The Uplift series

In David Brin's Uplift universe set in a not so far future, mankind has made contact with other galactic civilizations. Galactic libraries allow Man to share the vast store of collective knowledge amassed by the various alien races. The term Uplift refers to the tradition of intelligent races 'uplifting' potentially sapient animals helping them to become an intelligent race in their own right. This is how it works throughout the five inhabited galaxies. Patron races adopt and uplift client races. When the people of Earth are discovered they are looked upon as 'wolflings' because they lack a patron race and have amazingly reached sapiency without any aid whatsoever. Or have they ?


The first Uplift series is a trilogy made up of Sundiver, Startide Rising and The Uplift War. Sundiver is about an expedition into the sun. Essentially a science fiction whodunit, it's rather fun but nowhere near the quality of the later works in the Uplift series. It may serve as an introduction to the Uplift universe but frankly you might as well skip it and start off by reading Startide Rising instead.


The second work Startide Rising sees the exploration vessel Streaker crashed on a metal planet far from Earth. Its crew consists mainly of uplifted intelligent dolphins(and one chimp!), a few humans are aboard as well. Streaker had previously stumbled upon a vast armada of giant space ships of unknown antiquity. The rumor spread to the great galactic civilizations who believed that Streaker had found the fabled Progenitors, founders of all intelligence. A great space battle begins above the metal world of Kithrup, everyone wants to capture Streaker and discover the hidden location of the ancient fleet.


Startide Rising is very much a Space Opera, the story of the Streaker and her crew's attempt to escape back to Earth is well told with much mystery added. I found Brin's ideas about intelligent dolphins with their three languages intriguing and believable. A very exciting and interesting book that tickles your imagination.


The Uplift War takes place just after the events in Startide Rising. One of Earth's colonized worlds, Garth, is seized by a hostile alien race. A guerilla war immediately begins. This work introduces several of the alien races in detail. Also Garth has a large population of uplifted chimpanzees. Much of the story involves the cooperation of Man, chimps and the aliens allied with Earth in their struggle to be rid of the invader. The Uplift War has more developed characterizations than the two former books. I think Brin shows how he continues to develop his writing skills with each new work in the Uplift series. The Uplift War really impressed me, an excellent story, one of the best works of scifi I have read. Brin has written three more Uplift novels in his Second Uplift series.