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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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:
Yes
A truly excellent read. It is better paced, structured, and executed than the previous entry in the series. David Brin writes a compelling tale with great skill, one that touches many important themes.
From warfare to colonization, from biology to space exploration, from relationships to geopolitics, all these mesh together in a truly engrossing story that I had a lot of fun reading through. All these echo real life situations, as do the best science fiction novels.
All the characters are very well developed, and serve their purpose admirably. Brin even manages to insert a fair dose of humour to make the whole thing easier to digest without ever becoming silly, which is quite a feat.
All in all, I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the second trilogy.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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:
Complicated
I really liked this one. The first was a tepid entry; it introduced novel concepts but told rather than showed—it was an action/adventure novel. The second was almost bad: the first half could have been condensed to a few chapters, and the totality of the book could have been a couple of chapters in this one—especially since the time scale from the second to the the third book was ostensibly weeks, while centuries passed between the first and second books.
This novel, on the other hand, really made use of the material. He constructs an intergalactic community which, by genetic manipulation, education and outright eugenics transforms animals into sentient, space-faring beings. He then proceeds to illustrate the flaws and benefits of this concept. He constructs a millennia-old intergalactic community, already rife with political intrigues (already akin to political intrigues that have existed on earth at any time) and then introduces earthlings (not just human, but chimpanzee, dolphin, and gorilla as well, with the implication that other native species could just as easily have been chosen) into this political maelstrom. He shows them fumbling along, making few friends and more than a few enemies, all the while trying to retain their uniqueness, yet adapt to the constructs in place which are demanded on them. And just to make sure things aren't too easy, many of their enemies can and will destroy them if given opportunity. Now we have a setting for a space opera worth reading.
There is a setting, there is a story, now there simply needs to be something to say. Given the allegorical implications of the world he's created, he has many opportunity to do so. And he uses most of them. Sexual dynamics are questioned (both the dominant male/submissive female paradigm as well as the need for such a paradigm). Ecological conservationism is especially important especially in the second and even more so in the third book.
The biggest complaint that I have is that his villains are terribly one-dimensional. The second book has an actual mustache-twirling villainess, and he sidesteps the issue of a one-dimensional character in the third book by making the villain a collective villain, splitting the various character traits among three distinct characters—each operating with the goal to be the hero themselves (and thereby make the collective the hero).
I nearly forget to mention the prose. It's not overly prosaic, communicating directly is definitely his goal, but he makes wonderful use of voice in the specific characters (at least most of the time). Many of the alien species communicate in various forms of actual poetry—clearly designed to be simultaneously vague and specific, or to echo a cultural trait. It's a nice touch that breaks up the writing.
After the second, I was about ready to write the series off as having an interesting conceit but poor execution. But now that I see that there is something here, I'm looking forward to the next one.
This novel, on the other hand, really made use of the material. He constructs an intergalactic community which, by genetic manipulation, education and outright eugenics transforms animals into sentient, space-faring beings. He then proceeds to illustrate the flaws and benefits of this concept. He constructs a millennia-old intergalactic community, already rife with political intrigues (already akin to political intrigues that have existed on earth at any time) and then introduces earthlings (not just human, but chimpanzee, dolphin, and gorilla as well, with the implication that other native species could just as easily have been chosen) into this political maelstrom. He shows them fumbling along, making few friends and more than a few enemies, all the while trying to retain their uniqueness, yet adapt to the constructs in place which are demanded on them. And just to make sure things aren't too easy, many of their enemies can and will destroy them if given opportunity. Now we have a setting for a space opera worth reading.
There is a setting, there is a story, now there simply needs to be something to say. Given the allegorical implications of the world he's created, he has many opportunity to do so. And he uses most of them. Sexual dynamics are questioned (both the dominant male/submissive female paradigm as well as the need for such a paradigm). Ecological conservationism is especially important especially in the second and even more so in the third book.
The biggest complaint that I have is that his villains are terribly one-dimensional. The second book has an actual mustache-twirling villainess, and he sidesteps the issue of a one-dimensional character in the third book by making the villain a collective villain, splitting the various character traits among three distinct characters—each operating with the goal to be the hero themselves (and thereby make the collective the hero).
I nearly forget to mention the prose. It's not overly prosaic, communicating directly is definitely his goal, but he makes wonderful use of voice in the specific characters (at least most of the time). Many of the alien species communicate in various forms of actual poetry—clearly designed to be simultaneously vague and specific, or to echo a cultural trait. It's a nice touch that breaks up the writing.
