Customer Reviews

Uplift War

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I just finished David Brin's "The Uplift War" (the second novel I have read from this author) and have to admit that I was impressed. My first Brin novel, "The Postman", had its strengths but I was disappointed in his lack of real character development. Happily, the characters in this novel are fleshed-out and surprisingly believable, especially when you consider how difficult it would be to try and breath life into chimpanzees (uplifted or not) or, of all things, big birds!

I was relieved to find out that one doesn't have to start with the first novel in this series (I have since learned that "The Uplift War" is actually the third book). As I read this novel, I could see that there was at least one novel that preceeded it, but this had no adverse effects on this story. "The Uplift War" stands on its own.

Admittedly, this type of novel may not be everyones' cup-of-tea, and I had problems at first with the Gubru aliens (big birds). But it was Brin's characters and eloquent descriptive narration that drew me in. One could really see these birds posturing as they debated. I went from thinking I was reading a fantasy novel to knowing I was reading a good science fiction novel, and one that required solid research.

So, if I liked it that much, why didn't I give it 5 stars? Unless a novel is absolutely unforgettable, and emotionally moves me (in any and all directions), it won't receive 5 stars. Very few novels (of any genre) deserve 5 stars. On a scale of 1 to 10, "The Uplift War" gets a solid 7 from me, which indicates that it is a very good novel, indeed. The idea behind this series is imaginative and far reaching, and if "The Uplift War" is typical of what to expect in this series, I will soon be purchasing more of David Brin's work. And what better recommendation can I give than that?

Important note for buyers: I loved this book, but if you're interested in this book, do not buy the Kindle edition.

I bought most of the Uplift series in Kindle editions: Heaven's Reach, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, Sundiver, Uplift War, and Startide Rising. I was extremely disappointed by the quality of these ebooks. Words were frequently mis-spelled or replaced with similar-looking but incorrect words; words and whole passages were arbitrarily italicized; many words were split with hyphens for no reason. It was confusing, distracting, and eventually irritating. I got the strong impression that all these books had been run rapidly through an OCR system and never checked for correctness or quality. For a publishing company of Ballantine's size and reputation this is ridiculous.

If Ballantine are going to sell ebooks, they should do it properly, and give them the same care and attention they would to physical books. There's no excuse for releasing shoddy digital products.

While not comprising a true trilogy, the first three books in David Brin's UPLIFT SAGA (SUNDIVER, STARTIDE RISING, and THE UPLIFT WAR) serve to introduce the reader to the author's universe. Of those three, I have to say that THE UPLIFT WAR is, by far, the best of the three. SUNDIVER was the "true" introduction to this universe and was a well crafted detective story, which was completely unexpected. I found the second book, however, to be extremely boring and long winded. In my review of that book, I mentioned that it could have easily been 200 pages shorter. THE UPLIFT WAR, however, was a very engrossing book. The problem with STARTIDE RISING was the fact that, quite a few times, nothing really happened for dozens of pages. There was very little action to propel the book along. Thankfully, I found this was the complete opposite for this book. Brin intersperses his character development with thoroughly enjoyable action sequences and a lot of political intrigue.

While the concept of Uplift that Brin has created (you'll just have to read the books to truly understand it) is very intriguing, what makes this book so enjoyable is the characters and their interaction with one another. Brin has a talent for getting inside the head of his aliens as well as his uplifted species (in this case, chimpanzees). He uses these characters to examine humanity, both their strengths and their weaknesses, as seen by those outside of our species. It's brilliantly done. Not only that, but the characters themselves are interesting: the daughter of an alien ambassador, a chimpanzee in the colonial militia, and the son of the planet's administrator make up the main character group for the story. These are supported by a varied and colorful cast of supporting characters, each with their own personalities and quirks.

This book is, on the surface, a story of humanity and their chimpanzee allies fighting to regain control of the planet they had been ceded in the society of the Five Galaxies. Guerilla warfare and political maneuvering make up the majority of the book, while character development and changing relationships drive the plot forward. A very satisfying entry in the world of Uplift. Definitely the best one yet in the story.

Though this is actually the third novel in the first uplift trilogy it stands neatly on it's own. It may be wiser to start with Startide Rising, though. Anyway, in this book an alien bird-like race (Gubru) lays siege to a human colony world(Garth). With a Galaxy-wide war set around humans this lonely and poor colony must face it's would-be conquerors alone. It's one battle in the whole war whose causes are better described in Startide (though they are also explained here). Brin does an exceptional work in describing the chimpanzee culture who must strive to help their human patrons in saving Garth. All characters are wonderfully explored and complex, even the aliens! For those of you who are looking for the characters presented in Startide Rising, tough luck! This isn't it! For that read Brightness Reef(the first book of the second trilogy). We also get a close look at Earth's Tymbrimi allies and Thenanin enemies. Though you could skip this book in the overall streaker series I found it extremely entertaining and absolutely engrossing. Besides the ultimate conclusion of this book shall play an essential role in the outcome of the greater war.

