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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Written in the late 70s, when the future lacked an internet and computers still produced printouts, this is a fascinating story set against the backdrop of humanity's emergence into a galactic bureaucracy that's billions of years old and which regards upstart humans as an irritation.
Brin takes the precepts of so-called American Excepionalism and transfers them to humanity as a whole. Human are special because we were not "uplifted" by another sentient species. But, by bye time this book starts we've set out into the galaxy, colonised three planets, and uplifted both dolphins and chimps as fully sentient species. It's this, it seems, that has a few appendages out of joint.
Against this backdrop there's a lot of skulduggery around the discovery of a species living within the Sun itself, and the mission to go chat with them. It's almost a detective in space story but not quite. It's almost space opera, but not quite. It's constantly interesting and written in a very matter-of-fact manner that suits the subject matter.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
Brin takes the precepts of so-called American Excepionalism and transfers them to humanity as a whole. Human are special because we were not "uplifted" by another sentient species. But, by bye time this book starts we've set out into the galaxy, colonised three planets, and uplifted both dolphins and chimps as fully sentient species. It's this, it seems, that has a few appendages out of joint.
Against this backdrop there's a lot of skulduggery around the discovery of a species living within the Sun itself, and the mission to go chat with them. It's almost a detective in space story but not quite. It's almost space opera, but not quite. It's constantly interesting and written in a very matter-of-fact manner that suits the subject matter.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very original SF idea (humans are the only sentient beings for billions of years who evolved to such a sentient stage, uplift, without the help of any of the other alien races, the galactics; furthermore, humans have uplifted chimps and dolphins, and maybe discovered intelligent life within a solar atmosphere - and those galactics are not happy about these upstart humans), with some great characters (alien, human, chimpanzee), and a fairly satisfying murder whodunit (human or one of the galactic races). Yet there was something about the prose, the detail, or the pace of the story that wasn't page turning.
Mystery in space!
Clues!
Motivations!
Characters!
OK, that's a crappy review. Let's try again. Well, not entirely again. Don't forget about those things I said before, they are totally relevant.
SO. I really liked this book. I don't think it was necessarily the best written book ever - there were some odd stylistic tics - like Culla's monologue at the end explaining what he had done... the main character had some kind of internal episode during it and we, as readers, missed the entire thing. You get kind of filled in later but... it was an odd choice. Not bad, just odd. There are a couple things like that, mostly having to do with Jacob and his "dark passenger" (haa haa).
I really liked the worldbuilding/universe setup. Almost everything about it just plain worked. I can't wait to read the next book just like I couldn't wait to read each new chapter. Having to put this down at the end of a lunch break at work as I neared the end was painful.
I think I have a sense of where the series is going, but I'm still really excited to see it and how we get there.
I really liked the way the characters (the supporting cast, especially) all felt like individuals with clear (clearly existing, not clearly discernible), independent motivations.
It felt like thriller pacing done right. Hmm. Yeah, this book was basically a thriller in space with aliens. Which is fine with me. Because SPACE and ALIENS. You know?
FOUR STARS
Clues!
Motivations!
Characters!
OK, that's a crappy review. Let's try again. Well, not entirely again. Don't forget about those things I said before, they are totally relevant.
SO. I really liked this book. I don't think it was necessarily the best written book ever - there were some odd stylistic tics - like Culla's monologue at the end explaining what he had done... the main character had some kind of internal episode during it and we, as readers, missed the entire thing. You get kind of filled in later but... it was an odd choice. Not bad, just odd. There are a couple things like that, mostly having to do with Jacob and his "dark passenger" (haa haa).
I really liked the worldbuilding/universe setup. Almost everything about it just plain worked. I can't wait to read the next book just like I couldn't wait to read each new chapter. Having to put this down at the end of a lunch break at work as I neared the end was painful.
I think I have a sense of where the series is going, but I'm still really excited to see it and how we get there.
I really liked the way the characters (the supporting cast, especially) all felt like individuals with clear (clearly existing, not clearly discernible), independent motivations.
It felt like thriller pacing done right. Hmm. Yeah, this book was basically a thriller in space with aliens. Which is fine with me. Because SPACE and ALIENS. You know?
FOUR STARS
Lots of really cool ideas--I'm definitely reading some of the other Brin Uplift books. Uplifting species, the sundiver, the various types of aliens, and the various factions on Earth all worked great. The whodunnit aspect didn't really work for me here and I was sometimes confused about *where* the characters were.
I'm already looking forward to the next in the series, and then a re-read. Lots of depth and philosophical musing material available here, though not necessary to the plot. And that has enough twists to satisfy most!
I enjoyed this one. It had a mystery, political intrigue, and exploration of the sun. I look forward to the rest in the series.
This was good but I don't think it qualifies as a classic of the genre. It's a bit dated in its development of the women characters and it doesn't flow well. It's a sci-fi novel blended with a whodunit.
Still, I liked it and finished it because the concepts were quite interesting. It didn't stray into preaching like many other sci-fi novels of its time.
And the cover art is terrible.
Still, I liked it and finished it because the concepts were quite interesting. It didn't stray into preaching like many other sci-fi novels of its time.
And the cover art is terrible.
fast-paced
I first read this as a teenager and have reread it again 25 years later. It hasn't aged well but the original concept is sound.