Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe (Paperback)

~ (Author), Kevin Lenagh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo and Nebula award-winning author David Brin teams up with illustrator Kevin Lenagh to offer Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe, the definitive guide for any fan of the Uplift series or, as Brin would have it, a training handbook for Terragen Field Agents. From biological and psychological descriptions of aliens (the Thennanin have "gill-like breathing slits," the Hoon are "stodgy pencil-pushers") to clan alliances and the 12 official languages of Galactic society, this volume overflows with Uplift information, not to mention humor and imagination.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Brin's Uplift Universe is one of the major hard-sf sagas distinguished by world building of the highest order and as imaginative an array of nonhuman species as has ever been committed to paper. Here we have an illustration by Lenagh of a representative member of each of those species alongside Brin's physical, cultural, and technological descriptions, which include their clan affiliations and the date and agent of their Uplift. In the tradition of such guides, Contacting Aliens purports to be a guide for human travelers in the Uplift Universe, and it induces the necessary suspension of disbelief respectably enough. Lenagh's artwork occasionally smacks of Star Wars, especially in the depiction of the Mos Eisley cantina, but thousands of passionate Uplift readers probably won't mind that much if at all. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553377965
• ISBN-13: 978-0553377965
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,331 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Someone called this unsatisfying and I agree, August 9, 2002

By	H. J. Spivack (North Woodmere, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To anyone that is a fan of Brin's books (I'm one, I've read them all, and re-read most several times) this is a completist view that adds visuals and some details to a picture already in their mind. To anyone else (my wife, who I've been trying to get to read his books forever) it is a bewildering index to things that never were, displayed in a way that makes sure you won't care.

David, if you're reading this...I know your name was on the book, but I'm pretty certain you were only tangentially involved in this. I liked the book, but only cause I loved your books. Write some more for us, would you?`

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and Impudent, January 7, 2003

By	Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're like me and sometimes you have trouble keeping track of which species is which in David Brin's Uplift Saga, then this book will prove to be a valuable resource. All of the major players are listed (including those so prominently featured in the "Heaven's Reach" trilogy), along with their patrons and clients, which is very helpful in sorting out the various allegiances and alliances. Most of the entries are quite short, just giving a brief description of the physical appearances of the races, how they were uplifted and what unique gifts were cultivated, and their role or fate in galactic society. Many patrons that have retired or are being urged in that direction by their juniors are included here, along with some races that are now extinct.

The artwork is not phenomenal like you might get from, say, Jim Burns or some of today's prominent artists from graphic novels, but it's got a sly and impudent sense of humor in my opinion. This fits well with the overall tone of the book, which purports to be a field guide for agents of the Terran Clan, i.e. good ol' Mother Earth. So the text often offers up tips on which races are friendly to humans, which want to destroy us, and which are indifferent, and provides hints on how to deal with some of these. (Of a particularly violent and prosletyzing race of religious zealots, the book notes that an agent's only two options are to flee or "to convert [them] to some less noxious creed".)

Also, there are some interesting "real world" web resources listed at the back of the book.

As a general refesher for the fan of Brin's work, this works well, but it's not likely to succeed in attracting new readers to the saga. Really, it's a solid supplement to the accumulated material of the novels and can be of some use, but it's not critical to own.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for fans who have read all the Uplift novels, August 9, 2002

By	T. Enst - See all my reviews

What is this book filled with? Info about the Uplift universe. What do the novels do? Tell the story of the Uplift universe. In short, this one, fun to read guide can in fact spoil some of the intrigue of the novels. If you already read all the books, though, this is a nice refresher in everything you read, plus offers lots on the things that were only hinted at in the books.

Another group this book will be good for is the role playing sect. This book was seemingly desinged with you folks in mind, and should offer pleanty of ideas for campaigns and other things.

Writers of "fan fiction" may also like it to glean ideas from.

The illustraitions, though, do leave something to be desired. They are simple, and all by the same artist. The pictures are nice and clear, but adding an artist or two to give things some variety might have been a good idea. Do not think that just because the cover illustraition is brilliant that the entire book is nothing but the same (though it would have been nice...).