Very entertaining and highly recommended. Brin's very best!

This is the best book in the first uplift trilogy. There is plenty of action, good story plotting, diverting ideas and the science doesn't swamp the book. At over six hundred pages this book is well worth buying. The book earned it's Hugo award. There is no need to read the previous two books in the trilogy as each has a separate story. My favourite aspect was the galactics and there are more of them in this book than the first two. Brin writes well and gives a good read in all the books of the trilogy. He keeps chapters short and moves the story along particularly well in Uplift War, moving between various characters in different situations. This structure is well managed and works for this book so I recommend it to you.

Though it does not quite attain the pinnacle that 'Startide Rising' reaches, 'The Uplift War' is very worthy. It is deftly plotted, and even more so than its predecessor, it is thought-provoking. Brin manages to touch on the ethics of enviromentalism, eugenics, imperialism, and human (and chimpanzee and Tymbrimi and Gubru) nature. The aliens, I must say, are simply excellent. My favourite parts of 'The Uplift War' were those involving the Gubru Suzerains, who, despite being the 'bad guys', were beautifully drawn as angsty, squabbling, and jumpy individuals just trying to do their best for their people. Brin's writing style continues to be quite good, though problems of grammar, style, and punctuation were more common here than in 'Startide Rising', and even were sometimes quite irritating.

Like his other novels, 'The Uplift War' is quite dense, and rewards a re-read. The world and plot Brin plunges into, at a headlong pace, is so rich and layered that it's quite impossible to absorb everything the first time through, nor would we want to: the Five Galaxies, and the Gubru occupation of Garth, is a pleasure to return to for a second time.

Brin writes with power and delicacy. Never before have I come across an author who so truly imagines what it would be like for an animal to think intelligently. It reminds me of when I used to play Animal Days as a child, pretending to be various animals and genetic combinations. But here it is written out in story form. Beyond this Brin has imagined an entirely new type of galactic civilization, divorced from all previous science fiction. Brin is a genius in his accurate understanding of how things might be, and how things could be beyond the reach of most mortal minds.

Sometimes science fiction authors will so pursue the science they forget the characters. That's not Brin. The characters are central- but they are intimately part of the science fiction. An intelligent chimpanzee would struggle with it's place in human society while accepting as normal a polygynous relationship. A being that could slightly change it's shape would think about reality in a different way. Brin is true to science and to his characters.

This is a book of surprises, and the reader will not be able to predict the directions that are taken- repeatedly. The author engages us and paints a new reality that we can briefly immerse ourself in. He has truly created a world of difficulty, but with bright hope for tomorrow.

Brin's The Uplift War is definitely the best of the Uplift Series to this point. Of the first three books in the series, The Uplift War does best what a good book should do...suck the reader in, hold on and not let go until the end.

The Uplift War focuses around the Terran colony world of Garth. Due to events that take place in the previous book -- Startide Rising -- Garth is besieged by the Gubru, a fanatical, bird-like race. Most of the humans on Garth are placed in isolation camps after the Gubru overrun the colony. It's up to the few who escape internment (including several friendly aliens), along with a lot of chimpanzees, to try and repel the invasion.

I'd like to get it out here at the beginning that this book does occassionally have its slow parts...but then, what book doesn't? That being said, the book certainly has lots of action and enough twists and turns to easily keep the reader interested. The book also gives us our first look at the Tymbrimi...one of the few Galactic species friendly to those claiming an Earthly heritage. I also thought the Tymbrimi corona was a great idea. The corona is a kind of psychic antenna that not only allows the Tymbrimi to sense others' feelings, but also allows the Tymbrimi to craft emotion "glyphs" -- a kind of psychic artform that can influence others in a multitude of ways.

All but one of the main characters in this book is a non-human. Brin did a great job of not only telling his tale from the perspective of Tymbrimi and chimpanzees, but also did an excellent job in really defining the similarities and differences of Tymbrimi and chimpanzees with regards to humans. I've seen other reviewers proclaim that Brin is truly an expert at creating and then elaborating on aliens he has constructed with his pen...I enthusiastically add my voice to this chorus.

Overall, this book is far-and-away the best of the first three Uplift books. The first three books in the Uplift Series happen to be the first three books I've read of Brin's. I'd say that with The Uplift War he's finally living up to his stellar reputation for great scifi.

Very poor transition from print to eBook. Multiple character recognition mistakes. Publisher's software handles italics badly and their proofreaders either can't read or don't care. For those of you familiar with the work, 'rilla comes through as Villa, fem as fern.

Very annoying.

Since I had similar experiences with SUNDIVER, STARTIDE RISING, and BRIGHTNESS REEF, I make the assumption that this is a publisher issue, not an AMAZON issue.

I wish there was a method for sending proofreading mistakes back to the publisher directly.