The Uplift War (Uplift Trilogy Book 3)

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The author managed to go more than two or three pages sometimes between changes of viewpoint character, and the action was more streamlined and less choppy. I loved the character of the ambassador's daughter Athaclena, and how she ended up leading the resistance forces. I liked her species, I liked their intuitive psi sense, the artistic glyphs they br These Uplift novels are getting better. I liked her species, I liked their intuitive psi sense, the artistic glyphs they broadcast, and their great sense of humor.

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It seems pretty farfetched to me that any other species in the galaxy would look so very much like humans other than chimps and gorillas who share our genetic heritage, of course , but he does throw in a few species who are very different like the plantlike ones with nothing like a face. I forget the species name at the moment. The birdlike enemies in this book, the Gubru, had an interesting society and mating system, but overall they were pretty annoying. They did a lot of screeching and hopping. I like the neo-chimps quite a bit, though. They were depicted as full characters with lots of complexity.

I have great hopes that the series will continue to get better as it goes on. I'm starting Brightness Reef, the next one, today. The books are nothing like as good as, say, an Ursula K. Le Guin book, but they are fun reads and are full of interesting ideas. May 13, Mayank Agarwal rated it really liked it Shelves: Best book till now of the Uplift series, the story telling and the characters development were much better.

The alien races present in the book were great. Did enjoy the many undercurrent regarding the diplomacy and warfare of the Galactic's. Feb 08, Sara J. Read as part of Uplift: I have to admit.

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I'm a little relieved to be done with this series. Wherever I would walk while reading either this book or its predecessor, Startide Rising , people would inevitably look at the cover, glance away quickly, then slowly look back, eyes questioning. Yes, they're in space. No, I am not reading this on a dare. In Startide Rising , Brin focused on one of two species that humans had uplifted, the dolphins, who had stumbled across a derelict fleet that may or may not belong to the long-fabled Progenitors, the species that had set the template for Uplift throughout the galaxy, and sparked a religious war throughout the galaxy.

The Uplift War is set immediately after the events of Startide Rising and focuses on humankind's second client species, the chimpanzees of the human colony world of Garth, a small backwater planet far removed from the conflict tearing the galaxy apart until a race of giant birds known as the Gubru decide to conquer Garth and hold it hostage until Earth decides to share their discovery. Unbeknownst to the Gubru though, humans have not been resting on their laurels after uplifting dolphins and chimps and are involved in a highly illegal gambit to uplift Earth's very own gorillas without incurring the wrath of the galaxy.

Caught up in this conflict are the human son of the planet's governor, Robert Oneagle, the mildly telepathic daughter of a Tymbrimi diplomat, Athaclena, and Fiben Bolger, a chimpanzee from the Garth militia, who all find themselves running a ragtag guerilla war oh trust me, that pun is used widely throughout the book against the space chickens after the standard military forces are captured and held hostage. As always it is Brin's eye for detail that makes this book fairly hum with energy. Brin even addressed my main complaint from Startide Rising and doesn't resort to resolving conflicts out of scene but describes the resolution in very satisfying detail.

This is an amazingly satisfying series that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys thinking about the strange course that adaptation and evolution often take or who enjoy tales set in a fully-rendered universe. I just learned that there is a follow-up trilogy after this one that addresses what happens to the crew of the Streaker from Startide Rising and I know that I will be dipping into them over the rainy months ahead. The year C. Common Era finds the avian species Gubru planning to invade the small out-of-the-way planet of Garth, a green, jungle-like planet nearly wrecked in an ecological holocaust millennia earlier.

Humans and their uplifted neo-chimpanzee clients have worked hard to restore the planet to a livable state, but now find their world under occupation by the hostile Gubru. With most of the humans imprisoned, it falls to a band of chimps, a single free human and the Tymbrimi ambassador an The year C. With most of the humans imprisoned, it falls to a band of chimps, a single free human and the Tymbrimi ambassador and his daughter to resist the occupiers. Despite the title, this is not really a book about war.

