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The Uplift Saga #2-3
Earthclan
David Brin's Uplift Universe portrays humanity's desperate struggle for survival in a dangerous universe... and how we may cope by taking wise partners with us on this journey. Artificial intelligence is one way that we may add diversity to our civilization. But in this series we've done it by giving a boost in intelligence to some of our fellow creatures on Planet Earth. Dolphins and apes -- especially -- seem trapped under a "glass ceiling" that limits their ability to speak, to argue, to create, to use tools, to invent and take part in Terran culture. But what if we, the first species on Earth to cross the wide gulf of sapience, were to turn around and offer a hand to others? To pass on the gift (that sometimes threatens to be a curse) of fully empowered mind?
This omnibus volume includes Startide Rising and The Uplift War. (Does not include Sundiver)
This omnibus volume includes Startide Rising and The Uplift War. (Does not include Sundiver)
983 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1987
16 people are currently reading
486 people want to read
About the author
David Brin
312 books3,250 followersDavid Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 8, 2008
Wow! As good as Dune!
October 12, 2020
I have been a science fiction reader for a long time. 60 years ago I even started to write a science fiction story. I quit, after a short time, because I couldn't flesh out my idea enough to make a whole story. My one and only idea!
After all these years of reading science fiction, I thought, like the head of the Patent Office, in the late 1800's, that I had seen every story idea, just massaged in different ways. WRONG! This pair of books introduced the coolest new idea that I have seen in years.
I realize these books were written in the 1980's. I am a bit behind in my reading, as those of you who have seen my short reviews are well aware. But, I enjoyed the heck out of this monster book. No spoilers from me, but if you haven't read these books yet, give them a shot. Big book, but deservedly so. If you have a story to tell, have at it (a la Ken Follett, James Michener, et al)!
Sorry about the "!'s", but, like I said, if you have something to say, "have at it!"
After all these years of reading science fiction, I thought, like the head of the Patent Office, in the late 1800's, that I had seen every story idea, just massaged in different ways. WRONG! This pair of books introduced the coolest new idea that I have seen in years.
I realize these books were written in the 1980's. I am a bit behind in my reading, as those of you who have seen my short reviews are well aware. But, I enjoyed the heck out of this monster book. No spoilers from me, but if you haven't read these books yet, give them a shot. Big book, but deservedly so. If you have a story to tell, have at it (a la Ken Follett, James Michener, et al)!
Sorry about the "!'s", but, like I said, if you have something to say, "have at it!"
September 6, 2017
Two Hugo Winners in one book!
I am going through the Legendary era of "1980's Hard SciFi". This is completely out of my comfort zone, as the 1950's in my favorite decade of SciFi literature, and I do not consider myself technical enough to be fully able to appreciate Hard-Scifi. I had to consult the Wiki several times to understand the nuances and overall-direction the novel was taking me.
Three-stars. This book was more a retelling of Startide Rising. The Gubru were my favorite characters. And this was a very memorable read, though not necessarily a fun read.
I am going through the Legendary era of "1980's Hard SciFi". This is completely out of my comfort zone, as the 1950's in my favorite decade of SciFi literature, and I do not consider myself technical enough to be fully able to appreciate Hard-Scifi. I had to consult the Wiki several times to understand the nuances and overall-direction the novel was taking me.
Three-stars. This book was more a retelling of Startide Rising. The Gubru were my favorite characters. And this was a very memorable read, though not necessarily a fun read.
October 24, 2017
What's not to love? Two Nebula winners in the same Omnibus volume (the less good Sundiver is not included).
I won't get into plot points here. Rather, I will point out that nobody has ever done diverse aliens as well as Brin in these to books. They are astonishing. They are wildly diverse. They are intriguing. They are baffling. Most importantly, they are a celebration of the wonderful diversity of life. I come to this as a Biology professor, and I think finally somebody gets it right: life could progress millions of different ways. The common thread is sapience and survival, and everything else could be changed. Others have done well: who can forget Larry Niven's Puppeteers? But Brin's aliens are scientifically practical.
Intriguingly, Brin also explores what intelligence would be like if extrapolated from out own sibling and cousins: chimps and dolphins (the central allies in "Uplift War" and "Startide Rising," the two books in this omnibus). (Oh, and there's a surprise guest appearance in the Uplift War.) These books represent a fascinating exploration of how different intelligences from our own genetic ancestry would be. As such, they contrast charmingly with the true aliens, and explore commonalities and unbridgeable differences between intelligent species among the stars. Nobody has ever done it better.
