" it sets the stage for all the rest of the books in the saga. "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" describe completely different plotlines originating from the same event far distant, time wise and space wise, from "Sundiver". In a pinch, you could read these books in any order and not really miss anything. They describe different points in time and space of the same Universe. Of course, the best order is the one listed, above.

Unlike the first three books in the saga, the second three books DO form a series. The first of this trilogy, "Brightness Reef," picks up with yet another totally independent plotline and brand new characters. However, it does contain a central character who ties the first three books into this set. Unfortunately, Brin doesn't say, specifically, who that character is until the very end of the book. Even worse, the last time the character was used was so far back in the saga that it's hard to remember anything about him. The remaining two books, "Infinity's Shore" and "Heaven's Reach," continue sequentially from the first and form a tightly knit trilogy with no breaks in time.

None of these books is "happy" or "light reading." For the most part, they're all intense, heavily detailed and fully characterized books. "Sundiver" is the least "heavy" and most lacking in the realistic feel of the rest of the books. But, for the most part, if you like "Sundiver," you'll definitely want to continue with the rest of the saga. Even if you don't like "Sundiver," I highly recommend you read at least "Startide Rising:" it has an entirely different feel to it and might be more to your liking. This saga is just too important to miss out on. As a whole, it's one of the great works of science fiction and one of the few pieces of science fiction that belong in the class of true literature.

The following are some comments on the individual books:

Sundiver: Somewhat different from the other books in the saga in that it's more of a science fiction mystery than a science fiction drama. This book sets the stage for the rest of the saga as it chronicles events that happen several hundred years before what happens in the other books. About the only thing negative I can come up with is that I wish Brin had written several prequels to it so we could read about the earlier adventures of Jacob Demwa that are referenced in this book.

Startide Rising: This book focuses on the group that starts all the other events noted in the remaining books of the saga. Though the main characters start off in a very bad way, Brin does a good job of moving them forward, and upward, throughout the book.

The Uplift War: The events in this book start from the same event that kicks off "Startide Rising." But, other than that, the two books are totally independent. Like "Startide Rising," Brin produced a gripping plot, great character development, and a good progression towards a positive goal.

Brightness Reef: This is definitely not a happy book. It starts out with many non-pleasant activities and fights its way forward from there. The biggest problem I have with it is that it's very hard to see how anything good or positive is going to happen to the main characters, no matter how much they try.

Infinity's Shore: First, the negative: once this book starts, it's very apparent that a whole lot of relevant stuff has been happening elsewhere that we missed. Essentially, there's at least one entire book that sounds extremely interesting that's missing from the saga. Brin fills in most of this back-story during this book and "Heaven's Reach." But, I'd sure like to have read that missing book. On the positive side, this book re-introduces us to old friends and subtly changes the focus to them. Everything's still happening in the same place with mostly the same characters, but the attitude changes and becomes more can-do.

Heaven's Reach: One difficulty with this book is due to how it continues from the previous book. It's merely a change of venue instead of a new set of adventures. A quote from one of the main characters near the end of this book sort of sums up my feelings about it: "...what will one more worry matter? I've long passed the point where I stopped counting them." Essentially, by the time this book and saga starts winding down (and even at the point of that quotation, it really hasn't started that yet), the reader is totally fatigued by never-ending problems. I really like these works, but the lack of a tie-up between "Infinity's Shore" and this book is grinding.

David Brin is one of today's leading science fiction writers. Unfortunately, the quality of his work is erratic, as "Heaven' Reach," demonstrates.

"Heaven's Reach" was clearly a rush job. The characters are poorly developed and wooden. While the book is loaded with many grand ideas as well as new species and life forms, they are for the most part mentioned only fleetingly.

As in Mr. Brin's previous books, "Heaven's Reach" is divided into many short chapters. I found it annoying that almost every chapter contains several paragraphs recapping what has happened in previous chapters. Sometimes a chapter recaps what has happened in the immediately preceding chapter. Give us readers some credit, Mr. Brin!

As his past books demonstrate, Mr. Brin is a very talented writer, and I look forward to his next book. Hopefully he will slow down and come up with something to match the excellence of "Startide Rising" and his other! books.

I didn't want the answers to life, the universe and everything from this book. I wanted a meaningful conclusion to the story threads that had been introduced in proceeding books. I didn't get it, and some of the time I wasn't terribly clear on what was happening. "Infinity's Shore" showed that Brin is capable of writing a good, small-scale story that is based around characters, not galactic-scale events and mind-blowing concepts. That's where he should have stayed.