I understand the author wrote three non-Uplift books between books 2 and 3 and I think his maturation as a writer is evident in this one. David Brin builds on his world building galaxy building from book 2 in profound ways. It goes way beyond just having alien vocabulary or avian plumage. I believe these awards are richly deserved.

It only bogs down a bit when the Tymbrimi characters appear, as they express emotions through a series of psi-glyphs which appear above their heads. The reader is expected to refer to the glyph-glossary at the front of the book for their meanings which, of course interrupts the flow of the narrative. Overall, this book is an extremely impressive novel and deserves its lofty position near the top of most science fiction must-read lists.

For me personally, I think I admire it more than I enjoyed it, leading to my star rating. It can certainly be read as a stand-alone novel but I do recommend reading the previous book, Startide Rising , just because of the several references made to it during the unfolding of the plot of this one. Mar 01, Anna rated it it was amazing Shelves: Sundiver, the first novel, was bit of a snooze for me and seemed disconnected from the rest of the series in time and space. I can disregard that one. The Uplift War is the second novel, and this is where the political landscape of the Five Galaxies is laid out.

All of sentient life follows the protocol of Uplift established by the Progenitors, the semi-mythological original sentient race from billions of years past. The Uplift system ensures that sentient races patrons adopt pre-sentient races clients and genetically engineer the development of their intelligence and other capabilities.

Clients are indentured to their patrons for a period of , years before they become independent and able to uplift others in turn. Potential client races are in short supply, but an awful lot of status and power is on the line for the patrons who can claim and control them. The competition is therefore fierce and sometimes violent. This flies in the face of Uplift orthodoxy and creates tremendous tensions among the senior galactic races.

Startide Rising gives a stirring account of ensuing fracas, for those who want to know. Of course they would. With the humans rounded up in isolated internment camps, the chimpanzees would seem have no chance against the alien invaders. Then again, monkeys can get up to all sorts of tricks. Apr 19, Bart Everson rated it it was ok Shelves: I would never recommend The Uplift War to my friends who are skeptical about science fiction. It has too many conventions peculiar to the genre.

There are aliens of many races, psychic powers, galactic empires, robots, ray guns and spaceships that travel faster than light. It's all a bit much in a single book if you've never read science fiction before. Furthermore, this is not an easy read. The pages are peppered with made-up alien words like lurrunanu and tu'fluk. There's also a sprinkling of o I would never recommend The Uplift War to my friends who are skeptical about science fiction.

There's also a sprinkling of obscure English words, such as covinous and antelucan, which revealed the inadequacy of my dictionary. As much as I enjoyed expanding my vocabulary, these terms seem awkward and gratuitous here. In fact, I found Brin's prose style to be quite difficult, but not particularly beautiful or rewarding. Some passages are absolutely painful, such as when the author describes a wall as "the barrier that undulated complacently over the countryside like a net settled firmly over their lives.

The tone is light and at times humorous. The alien psychologies are compelling and are probably the best thing here.

And of course there's the concept of Uplift itself -- the idea that one species can raise another to sentience. This is a huge idea, and I can readily understand how Brin has milked so many novels out of it. Brin is a scientist, and there are a number of thought-provoking speculations here. The emphasis is definitely on action and fun. A note of warning to would-be readers: The Uplift War stands on its own, but early on you will encounter some intriguing references to a spaceship piloted by dolphins that has made a mysterious discovery of galactic significance.

Don't expect to find this mystery revealed in The Uplift War. You'll have to read Startide Rising if you really want to know. Apr 16, Eric rated it really liked it Shelves: The third book in the Uplift trilogy but as with the other books you can just read each book as a stand-alone. I like Brin's style, it's easy reading and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than a lot of the serious sci-fi that is out there.

The Uplift trilogy The third book in the Uplift trilogy but as with the other books you can just read each book as a stand-alone. The Uplift trilogy is not sci-fi that tries to shove exotic hypotheses and intricate world-building down your throat or reads like a technical manual, this is 'soft' sci-fi, a nice story that just happens to have aliens in it to better put things into perspective.

