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seanhatesnamerestrictions's review against another edition
5.0
If you're gonna do space dolphins, you have to go all-in on detail, explanation, and reasoning, which David Brin does. It's intricate and philosophical, and has a thrilling narrative. And space dolphins.
modestyblaise's review against another edition
5.0
I have to admit this is not an easy read. It has so many alien species that it is hard to keep straight (but frankly it's unimportant to do so) and the number of point of view changes is excessive. However it still gets 5 stars from me for originality and doing a good job keeping the genetically modified animals true to their roots. Plus. Cyborg Dolphins! In Space!
_luckycats_'s review against another edition
4.0
Dolphins, in space. And completely believable. Definitely want to check out Brin's other work now.
patricia_nascimento's review against another edition
3.0
Edition read was the following: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17059176-uplift
If book one is too short, book two is too long; and it still suffers from the same problems. Focus; it has little of it. We have lots of points of view, but most of them are of people (and dolphins and chimps) doing trivial things, most of the time.
Again, we have a hint of a great premise: the first spaceship almost entirely "manned" by dolphins is in her maiden voyage and encounters a bunch of strange, abandoned ships. They even recover an (even) stranger corpse that corresponds to no known species in the Five Galaxies. Who are these mysterious aliens that not even the Library recognizes?
We never know. This all happens "off book" as the book opens with the ship stranded in a deserted planet, trying to hide from multiple hostile alien fleets who want the information they have gathered. And while it's plausible that trying to survive would put their curiosity on-hold, it's a pity that the entire book (which was big, I believe about 400+ pages) is spent telling the reader every little detail of a convoluted plan to escape the planet. The book gets boring half-way, with descriptions of what everyone is doing (and I mean everything, from sleeping and camping to fixing the ship's systems) and some very nasty "villains" arise among the terran crew, even while the aliens fight overhead for the right to the information, but there is no sense of urgence.
A bit disappointed. On to book 3, let's hope the author incorporates all his big ideas and develops his universe more.
If book one is too short, book two is too long; and it still suffers from the same problems. Focus; it has little of it. We have lots of points of view, but most of them are of people (and dolphins and chimps) doing trivial things, most of the time.
Again, we have a hint of a great premise: the first spaceship almost entirely "manned" by dolphins is in her maiden voyage and encounters a bunch of strange, abandoned ships. They even recover an (even) stranger corpse that corresponds to no known species in the Five Galaxies. Who are these mysterious aliens that not even the Library recognizes?
We never know. This all happens "off book" as the book opens with the ship stranded in a deserted planet, trying to hide from multiple hostile alien fleets who want the information they have gathered. And while it's plausible that trying to survive would put their curiosity on-hold, it's a pity that the entire book (which was big, I believe about 400+ pages) is spent telling the reader every little detail of a convoluted plan to escape the planet. The book gets boring half-way, with descriptions of what everyone is doing (and I mean everything, from sleeping and camping to fixing the ship's systems) and some very nasty "villains" arise among the terran crew, even while the aliens fight overhead for the right to the information, but there is no sense of urgence.
A bit disappointed. On to book 3, let's hope the author incorporates all his big ideas and develops his universe more.
duskvstweak's review against another edition
5.0
This was great. I love when an author comes up with a crazy idea, such as dolphins in space, and then get ME behind it 100%. I also love all the little bits of history explaining the early days of uplifting, and the way the uplifted creatures and aliens think. It's light on action but heavy on the ideas.
sociotom's review against another edition
4.0
Despite the dolphins wearing spacesuits on the cover of this book, I somehow was unprepared for space-faring dolphins. Of course once I accepted the premise and just rolled with it, the story was a good amount of fun. There are a few things here and there that feel like "adult man in the 80s writing sci-fi," but luckily they don't detract from an overall story, so much as make the reader occasionally roll their eyes. That's few and far between, which means the rest of the story is some odd cross between adventure, sci-fi war, survival story, and political intrigue featuring - and I cannot stress this point enough - space-faring dolphins.
I haven't read any of David Brin's other books, so I can't speak to how the whole Uplift Saga fits together in terms of "read this book then this one," but as a standalone read Startide Rising was a fun time.
I haven't read any of David Brin's other books, so I can't speak to how the whole Uplift Saga fits together in terms of "read this book then this one," but as a standalone read Startide Rising was a fun time.
keithman63's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I found this book and others in Brin’s Uplift universe to be fascinating and thought provoking.
spinstersam's review against another edition
3.0
3.5*. Solid story with excellent world crafting. The whole concept of the Uplift of creatures into sentient intelligence is fascination, as well of the very diverse number of Alien beings/creatures..... And who doesn't like the concept of spacefaring sentient dolphins who speak in haiku!?!
vforvanessa's review against another edition
3.0
Though I didn't dislike what I read, I never got sucked into this book either. It had a lot of interesting ideas: how other alien races/societies might function, the crew's escape plans, dolphins as space pilots, and the whole concept of uplift in general. It's a shame the primary focus of this book seemed to be on the interactions and dilemmas between characters - I just could not bring myself to care about any of them.