Overlaid on this is the fascinating concept of Uplift and Patronage, which Brin first developed in Sundiver (absent from this volume), but which does not require a reading of the somewat weaker Sundiver to understand. The central tension, laid on top of the individual characters' struggles and the fascinating aliens, is the mystery of humans. Most intelligent species were "discovered" as sub-sapient species but an already advanced species, then nurtured forward to sapience. Whole "family" lineages of uplifter and upliftee comprise the political structure of the galaxy, with different factions pushing different views of the galaxy and the phenomenon of sapience. Into this milieu jump the humans, which appear to be "wolflings" who arose to sapience by themselves. The mere existence of humanity nearly precipitates a holy war among galactic civilizations that go back over a billion years. Where does humanity fit into the established order, when all intelligent, starfaring species were uplifted by a previous intelligent species, back into the mists of time?
These complex but utterly stimulating ideas are woven together into sophisticated stories in these two novels. They rightly won the Nebula for their respective years. Together, these two books reach a vision that was only exceeded by Frank Herbert's Dune and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead (though all three are very different). This was Brin's peak, but he reached as high as one can go as an SF writer. Not for the faint of heart, or faint of intellect: these are books written for very intelligent readers, and not seekers for pulp fiction. But for the intellectually restless, Brin lays out a buffet of xenobiological creativity, overlaid on strong political and plot driven narrative. And all that said, they are good yarns that can carry you through to keep turning the pages.
The main complaint among certain readers may be the relative weakness of character development. It is pretty good in these books, but not great (I'd say Startide rising is the stronger of the two vis-a-vis character development.) But that is frequently a criticism of SF and Fantasy in general, and is an argument frequently leveled at, say, Dune. As a more modern writer, Brin treats female characters with respect, and develops them to be as complicated and talented (or more so) then men. Besides, in these novels the question is: females vs. males of which species? And is the species limited to two sexes? Hey, don't get hung up on your preconceptions.
A delightful journey through the mind of a creative scientist and writer!
I won't get into plot points here. Rather, I will point out that nobody has ever done diverse aliens as well as Brin in these to books. They are astonishing. They are wildly diverse. They are intriguing. They are baffling. Most importantly, they are a celebration of the wonderful diversity of life. I come to this as a Biology professor, and I think finally somebody gets it right: life could progress millions of different ways. The common thread is sapience and survival, and everything else could be changed. Others have done well: who can forget Larry Niven's Puppeteers? But Brin's aliens are scientifically practical.
Intriguingly, Brin also explores what intelligence would be like if extrapolated from out own sibling and cousins: chimps and dolphins (the central allies in "Uplift War" and "Startide Rising," the two books in this omnibus). (Oh, and there's a surprise guest appearance in the Uplift War.) These books represent a fascinating exploration of how different intelligences from our own genetic ancestry would be. As such, they contrast charmingly with the true aliens, and explore commonalities and unbridgeable differences between intelligent species among the stars. Nobody has ever done it better.
Overlaid on this is the fascinating concept of Uplift and Patronage, which Brin first developed in Sundiver (absent from this volume), but which does not require a reading of the somewat weaker Sundiver to understand. The central tension, laid on top of the individual characters' struggles and the fascinating aliens, is the mystery of humans. Most intelligent species were "discovered" as sub-sapient species but an already advanced species, then nurtured forward to sapience. Whole "family" lineages of uplifter and upliftee comprise the political structure of the galaxy, with different factions pushing different views of the galaxy and the phenomenon of sapience. Into this milieu jump the humans, which appear to be "wolflings" who arose to sapience by themselves. The mere existence of humanity nearly precipitates a holy war among galactic civilizations that go back over a billion years. Where does humanity fit into the established order, when all intelligent, starfaring species were uplifted by a previous intelligent species, back into the mists of time?
These complex but utterly stimulating ideas are woven together into sophisticated stories in these two novels. They rightly won the Nebula for their respective years. Together, these two books reach a vision that was only exceeded by Frank Herbert's Dune and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead (though all three are very different). This was Brin's peak, but he reached as high as one can go as an SF writer. Not for the faint of heart, or faint of intellect: these are books written for very intelligent readers, and not seekers for pulp fiction. But for the intellectually restless, Brin lays out a buffet of xenobiological creativity, overlaid on strong political and plot driven narrative. And all that said, they are good yarns that can carry you through to keep turning the pages.
