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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
This is a classic that I have been meaning to read for a very long time now. I finally got around to it and was not disappointed. It did feel like the never-ending story towards the end though, because it kept ending, but then aha! It's not the end! There's another twist! But it was all very interesting, so forgiven. I will listen to the sequel right away, because I'm afraid I will forget the details and who knows if it's important to sweat the details for the sequel. Anyway, the 2nd book is the one that won the Hugo/Nebula (or whatever) and the one I really wanted to read.
Quite reminiscent of Asimov's style of storytelling- a lot of talk, very little action.
I really liked this one. It plays around with politics, philosophy and a little bit of optimistic science. The plot isn't exactly a page turner but is intriguing enough to enjoy and ponder. The who did what to who and how gets a bit convoluted but I thought the characters were great fun and the storyline was good overall.
The narrator was dynamic. I thought his characters were fantastic but that his general narration was a touch of a drone, not hard to listen to just not as enjoyable as when he was voicing the characters.
The narrator was dynamic. I thought his characters were fantastic but that his general narration was a touch of a drone, not hard to listen to just not as enjoyable as when he was voicing the characters.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Narrated by George Wilson. I have read the sequels [b:Startide Rising|234501|Startide Rising (Uplift Saga, Book 2)|David Brin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172970140s/234501.jpg|251634] and [b:The Uplift War|234489|The Uplift War (The Uplift Saga, Book 3)|David Brin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172970044s/234489.jpg|98235] but I hadn't read this one because lots of people told me it wasn't as good. It's kind of disjointed but otherwise competently written and better than I expected. Brin does a pretty good job creating actually alien aliens, although the politics of the aliens are not very alien.
DNF after 150 pages, this just wasn't for me at all. I want to try more classic science-fiction this year and I was fascinated by this idea of uplifted races. The book starts off with hints towards that, but then changes into a kind of mystery which I hadn't signed up for. Add to that the descriptions of every female character and I decided to quickly move on to more interesting reads.
There is so much to like about this book....but it dragged quite a bit for my tastes. Too many interruptions to the action with long descriptions that broke the flow and resulted in me having to put it down at times from sheer fact overload. That being said, the way he developed characters over the whole book was inspiring for my own writing.
„Întotdeauna e ceva ciudat, când o lume atât de mică şi de lipsită de importanţă ajunge să conteze atât de mult în balanţa contactului dintre două civilizaţii.”
Traficul mugea sumbru printre turnurile Oraşului-capitală, chiar în spatele peretelui de cristal al palanchinului oficial. Izolaţia fonică era însă atât de bună, încât nici cel mai mic sunet nu pătrundea înăuntru spre a-l deranja pe birocratul Preţului şi al Precauţiei din examinarea imaginii holografice a planetei minuscule, care se învârtea încet în apropierea ochilor săi. Mări albastre, îmbrăcând în lichidul lor cea mai mare parte a sferoidului, se strecurau printr-o mulţime de insule, ce sclipeau vag în lumina reflectată a unei stele invizibile.
„De-aş fi fost unul din zeii despre care se vorbeşte în legendele fiinţelor-lupi…”, visă birocratul şi pintenii i se încleştară fără voie. Avea senzaţia acută că nu trebuia decât să întindă gheara şi să apuce…
Oftă şi îşi scutură creasta. Ideea asta absurdă nu demonstra decât faptul că petrecuse prea mult timp studiindu-şi duşmanul, iar conceptele războinice ale terrienilor apucaseră să-i infesteze raţiunea.
Două ajutoare pătrunseră mute în incintă şi se apucaseră să-i cureţe penajul şi aura strălucitoare, pregătindu-l pentru viitoarea întâlnire. Se strădui să nu-i bage în seamă şi aruncă o privire fugară dincolo de peretele de cristal. Aerobuze zvelte şi transportoare rapide se fereau, eliberând ruta aeriană, imediat ce erau atinse de razele galbene ale puternicelor proiectoare ale vehiculului său. Înălţă din umeri: acceptase rolul oficial, acceptase şi facilităţile lui. Dar şi inconvenientele. Îşi aplecă ciocul masiv către imaginea holografică, străduindu-se să se concentreze.
