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soapythebum's review against another edition
5.0
Thought it was great and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
800slim's review against another edition
3.0
second book set in the Uplift universe...
short plot description: the surveyship Streaker, manned by a mostly uplifted-dolphin crew (with one uplift-chimpanzee and a handful of humans) makes an important discovery which may well change galactic history. Unfortunately some other factions begrudge the humans this discovery and after an ambush which damages the ship the crew takes refuge on the planet Kithrup, trying to repair their damaged ship and find a way to escape the aliens. But the dangers are not only external, some members (both human and uplifted) have their own agenda and the planet itself also has some surprises in store...
my thoughts: actually quite good,the Uplift universe gets some further fleshing out with both more insights into the alien races (patrons and clients) and the human-uplifted species.
Minor gripes: the plot felt in places weighed down with too many subplots, some parts could have been cut out (maybe published as short stories ?), also the plot felt in places overly complicated and the permanent point-of-view jumping was sometimes getting on my nerves, especially when we jump, get 5 lines of text and then jump again.
The characters felt mostly believable but some felt flat and the "ultracompetent" cliche is also found.
short plot description: the surveyship Streaker, manned by a mostly uplifted-dolphin crew (with one uplift-chimpanzee and a handful of humans) makes an important discovery which may well change galactic history. Unfortunately some other factions begrudge the humans this discovery and after an ambush which damages the ship the crew takes refuge on the planet Kithrup, trying to repair their damaged ship and find a way to escape the aliens. But the dangers are not only external, some members (both human and uplifted) have their own agenda and the planet itself also has some surprises in store...
my thoughts: actually quite good,the Uplift universe gets some further fleshing out with both more insights into the alien races (patrons and clients) and the human-uplifted species.
Minor gripes: the plot felt in places weighed down with too many subplots, some parts could have been cut out (maybe published as short stories ?), also the plot felt in places overly complicated and the permanent point-of-view jumping was sometimes getting on my nerves, especially when we jump, get 5 lines of text and then jump again.
The characters felt mostly believable but some felt flat and the "ultracompetent" cliche is also found.
_ash0_'s review against another edition
3.0
Mixed feelings about this book.
What I liked:
1. World building was amazing. The author has created so many alien species, a water world planet, sentient dolphins and chimp.
2. Uplift was a great concept to read about. In this world, sentient beings can genetically modify other species and make them sentient. This is called Uplift. The uplifted beings are called clients while those who uplifted them are called patrons. Humans however do not have a patron so they claim to have evolved on their own. I loved reading about Uplift and it’s ramifications. Like racism that humans show to the species that they have uplifted etc. This was the concept that made me want to continue reading.
3. Cool science like how do you design a spacecraft where dolphins and humans can coexist? How can dolphins explore an alien planet on their own? The science was fascinating.
4. Dolphins in space. You should read this book just for this cool concept.
5. Library which has all the info collected by other galactic species. Reminded me of Encyclopedia Galactica (from Foundation series).
6. Strong female characters- for a novel written in 1980s, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many significant characters in this book were women/female dolphin.
What I did not like:
1. Writing - it was dull and boring along with haiku thrown in. It took me forever to read this book mostly because of the bad writing. I even listened to audiobook towards the end as I couldn’t read it.
2. Plot - it was almost nonexistent. Humans are stranded on an alien planet and are trying to escape from it. That’s the entire plot and it takes around 500 pages to culminate. It’s way too slow paced and hardly anything exciting happens.
3. Characters: flat. I couldn’t distinguish between the dolphins or between dolphins and humans. I had imagined some dolphins to be humans at the beginning of the book.
4. Horny dolphins and men: every male dolphin or male person is thinking about sex all the time which was something I did not like.
5. No paperback version available. I had to read from a mass market paperback, a format I loathe.
What I liked:
1. World building was amazing. The author has created so many alien species, a water world planet, sentient dolphins and chimp.