Brin is in no way preaching but what you take away from it is that, yes there may be things unimaginable 'out there' and maybe someday our species might deserve a place among the citizens of the galaxy but, in its current state, humanity is nothing more than a barbaric upstart, and we should recognize that fact and try to better ourselves before we ruin what we have here on this small blue dot. Mar 12, Thom rated it liked it Shelves: Shares a universe with the other books of the series, could stand alone.

Describes life in an occupied land world , and is somewhat better than the previous book. Still suffers from clunky descriptions and poor passages at times. In its favor are stronger characters, especially Fiben. He and others are fully 3D, a welcome change from the previous book. Some of the clever technology used for tracking or attacking are also neat. Chief among the downsides are the pace - this book is slow.

Took me a Shares a universe with the other books of the series, could stand alone. Took me a month and a half to finish it, as I would put it down and feel little compulsion to pick it up again. Reviewing the series, the wide web of characters and plots is pretty interesting, and probably took a book to keep track of. Turns out one was published - Contacting Aliens: Three following books make up a new series, the Uplift Storm trilogy. I plan to catch up with some other books first, but will likely tackle at least the first of that series soon.

Mar 29, Christy rated it liked it Shelves: Although the ideas about environmentalism and uplifted species are powerful and the universe that Brin creates is interesting, this book, like the previous two in the series, fails to deliver on its promise. Brin repeatedly raises huge questions about the universe, evolution, sentience, and ethics, and he repeatedly defers them in favor of a more limited plot structure in the first book, he tells a mystery story; in the second book, he tells an adventure story; and in this book, he tells a stor Although the ideas about environmentalism and uplifted species are powerful and the universe that Brin creates is interesting, this book, like the previous two in the series, fails to deliver on its promise.

Brin repeatedly raises huge questions about the universe, evolution, sentience, and ethics, and he repeatedly defers them in favor of a more limited plot structure in the first book, he tells a mystery story; in the second book, he tells an adventure story; and in this book, he tells a story of war and political intrigue. After the more than pages of this book, I still have no more answers about the big questions that were raised in the previous two books.

THE UPLIFT WAR

This is very frustrating. I would give the book a lower rating, but there are passages that are exciting or compelling in one way or another and there are characters and species types who are interesting. In short, this book and series is disappointing and frustrating in light of the larger issues Brin raises, but, from a more limited perspective, it is at least generally entertaining. Putin mai buna decat primele doua carti, dar in general este o serie destul de slaba. Sep 05, Austin Wright rated it liked it. I am going through the Legendary era of "'s Hard SciFi".

This is completely out of my comfort zone, as the '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. This book was more a retelling of Startide Rising. The Gubru were my favorite characters.

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And this was a very memorable read, though not necessarily a fun read. Jun 15, Kelly rated it it was ok Shelves: I've always wondered what would happen if The Muppets were to visit the Planet of the Apes Yet, In Uplift Wars, that's exactly what you get. A race of space-faring overgrown chickens attacks a planet populated by upright, talking, super intelligent apes and their human counterparts. The only things missing are Pigs in Space, and the Amazing Gonzo.

While I admit there were parts that were highly entertaining, I mostly found this novel tedious, ridiculous and annoying. I'm being generous I've always wondered what would happen if The Muppets were to visit the Planet of the Apes I'm being generous with 2 stars. May 07, Ahimsa rated it liked it.

It's great fun to see some genuine world-building and an attempt at differently thinking alien species. However, the far-flung nature is somewhat belied by constant references to 20th century culture such as Jane Goodall and the three stooges. It also would be a much better book if it were pages shorter. Nonetheless one that anyone interested in the breadth of SF should probably pick up. Sep 27, Josh rated it liked it Shelves: I had very high expectations for this book and was dissapointed that for the most part, they were not met.

I loved Startide Rising. The pacing was fast, the action was plenty and the scope was incredible. The idea that a lone ship crewed mostly by dolphins had accidently happened upon a derelict fleet consinsting of thousands of moon-sized vessels was fascinating. That was the main reason I read on through Startide and then to Uplift War, to find out what exactly it was that they found.

Unfortun I had very high expectations for this book and was dissapointed that for the most part, they were not met. Unfortunately, as with Sundiver, Brin makes promises that he doesn't keep. He starts out with one idea that eventually transforms into something completely different and leaves the orignal idea unresolved. With Sundiver, it was the beings in the sun.