„Garth. De atâtea ori planetă victimă.”
Traficul mugea sumbru printre turnurile Oraşului-capitală, chiar în spatele peretelui de cristal al palanchinului oficial. Izolaţia fonică era însă atât de bună, încât nici cel mai mic sunet nu pătrundea înăuntru spre a-l deranja pe birocratul Preţului şi al Precauţiei din examinarea imaginii holografice a planetei minuscule, care se învârtea încet în apropierea ochilor săi. Mări albastre, îmbrăcând în lichidul lor cea mai mare parte a sferoidului, se strecurau printr-o mulţime de insule, ce sclipeau vag în lumina reflectată a unei stele invizibile.
„De-aş fi fost unul din zeii despre care se vorbeşte în legendele fiinţelor-lupi…”, visă birocratul şi pintenii i se încleştară fără voie. Avea senzaţia acută că nu trebuia decât să întindă gheara şi să apuce…
Oftă şi îşi scutură creasta. Ideea asta absurdă nu demonstra decât faptul că petrecuse prea mult timp studiindu-şi duşmanul, iar conceptele războinice ale terrienilor apucaseră să-i infesteze raţiunea.
Două ajutoare pătrunseră mute în incintă şi se apucaseră să-i cureţe penajul şi aura strălucitoare, pregătindu-l pentru viitoarea întâlnire. Se strădui să nu-i bage în seamă şi aruncă o privire fugară dincolo de peretele de cristal. Aerobuze zvelte şi transportoare rapide se fereau, eliberând ruta aeriană, imediat ce erau atinse de razele galbene ale puternicelor proiectoare ale vehiculului său. Înălţă din umeri: acceptase rolul oficial, acceptase şi facilităţile lui. Dar şi inconvenientele. Îşi aplecă ciocul masiv către imaginea holografică, străduindu-se să se concentreze.
„Garth. De atâtea ori planetă victimă.”
I know I read this 20-some years ago, and devoured the whole series. In an act of trickery, I sucked Oskar in to listening to it on our drives to and from hockey, even though he has refused to read the hard copy of the book that is sitting out in the living room.
And yet I had no recollection of the story. I only remembered the broad strokes of the Uplift universe but nothing from this plot or characters at all. Upon rereading, I don't think this warrants my recollected 4 star rating. It was pretty full of technobabble and some of the banter between flirting characters was corny. The plot was interesting enough once it finally got going, but there were several side stories that didn't seem well explained.
Another interesting thing about hearing this story in 2018 is the dated as nd off the mark futurism of this 80s scifi. There are quaint references to tape canisters and phones and microphones. (Contrast to Brin's Glory Season, where people wear glasses that record all that they see.)
Anyway... as a fan of Brin, I thought this was fine. I feel like I should continue re-reading the rest of the series, but I'm not sure if I will.
And yet I had no recollection of the story. I only remembered the broad strokes of the Uplift universe but nothing from this plot or characters at all. Upon rereading, I don't think this warrants my recollected 4 star rating. It was pretty full of technobabble and some of the banter between flirting characters was corny. The plot was interesting enough once it finally got going, but there were several side stories that didn't seem well explained.
Another interesting thing about hearing this story in 2018 is the dated as nd off the mark futurism of this 80s scifi. There are quaint references to tape canisters and phones and microphones. (Contrast to Brin's Glory Season, where people wear glasses that record all that they see.)
Anyway... as a fan of Brin, I thought this was fine. I feel like I should continue re-reading the rest of the series, but I'm not sure if I will.
This is one of those "famous trilogies" people kept referring me to. David Brin is also the author of The Postman. Overall I enjoyed reading these books, they're fun and undemanding and vaguely interesting. But also a bit, well, childish. Especially Sundiver, which suffers from some difficult plot problems. The general theme is humanity's role in a universe populated by galactic civilizations with billions of years of history. We're newcomers and outsiders; our kooky ways of doing things make us interesting and save the world. Some interesting moments, and generally an entertaining read.