After the second, I was about ready to write the series off as having an interesting conceit but poor execution. But now that I see that there is something here, I'm looking forward to the next one.
adventurous
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:
No
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book and #2 could really be swapped. They happen at the same time and #3 barely mentioned #2. This lack of relationship between the two was my main gripe with this book. Uplift War added more depth to this universe, but it didn't really advance the story at all. I really wish it had essentially jumped ahead a couple hundred years after book #2 like he did between #1>#2.
Well, I can at least say that I did like this book more than the previous two in the series, but still not enough to raise it to four stars, in my humble opinion.
Brin is clearly a master at imagining and developing science fictional concepts, and his writing is certainly polished and professional. The aliens are particularly well-drawn here, with each race being given its own unique character - some stranger than others - and this goes a long way toward clarifying why the Galactics are apparently constantly at war - something that was left too vague for me in Startide Rising.
The idea of uplift is still the central factor, of course, and this book does bring that concept to a solid maturity, and fills in many of the details that were sketchy in the earlier volumes. And there are some additional SF ideas that would be enough to form the core of a simpler book, but here serve as throwaway ideas that add to the richness of the world building.
The actual story, however, I found strangely tedious, and given the length of this book, it’s a particularly extended tedium. All the elements of a decent story are here, but for me they just unspooled painfully slowly. The sense of tension when moving from one sub-plot to another - something that goes unnoticed when it’s done well - is largely lacking.
Some characters are pleasantly complex - Fiben and Gailet in particular were interesting and fun to sympathize with. And the Gubru had a consistent note of bizarre otherness that made them at least intriguing, if also villainous. Others were less well-developed though, in particular Robert, who I found flat and uninteresting.
Overall, it was enjoyable enough for the nicely done SF elements, but I was less impressed with the story construction and pace, and I found it longer than it needed to be.
Brin is clearly a master at imagining and developing science fictional concepts, and his writing is certainly polished and professional. The aliens are particularly well-drawn here, with each race being given its own unique character - some stranger than others - and this goes a long way toward clarifying why the Galactics are apparently constantly at war - something that was left too vague for me in Startide Rising.
The idea of uplift is still the central factor, of course, and this book does bring that concept to a solid maturity, and fills in many of the details that were sketchy in the earlier volumes. And there are some additional SF ideas that would be enough to form the core of a simpler book, but here serve as throwaway ideas that add to the richness of the world building.
The actual story, however, I found strangely tedious, and given the length of this book, it’s a particularly extended tedium. All the elements of a decent story are here, but for me they just unspooled painfully slowly. The sense of tension when moving from one sub-plot to another - something that goes unnoticed when it’s done well - is largely lacking.
Some characters are pleasantly complex - Fiben and Gailet in particular were interesting and fun to sympathize with. And the Gubru had a consistent note of bizarre otherness that made them at least intriguing, if also villainous. Others were less well-developed though, in particular Robert, who I found flat and uninteresting.
Overall, it was enjoyable enough for the nicely done SF elements, but I was less impressed with the story construction and pace, and I found it longer than it needed to be.
I've heard a lot of positive about the Uplift saga, so I was looking forward to the books.. the first two were not so much to my liking, but "the uplift war" should be great.
The whole uplift idea is an interesting part of world building, although it feels a bit weird when you compare it to colonialism and recent work on revisionist history.
Sometimes I get the feeling of reading a YA novel. And that one written by a horny male teenager. Seriously, the whole "reasons why protagonists can have sex with more than their girlfriend"-stick feels a bit cringey, the "boys will be boys" parts too (altough not as bad as during sundiver). Strong female roles are somewhat lacking, they more fall into the "crying for male hero to rescue them"-category, sometimes even literally so.
Casually mentioning atrocities against sentinent bird species feels odd sometimes. The story is sometimes surprising, but then this might be related to some of the plot holes.
The whole ecology stuff is great, the Postscript pure gold. Again, it seems that I am more fond of David Brin, the human being, than Brin, the novelist.
The whole uplift idea is an interesting part of world building, although it feels a bit weird when you compare it to colonialism and recent work on revisionist history.
Sometimes I get the feeling of reading a YA novel. And that one written by a horny male teenager. Seriously, the whole "reasons why protagonists can have sex with more than their girlfriend"-stick feels a bit cringey, the "boys will be boys" parts too (altough not as bad as during sundiver). Strong female roles are somewhat lacking, they more fall into the "crying for male hero to rescue them"-category, sometimes even literally so.
Casually mentioning atrocities against sentinent bird species feels odd sometimes. The story is sometimes surprising, but then this might be related to some of the plot holes.
The whole ecology stuff is great, the Postscript pure gold. Again, it seems that I am more fond of David Brin, the human being, than Brin, the novelist.
A sprawling epic (in the best sense) of earthling colonists (human and uplifted chimp) resisting an alien invasion with the assistance of friendly galactics. Still as enjoyable as when I first read it 20 years ago.