The main complaint among certain readers may be the relative weakness of character development. It is pretty good in these books, but not great (I'd say Startide rising is the stronger of the two vis-a-vis character development.) But that is frequently a criticism of SF and Fantasy in general, and is an argument frequently leveled at, say, Dune. As a more modern writer, Brin treats female characters with respect, and develops them to be as complicated and talented (or more so) then men. Besides, in these novels the question is: females vs. males of which species? And is the species limited to two sexes? Hey, don't get hung up on your preconceptions.
A delightful journey through the mind of a creative scientist and writer!
March 8, 2014
This is another book which I read sometime in the past few years and put on the shelf, and then recently I found myself mentioning details from it, so I decided to read it again.
There are a lot of things about Brin's universe that feel strange to me. It is apparently filled with intelligent aliens in a massive interconnected society held together by a few "institutes", such as the "Institute for Civilized Warfare", which function to determine and enforce the rules for interspecies interactions. The greatest of these institutes is "The Library", a repository of all knowledge collected since the first starfaring race, somewhat reverently known as "The Progenitors", established the rules of for The Five Galaxies. Among those rules is the treatment of "presentient" creatures, those who have not quite developed what it takes to be starfaring members of galactic society, but generally those with limited language, tool use, and other marks of intelligence--creatures like our modern chimpanzees, dolphins, and gorillas. Under the rules, intelligent species seek and find these "presentients" and then by teaching and gene manipulation bring them to the level of "sentient clients" in return for a brief indenture as servants to their "patrons". To give you a notion of how long this has been happening, such indentures last fifty thousand years, the current senior patrons can trace their patron lineage back through multiple species most of whom have vanished from the universe, and the "progenitors" themselves have been lost so long that there are religious factions built on the expectation of their return. It is a standard belief of the "Galactics" that sentience is not possible by evolution, only by the aid of a patron. The problem that the progenitors themselves must have attained sentience independently is never raised; instead, many Galactics insist that humans must have been found by one of their own kind and the process begun then abandoned (illegal under the laws of the Institute for Uplift, so no one who had done so would have admitted it).
Into this mix, humans make their first interstellar journeys, and they upset the system because not only do they have no patrons of their own, they have already, by a combination of training and genetic meddling, elevated chimpanzees and dolphins to levels where these are completing college degrees and participating in modern technological society (the former for three centuries, the latter for one). That means that not only do these "wolflings" have no patrons, they are themselves patrons, and with only a few thousand years of history have to be treated (much to the annoyance of billion year old competitors) with respect.
This book contains two novels. In the first, we join the crew of first dolphin-crewed starship, with its half dozen human observers and one chimpanzee scientist, somewhere in the middle of an adventure. It seems that before this book began they had wandered into a little-visited section of space and discovered a vast fleet of dormant moon-sized spaceships. They lost some crew, including the first officer, when they accidentally triggered some automatic defense system, and when they broadcast their findings back to earth they upset the entire galaxy, particularly the fanatics who all think they have found the returning progenitors and want to know where. As the book opens, the ship has escaped a massive ambush and hidden at the bottom of an ocean on a planet called Kithrup. The story is wonderfully complicated, far more than just how they manage to escape the net of a dozen much more powerful alien fleets fighting over them, to head for earth with their data, their one physical treasure, and a group of presentients they discovered on Kithrup, while internal crew politics are tearing apart the effort.
The second novel is dependent on the first, in that the planet Garth is a human/chimpanzee colony leased to humanity in large part because it suffered an ecological catastrophe and no one else wants it. However, the Gubru--bird-like aliens with a complex reproductive pattern somewhat akin to bees in that only the queen lays eggs, but has two mates both of whom are necessary for reproduction, and the vast number of others neuter--have decided that they can blockade and conquer Garth, and hold the population hostage so that earth will negotiate, giving them the information about the dolphin starship's discovery. With biological weapons they incapacitate and capture almost the entire human population, and then attempt to make the chimpanzees their own clients. (The oceans of Garth contain minerals which are poisonous to dolphins.) They have vastly underrated the chimps, who with the help of a couple of aliens and a couple of humans, along with the gorillas someone has been hiding in the mountains and "uplifting" toward sentience, mount a formidable and intelligent resistance against the invaders, who themselves are struggling with internal tensions and rivalries.