They went on a mission to discover what they were but by the end, we don't find out and instead we learn of a Galactic plot against humans.

It is the most defenseless Earthling outpost That is why the military pushed for this operation, even while we are hard-pressed elsewhere in space. This will strike deeply at the wolflings, and we may thereby coerce them to yield what we want. After the armed forces, the priesthood had been next to agree to the plan. Recently the Guardians of Propriety had ruled that an invasion could be undertaken without any loss of honor. That left the Civil Service — the third leg of the Perch of Command.

And there consensus had broken. The bureaucrat's superiors in the Department of Cost and Caution had demurred. The plan was too risky, they declared. A perch cannot stand long on two legs. There must be consensus. There must be compromise. There are times when a nest cannot avoid taking risks. The mountainous Conclave Arena became a cliff of dressed stone, covering half the sky.

A cavernous opening loomed, then swallowed the palanquin. With a quiet murmur the small vessel's gravitics shut down and the canopy lifted. A crowd of Gubru in the normal white plumage of adult neuters already waited at the foot of the landing apron. They know, the bureaucrat thought, regarding them with its right eye.

They know I am already no longer one of them. In its other eye the bureaucrat caught a last glimpse of the white-swaddled blue globe. Soon, the bureaucrat thought in Anglic.

We shall meet soon. The Conclave Arena was a riot of color. Feathers shimmered everywhere in the royal hues, crimson, amber, and arsene blue. Two four-footed Kwackoo servants opened a ceremonial portal for the bureaucrat of Cost and Caution, who momentarily had to stop and hiss in awe at the grandeur of the Arena. Hundreds of perches lined the terraced walls, crafted in delicate, ornate beauty out of costly woods imported from a hundred worlds.

And all around, in regal splendor, stood the Roost Masters of the Gubru race.

The Uplift War

No matter how well it had prepared for today, the bureaucrat could not help feeling deeply moved. Never had it seen so many queens and princes at one time! To an alien, there might seem little to distinguish the bureaucrat from its lords. All were tall, slender descendants of flightless birds.

To the eye, only the Roost Masters' striking colored plumage set them apart from the majority of the race. More important differences lay underneath, however. These, after all, were queens and princes, possessed of gender and the proven right to command. Nearby Roost Masters turned their sharp beaks aside in order to watch with one eye as the bureaucrat of Cost and Caution hurried through a quick, mincing dance of ritual abasement.

Love rose within the bureaucrat's downy breast, a hormonal surge triggered by those royal hues. It was an ancient, instinctive response, and no Gubru had ever proposed changing it. Not even after they had learned the art of gene-altering and become starfarers. Those of the race who achieved the ultimate — color and gender — had to be worshipped and obeyed by those who were still white and neuter.

It was the very heart of what it meant to be Gubru. It was the way. The bureaucrat noticed that two other white-plumed Gubru had also entered the Arena through neighboring doors. They joined the bureaucrat upon the central platform. Together the three of them took low perches facing the assembled Roost Masters. The one on the right was draped in a silvery robe and bore around its narrow white throat the striped torc of priesthood.

The candidate on the left wore the sidearm and steel talon guards of a military officer. The tips of its crest feathers were dyed to show the rank of stoop-colonel. Aloof, the other two white-plumed Gubru did not turn to acknowledge the bureaucrat. Nor did the bureaucrat offer any sign of recognizing them. Nevertheless, it felt a thrill. The President of the Conclave — an aged queen whose once fiery plumage had now faded to a pale pinkish wash — fluffed her feathers and opened her beak.

The Arena's acoustics automatically amplified her voice as she chirped for attention. On all sides the other queens and princes fell silent. The Conclave President raised one slender, down-covered arm. Then she began to croon and sway. One by one, the other Roost Masters joined in, and soon the crowd of blue, amber, and crimson forms was rocking with her.

