Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, Book 2)
by David Brin
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recommends it for:
sci-di fans
This book is hard to read at times. It is very sci-fi. To understand it at all you have to take yourself out of this world completely, but still remember we are humans. It is filled with many interesting ideas that we are confronting in the 'real' world even now. Like species-ism (which species is the best and how do they get to treat other species) and genetically altering other species (GMO).
The crew of the Streaker are the first dolphin captained space craft. It is a mission as ...more
The crew of the Streaker are the first dolphin captained space craft. It is a mission as ...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans of sci-fi
The 2nd book in Brin's Uplift Saga is a sure improvement over Sundiver. It has the same great universe and alien heirarchy that Sundiver introduced, but this time there is plenty of action and a story that actually feels complete.
A brief synopsis:
Startide begins with a ship that's crash landed on a planet consisting mostly of water. This ship is crewed almost entirely by Uplifted dolphins. The ship is on the run from a dozen or so alien fleets who are after a discovery that they have ma...more
A brief synopsis:
Startide begins with a ship that's crash landed on a planet consisting mostly of water. This ship is crewed almost entirely by Uplifted dolphins. The ship is on the run from a dozen or so alien fleets who are after a discovery that they have ma...more
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Read in January, 1984
A star ship flown by one species of mankind's uplift clients. 150 dolphins are out to prove themselves capable clients with just 7 humans and one chimp along. What should have been a simple flight turned into a major discovery when they run into a graveyard of ships, a derelict fleet left by the putative progenitors to all intelligence in the known universe.
Captain of this ship is Creideiki one of the neofins or uplifted dolphins. And it is with him my greatest sympathy was engendered. Brin us...more
Captain of this ship is Creideiki one of the neofins or uplifted dolphins. And it is with him my greatest sympathy was engendered. Brin us...more
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Read in May, 1996
recommends it for:
science fiction fans
This book is about a galactic civilization where only ones species has ever traveled to the stars without being "uplifted," or genetically engineered by another more advanced species. The one that wasn't uplifted were the progenitors, the first race to make it to the stars. The galaxy has an interesting political make up, as each race is valued on who uplifted them and how many races they have uplifted. And then there are the humans, who seem to have reached the stars without being ...more
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I got this book from Olman (see his review here) and have unfortunately been struggling to finish it for months. The difficulty in finishing the novel was only based in a small way on the book but mainly on my lack of reading these days.
The difficulty I had with the book was primarily because of the structure. Chapters are told from the perspectives of a number of the main characters, human and dolphin. Initially, when everyone is on the main ship it is hard to parse out who is who and what ro...more
The difficulty I had with the book was primarily because of the structure. Chapters are told from the perspectives of a number of the main characters, human and dolphin. Initially, when everyone is on the main ship it is hard to parse out who is who and what ro...more
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Read in January, 2006
Undoubtedly one of the stupidest books I've ever read. I'm not sure what's worst, the talking dolphins who can smile, the chimpanzee planetologist who smokes a pipe (I think), the horribly written dialog, the fact that the aliens are more believable characters than the humans, or the fact that somebody thought it would be a great idea to use dolphins to run starships since, as we know, such a large percentage of planets have water on them that obviously we want aquatic creatures who can go out ...more
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recommends it for:
fans of sci-fi
The search continues. Through the fog of uplift travels the exploration ship, Streaker. Crewed by an unusual mammalian mix, Streaker is part of humankind's latest attempt to understand the roots of our exsitence.
What was uncorked in Sundiver is allowed to flow freely in its sequel. Still grasping at the deeper questions, Brin continues to keep the story tight, despite the absorbtion of new information. There are struggles aplen...more
What was uncorked in Sundiver is allowed to flow freely in its sequel. Still grasping at the deeper questions, Brin continues to keep the story tight, despite the absorbtion of new information. There are struggles aplen...more
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Read in May, 2002
recommends it for:
any sci-fi fan
I must have gotten this book when I was 16, was mildly weirded out by the dolphin on the cover, and started it once or twice without getting anywhere. Then something made me pick it up when I was 22, and it just knocked me flat. The author is an astro-physicist, and has an incredible ability to imagine the weird beautiful possibilities in the universe, can write alien characters that seem, well, alien, and human characters that seem human. Like a lot of sci-fi the book asks you to come to it, to...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is a welcome retreat from all the non-fiction/self-improvement books that's dominated my reading the past two years.
Recommended by my friend Shawn, this combination of sci-fi is excellent. The politics that is made up is on par with Dune. I love those kinds of scenario. Also the use of dolphins as major characters is cool. Most notably, the premise we are not alone, and that other galactic settlers exist with much higher level of technologies.
Time to think about expanding off Ea...more
Recommended by my friend Shawn, this combination of sci-fi is excellent. The politics that is made up is on par with Dune. I love those kinds of scenario. Also the use of dolphins as major characters is cool. Most notably, the premise we are not alone, and that other galactic settlers exist with much higher level of technologies.
