Rating: 
Summary: A Disapointment after "Startide Rising"
Review: This book started really well, I had just come off a high from "Startide Rising" and was enjoying the lead in chapters. Then, I found out that the book wasn't going to be a continuation of the first... ok, a downer, but hey - it still might be good!
Of course, this was wishful thinking and the book went completely downhill from about the halfway point. The ending was the worst, it seemed like Mr. Brin was just getting close to a deadline at this point, and the whole novel practically crumbled to dust and blew away in the wind.
I gave this book a 6 out of 10 because of the first half of the book, which I truly enjoyed.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book in the first Uplift trilogy
Review: This book was actually very satisfying. It did not fill the spaces the first two books in the trilogy leave open, but it did not open NEW spaces to be left unfilled.A distant earthling colony finds themselves in serious trouble of no fault of their own, as events far away in the galaxy makes them a valid target for a galactic power wishing to either blackmail Earth or gain moral (and legal) high ground against Earth in the eyes of the galactic institutions. The colony prepares itself to put a good fight, but their plans crumble as almost all humans in the planet are effectively put out of the battle by a clever, if low, tactics by the invader. Worse, the invaders have awfully good intelligence on all movements by the Earthlings, which pretty much ends the war almost before it starts. Only they are not so lucky when it comes to reaching their goals. One human and the daughter of the Tymbrimi ambassador, one of the few aliens allied to Earth, escape capture and, together, with the help of the chimps the invaders consider harmless, they manage to deny the invaders any legal high ground, while making the invasion a much more costly affair than expected. Meanwhile, a huge practical joke the Tymbrimi ambassador set in motion slowly moves toward having very serious consequences for the invasion, and for the entire war Earth and it's allies are fighting for survival. So, what's good? Many characters with well developed personalities and interesting stories, no magical solutions, and a good, moderate pace. Better yet, none of the problems of the first two books. :-)
Rating: 
Summary: WOW!!!!!
Review: This is one of the best future of mankind books I have ever read!!! I can't wait until I have read ALL of the Uplift books by David Brin.
Rating:
Summary: Very good sci-fi with good character driven plot
Review: This is the best book in the first uplift trilogy. There is plenty of action, good story plotting, diverting ideas and the science doesn't swamp the book. At over six hundred pages this book is well worth buying. The book earned it's Hugo award. There is no need to read the previous two books in the trilogy as each has a separate story. My favourite aspect was the galactics and there are more of them in this book than the first two. Brin writes well and gives a good read in all the books of the trilogy. He keeps chapters short and moves the story along particularly well in Uplift War, moving between various characters in different situations. This structure is well managed and works for this book so I recommend it to you.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Skirmish in Brin's Uplift Series
Review: This is the third installment in Brin's acclaimed Uplift Trilogy. On the distant planet Garth, an alien race called the Gubru attacks the Terran colonials, not only hoping to discredit the human race, but to raise their own status in a complex galactic power play. After the human colonists are quickly subdued by sophisticated gas weapons, the resistance has to come from their "uplifted clients": the intelligence-augmented chimpanzees who are conquering space at the side of their patrons. Badly outgunned by the invaders, the chimps can use help from any ally they can find, including the possibly-mythical original inhabitants of the planet, the Garthlings. The protagonist, a chimp named Fiben, is very nicely drawn, exhibiting remarkably human behavior, but with occasional hints of his animal nature showing through. His escapade in the nightclub is particularly memorable. A magnificent sci-fi adventure for adults as well as mid-to-older teens. It probably isn't necessary to read the two previous volumes of this trilogy to enjoy this novel; Sundiver is a rambling jumble of a book, and only provides the most general type of background for the next two, and while Startide Rising opens a lot of the issues that are being pursued here, the focus is on a completely different battle in the greater war, and tends to get bogged down by the trinary poetry that is spoken by the uplifted dolphin race. But after all, if you're a fan of Brin's particular brand of galactic intrigue, you may as well begin at the beginning, since sooner or later you'll probably want to read these books anyway. For the more discriminating reader, this novel is a little more tightly controlled than Startide, managing to keep its twists and turns within the context of the immediate story, instead spending most of its pages setting up larger issues for future volumes. There are plenty of surprises, but again, some editing could have made this a tighter and more thoroughly enjoyable book. Also, a warning: for the concluding book of a trilogy, this volume provides very little in the way of answers to the broader questions presented in Startide Rising. One hopes that the Second Uplift trilogy will provide some closure on these bigger issues.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Skirmish in Brin's Uplift Series
Review: This is the third installment in Brin's acclaimed Uplift Trilogy. On the distant planet Garth, an alien race called the Gubru attacks the Terran colonials, not only hoping to discredit the human race, but to raise their own status in a complex galactic power play. After the human colonists are quickly subdued by sophisticated gas weapons, the resistance has to come from their "uplifted clients": the intelligence-augmented chimpanzees who are conquering space at the side of their patrons. Badly outgunned by the invaders, the chimps can use help from any ally they can find, including the possibly-mythical original inhabitants of the planet, the Garthlings. The protagonist, a chimp named Fiben, is very nicely drawn, exhibiting remarkably human behavior, but with occasional hints of his animal nature showing through. His escapade in the nightclub is particularly memorable. A magnificent sci-fi adventure for adults as well as mid-to-older teens. It probably isn't necessary to read the two previous volumes of this trilogy to enjoy this novel; Sundiver is a rambling jumble of a book, and only provides the most general type of background for the next two, and while Startide Rising opens a lot of the issues that are being pursued here, the focus is on a completely different battle in the greater war, and tends to get bogged down by the trinary poetry that is spoken by the uplifted dolphin race. But after all, if you're a fan of Brin's particular brand of galactic intrigue, you may as well begin at the beginning, since sooner or later you'll probably want to read these books anyway. For the more discriminating reader, this novel is a little more tightly controlled than Startide, managing to keep its twists and turns within the context of the immediate story, instead spending most of its pages setting up larger issues for future volumes. There are plenty of surprises, but again, some editing could have made this a tighter and more thoroughly enjoyable book. Also, a warning: for the concluding book of a trilogy, this volume provides very little in the way of answers to the broader questions presented in Startide Rising. One hopes that the Second Uplift trilogy will provide some closure on these bigger issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot Contrivances Abound
Review: Though I like the universe that Brin has created, the execution of story telling in that universe is unfullfilling. Thank goodness I can skip a bit now and then because some parts are positively embarrassing.
One part I have to explain to make my point.... I'll try and keep it generic but here is a Spoiler Alert!!!
Near the end, we find that one of the main characters (a chimmy) has been conditioned mentally. This conditioning leads her to be unable to speak and explain the conditioning to those that could do something about it. So she can't speak for a time. Then, suddenly, she can speak freely for a while to explain a complex galactic tradition. Minutes later, when she tries to speak about the conditioning, she can't speak again. This sounds more like magic than any kind of science... and this IS science fiction. The problem is that the author created a conflict easily resolved by just saying, "hey, wait a minute!" He then needed a mechanism to continue the conflict to the point of another, more-satisfying conclusion. There are other examples of this but hey, you be the judge if you have the time to read this one.
If you want a similar vastness of scope with better story telling and overall writing, I recommend Vernor Vinge.
Rating:
Summary: Plot Contrivances Abound
Review: Though I like the universe that Brin has created, the execution of story telling in that universe is unfullfilling. Thank goodness I can skip a bit now and then because some parts are positively embarrassing.
One part I have to explain to make my point.... I'll try and keep it generic but here is a Spoiler Alert!!!
Near the end, we find that one of the main characters (a chimmy) has been conditioned mentally. This conditioning leads her to be unable to speak and explain the conditioning to those that could do something about it. So she can't speak for a time. Then, suddenly, she can speak freely for a while to explain a complex galactic tradition. Minutes later, when she tries to speak about the conditioning, she can't speak again. This sounds more like magic than any kind of science... and this IS science fiction. The problem is that the author created a conflict easily resolved by just saying, "hey, wait a minute!" He then needed a mechanism to continue the conflict to the point of another, more-satisfying conclusion. There are other examples of this but hey, you be the judge if you have the time to read this one.
If you want a similar vastness of scope with better story telling and overall writing, I recommend Vernor Vinge.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Though this is actually the third novel in the first uplift trilogy it stands neatly on it's own. It may be wiser to start with Startide Rising, though. Anyway, in this book an alien bird-like race (Gubru) lays siege to a human colony world(Garth). With a Galaxy-wide war set around humans this lonely and poor colony must face it's would-be conquerors alone. It's one battle in the whole war whose causes are better described in Startide (though they are also explained here). Brin does an exceptional work in describing the chimpanzee culture who must strive to help their human patrons in saving Garth. All characters are wonderfully explored and complex, even the aliens! For those of you who are looking for the characters presented in Startide Rising, tough luck! This isn't it! For that read Brightness Reef(the first book of the second trilogy). We also get a close look at Earth's Tymbrimi allies and Thenanin enemies. Though you could skip this book in the overall streaker series I found it extremely entertaining and absolutely engrossing. Besides the ultimate conclusion of this book shall play an essential role in the outcome of the greater war. Very entertaining and highly recommended. Brin's very best!
Rating:
Summary: SF at its very best.
Review: Uplift War is the best volume of Brin's excellent Upliftseries. The previous two are Sundiver (6) and Startide Rising (9).The star of the series is the Uplift universe itself, a fascinating idea. Unlike the other two volumes, Uplift War not only has drama and action but humor as well, mostly provided by a fascinating neo-chimp named Fiben Bolger, an anti-hero to end all anti-heroes. You don't need to have read the other two books, but having read Startide Rising will add to your enjoyment of Uplift War, and it is a very good book (9) in its own right (though without much humor). After keeping us waiting for years, Brin finally came out with another Uplift book recently, Brightness Reef. The bad news is that it is not as good as SR and UW. The good news is that it is still pretty good. The better news is that it is the first part of a trilogy, so there is more to come!
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