2. Uplift was a great concept to read about. In this world, sentient beings can genetically modify other species and make them sentient. This is called Uplift. The uplifted beings are called clients while those who uplifted them are called patrons. Humans however do not have a patron so they claim to have evolved on their own. I loved reading about Uplift and it’s ramifications. Like racism that humans show to the species that they have uplifted etc. This was the concept that made me want to continue reading.
3. Cool science like how do you design a spacecraft where dolphins and humans can coexist? How can dolphins explore an alien planet on their own? The science was fascinating.
4. Dolphins in space. You should read this book just for this cool concept.
5. Library which has all the info collected by other galactic species. Reminded me of Encyclopedia Galactica (from Foundation series).
6. Strong female characters- for a novel written in 1980s, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many significant characters in this book were women/female dolphin.
What I did not like:
1. Writing - it was dull and boring along with haiku thrown in. It took me forever to read this book mostly because of the bad writing. I even listened to audiobook towards the end as I couldn’t read it.
2. Plot - it was almost nonexistent. Humans are stranded on an alien planet and are trying to escape from it. That’s the entire plot and it takes around 500 pages to culminate. It’s way too slow paced and hardly anything exciting happens.
3. Characters: flat. I couldn’t distinguish between the dolphins or between dolphins and humans. I had imagined some dolphins to be humans at the beginning of the book.
4. Horny dolphins and men: every male dolphin or male person is thinking about sex all the time which was something I did not like.
5. No paperback version available. I had to read from a mass market paperback, a format I loathe.
humanignorance's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. This book got off to a slow start, and I considered quitting early on. It also took me much longer to finish than average. Fortunately, the book picked up near the middle and sprinted to the finish in a nearly spectacular fashion. Some of the characters were subtle and well-developed; others were not given enough space. The plot was a bit hard to follow, as much was hinted at which was not revisited, but was worth the ride. I suspect I would like this book more on a reread.
jonathanpalfrey's review
3.0
My main complaint about this book is that it's an ordeal from start to finish. The human and dolphin characters are stuck on a toxic planet that's killing them slowly, while alien spacefleets fight each other nearby for the opportunity to capture and probably kill them. They also have to contend with discord and treachery amongst themselves. It's a deeply unpleasant situation to be in, and continues through the whole rather long novel, relieved only by a mostly happy though rather improbable ending.
I found at least the first half of the story rather tough to get through, and put-downable: two-star material. Later on, the story becomes exciting and gripping, so I've generously given it three stars. But I reckon to reread three-star books now and then; will I ever return to this one? I'm not sure.
Brin's universe fails to convince me: I don't believe in all these diverse alien species remaining permanently obsessed with uplift over vast spans of time. I don't believe in the Discworld, either, but the Discworld is openly fantastic; I expect science fiction to be more plausible.
I found at least the first half of the story rather tough to get through, and put-downable: two-star material. Later on, the story becomes exciting and gripping, so I've generously given it three stars. But I reckon to reread three-star books now and then; will I ever return to this one? I'm not sure.
Brin's universe fails to convince me: I don't believe in all these diverse alien species remaining permanently obsessed with uplift over vast spans of time. I don't believe in the Discworld, either, but the Discworld is openly fantastic; I expect science fiction to be more plausible.
fictionalwonder's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
branch_c's review against another edition
3.0
Well I finally got around to this second of the Uplift books, and although I realize this series has lots of fans and plenty of high praise, I found this volume to be, like the first, just okay.
The uplift concept and the world building that stems from that is the main attraction here, and Brin demonstrates his thoughtfulness and creativity in the way he elaborates this. But the gritty details of the uplifted dolphins (and chimp) just didn’t fascinate me. I found most of these characters largely unlikeable, and maybe this was intentional - a way of exploring the idea that making non-human animals smarter is no guarantee that they’ll be wonderful paragons, or even pleasant companions - they’d have their quirks and variations in personality the same way humans do.
The Galactics, of course, are even worse - having apparently, ironically, yet inexplicably, descended into a cruel and warlike decadence. Which at least makes it easy to sympathize with the humans in this cast. Gillian and Tom are certainly solid characters, though I was less impressed with Dennie, and Toshio came across as a bit whiny.