Time to think about expanding off Ea...more
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Read in May, 2008
Brin's storytelling is strong in this book (it was weak in the first of the series), and he wisely abandoned certain elements of the first that weren't working.
The book is mostly about the dolphins and humans, with aliens appearing only in (slightly annoying) comic relief interludes.
It reads as a page turner, where the small scale conflicts are handled well and characters are well developed. The larger plot arc is almost non-existent, which is disappointing at the end but irrelevant th...more
The book is mostly about the dolphins and humans, with aliens appearing only in (slightly annoying) comic relief interludes.
It reads as a page turner, where the small scale conflicts are handled well and characters are well developed. The larger plot arc is almost non-existent, which is disappointing at the end but irrelevant th...more
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Man, I'm not going to make the effort to plod through David Brin's stuff when there's so much else I could be reading. I gave Kiln People about 25 pages and Earth 50 before giving up. I started to take a stab at this and decided before I finished the first page, I'd rather read Horwitz or Steele or Eggers and then, after I finish all of those, any of a couple hundred other books.
My friends are big fans of Brin's, but tastes vary. His style, stories, and characters don't draw me in at all.
My friends are big fans of Brin's, but tastes vary. His style, stories, and characters don't draw me in at all.
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Read in January, 1985
recommends it for:
hard sci fi with soft dolphins
a Great sci fi book, by a scientist that can write.
Ok, he may not be the best writer but he is good, and he hit the nail on the head marketing wise with a spaceship of genetically enhanced dolphins with cute names. ow cna you miss with that. throw in Earth being the new boys on the block and political intrigue among alien races that are full of every range of benevolent overseers to horrid evil manipulative slavers.
Fun entertainign and heart warming
Ok, he may not be the best writer but he is good, and he hit the nail on the head marketing wise with a spaceship of genetically enhanced dolphins with cute names. ow cna you miss with that. throw in Earth being the new boys on the block and political intrigue among alien races that are full of every range of benevolent overseers to horrid evil manipulative slavers.
Fun entertainign and heart warming
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Read in July, 2008
Still enjoyable some 20 years after I first read it. Essentially it's an escape story: Earthlings on the run from galactics because they've discovered something valuable. What makes it stand out is the "uplift" angle--most of the Earthling crew are intelligent dolphins, with a few human helpers and one very single-minded chimp scientist thrown in the mix. Brin's depiction of cetacean philosophy and poetry adds depth and interest to the characters.
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
any sci-fi/mystery fan.
This book was much more interesting than the first book. I especially enjoyed the Stenos storylines, and the surprises that keep the plot moving. I could have done with more info on the Eatees and Abos, but that's David Brin's way of keeping you hooked. I must say, I'm happy to have found another sci-fi writer that I can stay interested in for a series. I hope the third book is a five. We'll see soon, I've already begun reading it. :)
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Read in February, 1990
This is probably the best volume in Brin's "Uplift" series. He does an excellent job of creating convincing alien characters and alien civilizations, mixing action and politics, and portraying an epic, galaxy-sweeping back drop to the vast, over-all story. One of my favorite observations is that the redoubtable Heinlein-esque male character is marooned out of the action while his girl friend has to go out and save the day.
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Read in September, 2007
Another Hugo Award winner. In this novel, humans have genetically modified dolphins and they are now a sentient species. An ill-fated space journey traps humans and dolphins on a planet that contains many secrets. The crew works to escape and to survive the more powerful races that have gathered to hunt them down to keep their discoveries from becoming know back at planet Earth.
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Read in October, 2007
The best SF always talks about what makes us human and alien - alike in spite of alien-ness, and different in spite of humanness - and I think the uplift saga is a prime example. The relationships between humans, dolphins, a chimpanzee and all the alien fanatics out to get them offer may perspectives to think about. And the action adventure is driving and engaging to boot.
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Brin is Brin, always a good story.
"Science fiction isn't so much about science as it is the literature that obsesses on change. Good change, bad change, dire warnings.
"You have to pity those English profs who obsess on so-called eternal verities while our children keep getting smarter, more savvy, and determined not to make their parents' mistakes."
D. Brin
"Science fiction isn't so much about science as it is the literature that obsesses on change. Good change, bad change, dire warnings.
"You have to pity those English profs who obsess on so-called eternal verities while our children keep getting smarter, more savvy, and determined not to make their parents' mistakes."
D. Brin
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Read in January, 1994
recommends it for:
Anyone who likes Sci-fi
The start of a sweeping saga involving, humanity and the galactic civilization that already exist on contact. We as a race are trying to find out place in this new society and it's not without it's adventures and misunderstandings and of course our propensity for trouble.
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Read in January, 1986
This book won a Hugo award and is enjoyable, once you get far enough into it to care about any of the characters. Brin spends the first several chapters introducing a large cast, and it takes a while to get into the story because of that.
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