I must commend the author for the use of multiple staging, the technique of establishing driving action in several places with different characters, so that while I am reading about Toshio I am wondering what is happening with Creidiki or Tom, or while Fiben takes center stage I want to know what Robert or Gailet is doing. It is a good way to keep a reader engaged, as long as it keeps everyone straight and doesn't go too long before connecting the lines. Brin does that well.
On the down side, I really felt as if there were a series here I was missing, but there is nothing in the edition I have to suggest either prequels or sequels despite indications that both novels were previously published separately. I am curious about the earlier discovery of the fleet, and about what happens when the starship gets home. These feel like pieces of an epic, but I don't see the rest of it even hinted. I certainly understand it when my sequels don't go to print, given low interest in the earlier books. One of these is an award-winning novel, and I don't understand why there is no list in the cover of other books in the series. Not that I have money to spend on books at present, but at least I'd like to know if they are out there. Maybe someday I will be able to read them, if I know to seek them.
--M. J. Young
There are a lot of things about Brin's universe that feel strange to me. It is apparently filled with intelligent aliens in a massive interconnected society held together by a few "institutes", such as the "Institute for Civilized Warfare", which function to determine and enforce the rules for interspecies interactions. The greatest of these institutes is "The Library", a repository of all knowledge collected since the first starfaring race, somewhat reverently known as "The Progenitors", established the rules of for The Five Galaxies. Among those rules is the treatment of "presentient" creatures, those who have not quite developed what it takes to be starfaring members of galactic society, but generally those with limited language, tool use, and other marks of intelligence--creatures like our modern chimpanzees, dolphins, and gorillas. Under the rules, intelligent species seek and find these "presentients" and then by teaching and gene manipulation bring them to the level of "sentient clients" in return for a brief indenture as servants to their "patrons". To give you a notion of how long this has been happening, such indentures last fifty thousand years, the current senior patrons can trace their patron lineage back through multiple species most of whom have vanished from the universe, and the "progenitors" themselves have been lost so long that there are religious factions built on the expectation of their return. It is a standard belief of the "Galactics" that sentience is not possible by evolution, only by the aid of a patron. The problem that the progenitors themselves must have attained sentience independently is never raised; instead, many Galactics insist that humans must have been found by one of their own kind and the process begun then abandoned (illegal under the laws of the Institute for Uplift, so no one who had done so would have admitted it).
Into this mix, humans make their first interstellar journeys, and they upset the system because not only do they have no patrons of their own, they have already, by a combination of training and genetic meddling, elevated chimpanzees and dolphins to levels where these are completing college degrees and participating in modern technological society (the former for three centuries, the latter for one). That means that not only do these "wolflings" have no patrons, they are themselves patrons, and with only a few thousand years of history have to be treated (much to the annoyance of billion year old competitors) with respect.
This book contains two novels. In the first, we join the crew of first dolphin-crewed starship, with its half dozen human observers and one chimpanzee scientist, somewhere in the middle of an adventure. It seems that before this book began they had wandered into a little-visited section of space and discovered a vast fleet of dormant moon-sized spaceships. They lost some crew, including the first officer, when they accidentally triggered some automatic defense system, and when they broadcast their findings back to earth they upset the entire galaxy, particularly the fanatics who all think they have found the returning progenitors and want to know where. As the book opens, the ship has escaped a massive ambush and hidden at the bottom of an ocean on a planet called Kithrup. The story is wonderfully complicated, far more than just how they manage to escape the net of a dozen much more powerful alien fleets fighting over them, to head for earth with their data, their one physical treasure, and a group of presentients they discovered on Kithrup, while internal crew politics are tearing apart the effort.