The story is strangely… sparse. The setting is straightforward: a shipwreck on an alien world, with potentially hostile extraterrestrials above. But the way the specifics of this scenario are parceled out seems limited, as if the Brin expects the reader to do some work to fully grasp the situation. That’s okay, but the payoff doesn’t justify the effort for me.
I will probably pick up the next one at some point, and maybe that will be the one that makes me recognize the brilliance of this series. But it took eight years between Sundiver and this one, so let’s not hold our breaths.
The uplift concept and the world building that stems from that is the main attraction here, and Brin demonstrates his thoughtfulness and creativity in the way he elaborates this. But the gritty details of the uplifted dolphins (and chimp) just didn’t fascinate me. I found most of these characters largely unlikeable, and maybe this was intentional - a way of exploring the idea that making non-human animals smarter is no guarantee that they’ll be wonderful paragons, or even pleasant companions - they’d have their quirks and variations in personality the same way humans do.
The Galactics, of course, are even worse - having apparently, ironically, yet inexplicably, descended into a cruel and warlike decadence. Which at least makes it easy to sympathize with the humans in this cast. Gillian and Tom are certainly solid characters, though I was less impressed with Dennie, and Toshio came across as a bit whiny.
The story is strangely… sparse. The setting is straightforward: a shipwreck on an alien world, with potentially hostile extraterrestrials above. But the way the specifics of this scenario are parceled out seems limited, as if the Brin expects the reader to do some work to fully grasp the situation. That’s okay, but the payoff doesn’t justify the effort for me.
I will probably pick up the next one at some point, and maybe that will be the one that makes me recognize the brilliance of this series. But it took eight years between Sundiver and this one, so let’s not hold our breaths.
cactuar_tamer's review against another edition
3.0
A wonderful premise, an enjoyable story, and an unfortunate amount of flaws that grated quite a bit and leave me feeling very ambivalent about my reading experience. I'd not like to let the bad erase what good there was, and so I'll give this three stars, but I'm not sure if I'd choose to pick this one up again if I had it to do over.
emjay24's review
2.0
I read David Brin years ago, in high school or college, and read things out of order. Not many years ago, I read the first book in this series and liked it well enough, and now I finally got around to number two. The whole thing seemed vaguely familiar so it may be that I did read it before, long ago. Brin is a very important and good author, but somehow I can't get into him now. A lot of the future technology seems out of date. The characters weren't grabbing me. I kept reading and reading and was nearly half way through this large book and realized I never enjoyed reading it. So I stopped. I do remember loving the last book in this series, or one of the last ones, where the main characters were the kids. Maybe I'll come back to Brin in a few more years and see if my mindset has changed again.
andreashappe's review against another edition
2.0
I loved "seaquest DSV" as kid.. so I thought I'd give "Startide Rising" a read after "sundiver"... The whole Uplift Saga has good reviews, so while I was a bit disappointed about sundiver I had high hopes for this one.
At least it is not as overly "women are only props"-ly as in the prior one, but still so very cliche'd that's it's a mix between annoying and cringe-worthy. I assume that this is just a sign that the book was written in the 80s. Might be a relic of its time but that aspect has not aged well.
Dolphin binary might be interesting to many but I rather found it tedious and not helping the story-line at all. Speaking of which, I do like the world-building but the whole plot could have been summarized in 2-3 pages.
I did not like the first half of the book and stopped to read frequently (normally I'd given a book like this a week tops.. but it took me almost a three weeks to get through the first parts). Got better at the end though.
At least it is not as overly "women are only props"-ly as in the prior one, but still so very cliche'd that's it's a mix between annoying and cringe-worthy. I assume that this is just a sign that the book was written in the 80s. Might be a relic of its time but that aspect has not aged well.
Dolphin binary might be interesting to many but I rather found it tedious and not helping the story-line at all. Speaking of which, I do like the world-building but the whole plot could have been summarized in 2-3 pages.
I did not like the first half of the book and stopped to read frequently (normally I'd given a book like this a week tops.. but it took me almost a three weeks to get through the first parts). Got better at the end though.