From the royal assemblage there rose a low, atonal moaning. One to seek the righteous bearing, for purity and propriety! One to warn of danger looming, for our eggs' security! The bureaucrat of Cost and Caution sensed the other two candidates on either side and knew they were just as electrically aware, just as caught up in tense expectation. There was no greater honor than to be chosen as the three of them had been. Of course all young Gubru were taught that this way was best, for what other species so beautifully combined politics and philosophy with lovemaking and reproduction?

The system had served their race and clan well for ages. It had brought them to the heights of power in Galactic society. And now it may have brought us to the brink of ruin. Perhaps it was sacrilegious even to imagine it, but the bureaucrat of Cost and Caution could not help wondering if one of the other methods it had studied might not be better after all.

Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Reviewers have praised Brin for a series of startling books- but this third installment captured my imagination. Building upon the concept of a 'Galactic Club', that tests applicants for membership, then consigns other pre-sentients to their care, it writes rules of civilization more complex than other authors ever mention, and demonstrates how they would operate. At first, the titles and names must be digested, but then the story picks up. Their war is fast-paced, see-sawing between technology and primitive inventions.

Occasionally, we look in on the odyssey of two shipwrecked aliens struggling back to the capital. Imagery of the wilderness makes one feel the damp and thick undergrowth, where unseen creatures watch. It is fascinating to learn of the warlike Gubru, their leadership rituals, treatment of clients, and how fate treats them. Surprisingly, they will observe rules of civilized combat.

Yet, only late in the book is their complex game plan revealed. Tymbrimi are known as pranksters, something the invaders forget. I warmly remember the delayed punchline of a joke threading through every chapter. It is ironic, droll, and includes several species. However, they are not the only ones: Fortunately, action involves a small cast, referring to others indirectly. Readers soon invest in favorite characters, looking forward to future appearances. Each changes in ways that surprise- and a few drop out of sight to reappear later. Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase.

When David Brin, physicist and tale-spinner extraordinary, tackles a huge, multifaceted subject, he has only one rival, Stephen Baxter. Don't expect a sequel to "Startide Rising". Those characters return in the next 3-volume series. This book can stand alone, and is one of Brin's best works, a novel of patriotism, heroism, spying, revolution, comedy, wit, and typical Earthling bumbling and muddling through, although some of the Earthlings in this book are Chims and Chimmies male and female NeoChimps.

It's the 3rd and final part of the first Uplift novels older sentient beings of the universe who millions of years ago began to genetically and educationally modify the minds and skills of former animals--even of mobile plants. Earth is a latecomer to the society of uplift clients, and Earthlings are not always treated with respect by snobbier beings of venerable lineage--and their fear of the newcomers and what they discovered in "Startide Rising" sets off "The Uplift War".

It's a rousing space opera, and also a great discussion of religion, appreciation of differences, the meaning of bravery, all with considerable humor. You will fall in love with the heroic Chim, Fiben, and his scholarly Chimmie friend, Gailet, along with the intriguing elfin alien, Athaclena, and her human friend Robert--and all the others. Even the "villains" are described with understanding. Brin's best books include a vast cast of protagonists espousing different and conflicting viewpoints, and always plausibly characterized, and by the end one important hostile diplomat has been converted to Earth's cause.

The ending of this book is fireworks! It belies a few reviewers who claim that there's usually not much of a conclusion to David Brin's long novels. Read this, and you'll decide that's a vile canard. Important note for buyers: I loved this book, but if you're interested in this book, do not buy the Kindle edition.

I bought most of the Uplift series in Kindle editions: I was extremely disappointed by the quality of these ebooks. Words were frequently mis-spelled or replaced with similar-looking but incorrect words; words and whole passages were arbitrarily italicized; many words were split with hyphens for no reason. It was confusing, distracting, and eventually irritating.

I got the strong impression that all these books had been run rapidly through an OCR system and never checked for correctness or quality. For a publishing company of Ballantine's size and reputation this is ridiculous. If Ballantine are going to sell ebooks, they should do it properly, and give them the same care and attention they would to physical books. There's no excuse for releasing shoddy digital products. I read the kindle version of the book and had no problems with it.

While this is the third of the original Uplift trilogy, I dont think the books need to be read in order, they do well at standing alone.

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