The second novel is dependent on the first, in that the planet Garth is a human/chimpanzee colony leased to humanity in large part because it suffered an ecological catastrophe and no one else wants it. However, the Gubru--bird-like aliens with a complex reproductive pattern somewhat akin to bees in that only the queen lays eggs, but has two mates both of whom are necessary for reproduction, and the vast number of others neuter--have decided that they can blockade and conquer Garth, and hold the population hostage so that earth will negotiate, giving them the information about the dolphin starship's discovery. With biological weapons they incapacitate and capture almost the entire human population, and then attempt to make the chimpanzees their own clients. (The oceans of Garth contain minerals which are poisonous to dolphins.) They have vastly underrated the chimps, who with the help of a couple of aliens and a couple of humans, along with the gorillas someone has been hiding in the mountains and "uplifting" toward sentience, mount a formidable and intelligent resistance against the invaders, who themselves are struggling with internal tensions and rivalries.
I must commend the author for the use of multiple staging, the technique of establishing driving action in several places with different characters, so that while I am reading about Toshio I am wondering what is happening with Creidiki or Tom, or while Fiben takes center stage I want to know what Robert or Gailet is doing. It is a good way to keep a reader engaged, as long as it keeps everyone straight and doesn't go too long before connecting the lines. Brin does that well.
On the down side, I really felt as if there were a series here I was missing, but there is nothing in the edition I have to suggest either prequels or sequels despite indications that both novels were previously published separately. I am curious about the earlier discovery of the fleet, and about what happens when the starship gets home. These feel like pieces of an epic, but I don't see the rest of it even hinted. I certainly understand it when my sequels don't go to print, given low interest in the earlier books. One of these is an award-winning novel, and I don't understand why there is no list in the cover of other books in the series. Not that I have money to spend on books at present, but at least I'd like to know if they are out there. Maybe someday I will be able to read them, if I know to seek them.
--M. J. Young
May 24, 2023
Just finished my first full blown space opera!
As a long time fantasy reader I won't lie about struggling a bit with the fictive science at moments, but luckily Brin doesn't spend much time on this. As soon as I got my mind around that neo-chimpanzees and neo-dolphins aren't any more far fetched than elves and dwarves I ended up really enjoying myself with these stories. I'm looking forward to reading more about the Earthlings, particularly the destiny of the spaceship Streaker
As a long time fantasy reader I won't lie about struggling a bit with the fictive science at moments, but luckily Brin doesn't spend much time on this. As soon as I got my mind around that neo-chimpanzees and neo-dolphins aren't any more far fetched than elves and dwarves I ended up really enjoying myself with these stories. I'm looking forward to reading more about the Earthlings, particularly the destiny of the spaceship Streaker
November 13, 2021
In the far future, humans have genetically modified dolphins to be almost as intelligent as us, and we explore the universe with them in spaceships full of water. This story was a lot of fun. Wide range of characters, fun ideas, would recommend. This book had two novels in one, I only read the first one.
April 13, 2025
Dolphins in space!
October 4, 2010
I actually could not get through this book- it reads like a Russian novel with more characters than I can keep track of, most of them from races and species not human with names containing lots of unpronounceable names It is too bad, there was a decent plot developing (I think) but it just did not keep me engaged enough to stick with it. That being said, it clearly is an incredible creative concept and the detail of the different warring species, the gallactic 'rules', and the heretical behavior of the human/dolphin/chimp is sort of empowering in an incredibly dorky way
April 28, 2015
Two great space operas! At first it took me a a couple of chapters to get into the mindset of a dolphin or a chimp, but once I got on board, I couldn't stop. Definitely a lot more action than some of the other Hugo books I've read, but it's all there for a reason. David Brin teases you with a mystery in both books and the payoff is usually not what you expect. I would definitely recommend.
August 25, 2015
Contains the novels Startide rising and the Uplift War. Humanity discovers that it is not alone but must struggle to meet the requirements of membership into the stellar community of worlds and races.
July 5, 2016
-I wanted to like this book more than I did. I was very annoyed by the haiku's used by the dolphins, and other things about the book I found a bit annoying. I did like the premise but I won't be reading this book again.
September 15, 2007
Great Sci-fi. Compelling characters and story line. It is fantastic, but very believeable.
May 6, 2019
I believe when it comes to Brin's Uplift Saga these are the only two books worth reading. And boy are they excellent books.
July 6, 2009
The Uplift concept was a good one, as was the ancient space battlefield and some of the other points.
Read
February 27, 2010sooo hard to get into....
January 22, 2016
Excellent sci fi. Some of my all time favourite characters and fascinating concept.
Read
March 7, 2013My copy from SFBC doesn't seem to contain Sundiver
April 4, 2013
3 in one
June 11, 2013
Interesting story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews