Rating: 
Summary: Twice was enough
Review: I read this book twice, and I might read it again in the future. As an introduction to the uplift universe leaves a lot to be said. All the other books in this universe are absolutely great. I've read them 6 times Startide, 3 uplift war, 3 brightness reef and 2 for the other two. Don't miss this magnificent series.
Rating: 
Summary: Great ideas, mediocre story...
Review: This book is considered the first of Brin's first Uplift Trilogy, but it is really a stand-alone novel, set far apart in setting, plot, and style from _Startide Rising_ and the _Uplift War_. That said, it is in this book that Brin first introduces the readers to the universe that will be developed more fully in his later works-- and what a fascinating universe it is! Humans 'uplifting' dolphins and chimps to a sapience equal to our own, religious/intellectual/political conflict on earth between those who believe that humanity evolved and those who believe that an alien race uplifted us long ago only to abandon us, a vaguely unsettling futuristic social structure where humans are divided into full citizens with rights and 'probationers' without, and of course, a billion-year-old shared culture of galactic races into which earth's young, self-taught, human culture seems to have rudely and unpreparedly been thrust. It's great stuff... but the problem here is the story. What starts off as a kind of sci-fi quest to fly on a 'sunship' into the sun to see if the 'ghosts' that have been reported there might be the lost patron aliens who once uplifted humanity evolves into a murder/sabatoge mystery. That's fine by me, but the 'whodunnit' part of the mystery just doesn't work very well in my book. For the most part, it seems rather convoluted involving aspects of sci-fi physics and alien politics that the reader is not sufficiently introduced to in advance. Even worse is the fact that the entire novel is told from the perspective of a single protagonist-- except for one chapter early on-- in which the reader witnesses a conversation that... well, it doesn't really reveal the *whole* of the whodunnit part of the mystery per se, but it gives you too good of an idea of at least one of the key figures involved. That just strikes me as a storytelling mistake that ought to have been avoided. All in all, this is a decent book, but it's more interesting for the ideas that will come to full bloom in Brin's later uplift books, than for the story itself.
Rating:
Summary: Got some good stuff here, man.
Review: The first in the Earthclan books. For some reason, I really like the entire concept of the universe Brin made here. Earth against the Galaxy, with a little helping tree branch from our friends (teheheh). The investigation the humans did, trying to figure out what was going on was reminiscent of a Lije Baley/Daneel Olivaw novel, (ref. Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, etc.), and was really interesting. The most interesting characters in his novels, I find, are the aliens, but for some reason, he doesn't spend enough time on them.
Rating:
Summary: Slow paced.
Review: "Sundiver" is the second 'Uplift' novel I've read by David Brin. Because he must explain the basic premise of 'Uplift' in order to have each novel stand on its own, "Sundiver" was a slow read. Add to that, a plot that seemed to take forever to get started and characters that I consider weak at best, and it's no wonder this novel took me several weeks and much patience to finish. If this is your first Brin novel related to the 'Uplift' premise, you may enjoy this work more than I. Still, I think that most will agree, this novel isn't in the 'couldn't-put-it-down' catagory. Between 1 and 10, "Sundiver" gets a 5.
Rating:
Summary: Au contraire, read this BEFORE Startide
Review: Don't get me wrong, good old "Startide Rising" is the centerpiece of the Uplift novels. If the idea of "uplift" makes perfect sense to you right away, then perhaps you should go straight to Startide. However, the Brin universe took a little "getting aquainted" time (for me, anyway). Here we have a nice bite-size mystery dealing with humans that make about as much sense of this "uplift" thing as the reader. Find out why certain Galactics hate our guts, and why others want to give the poor wolflings a chance in this crazy universe. Unlike later Brin novels (which are drop-dead amazing), this one is a quick sip...you won't need to devote weeks of reading to it (hey I read slow, so sue me) and you'll be ready to plunge right into the next to installments and get the hang of them much better. Bring it along the next time you're on a plane and enjoy this refreshing yarn.
Rating:
Summary: Read this *AFTER* Startide Rising
Review: This book is by far the weekest of all of the Uplift books. You may be too disapointed to read his other *BRILLIANT* novels. That is not to say this is a bad book, but its more of a mystery then epic space opera. Read this book after the others for the background information it gives about the whole Uplife universe.
Rating:
Summary: Book one in a unique trilogy
Review: I found Sundiver after experiencing Star Tide Rising a year or so before. What struck me most about this book is it's ability to stand alone, as each book in this series is able to do in it's one time and place joined only by the Universe that is set and the all encompassing Library. It's plot is simple, but that is what makes it so enjoyable. What is not simple is the questions that it addresses indirectly. How will Humanity be looked at by Others? What is the place of genetics in our future? Where will it take us? Important questions that more of society needs to recognize are being asked more and more each day.
Rating:
Summary: Read Startide before you read Sundiver
Review: I thought this was an above average Science fiction novel, but I only gave it 3 stars because I've read all the other Uplift novels, and have something to compare it to. All I can really say is, don't make this your first Brin book, or you might not become as absorbed in his writing as you could. Read Startide Rising first, and then go back in time to Sundiver. The first 3 Uplift books aren't really a trilogy, so the sequence doesn't matter. If you've read Brin's 'Practice Effect'(A non-Uplift story, or is it?) and this book, you can appreciate his 'grand-scheme humor' with the Vanilla Needle. And for those people that reviewed this book and "heard his others were better" yes they are. Do yourself a favor and go buy Startide.
Rating:
Summary: Uplift - brilliant idea
Review: This book touches on an idea so unique that the fact that it leaves you with so many questions doesn't matter. Can't wait to finish the series.
Rating:
Summary: An Old-Fashioned SF Mystery
Review: Although this book sets up the wildly interesting premise of Brin's Uplift series, it is really an homage to the classic SF mysteries I grew up reading.This hits all the bases -- original scientific speculation, a super-protagonist who pits humanity's strengths against arrogant aliens, and a series of mysteries that you can solve, but only if you paid attention to both the forensic and the scientific clues. Reading this, I felt like I was ten again, picking up some Asimov or Biggle sf mystery. I couldn't stop smiling the whole way through.
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