Rating: 
Summary: Get it, it's well worth it!
Review: I never give a 10... but I was really tempted to give it to this book. Another reviewer said that if one had read Brin's other books, one would be disappointed with this one. Well, I've read most of his books, and The Practice Effect still beckons me from the shelf, though I've re-re-reread it. It'll completely blow you off your feet, it's so funny and full of surprises and twists. I know the problems of finding good books these days, especially when shopping through catalogs... There are so many different reviews, one can't tell if the book is good or not! But, trust me, I haven't yet read a book from Brin that wasn't good, and this one deserves a place in your shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Early Brin, so be forewarned
Review: I rate books by the bathroom. A good book is one I find myself taking into the bathroom without conscious thought, and the exceptional book causes me to forget to the bathroom even exists. The pinnacle is the book which so enraptures that I forget to eat, somewhat negating my normal rating system.
Only novels by David Brin and Robert Heinlein have had that ultimate effect on me.
If your only exposure to David Brin is Startide Rising or the Uplift War and you're expecting the same overwhelming immersion into a foreign land, you'll be disappointed. Practice Effect is the first novel Brin wrote, although not the first published, and it is "only" a good read. It has the same heroic themes common in his latter works, but without the polish. The result is inevitably, and unfairly, disappointing to someone familiar with his later works.
On the other hand it may be a good introduction to Heroic SF, especially for juveniles. There's still the same action on a grand scale, "ordinary joes" changing the course of nations, friendly familiars (a bit more explicitly than the Tymbrini computers hidden in Tom and Gillian's quarters), and the smugly superior facing their own petards a-hoisting, but the heros and devils are clear from the start and the point of view doesn't jump among the many players.
Finally, as a would-be author I've found it useful to compare the writing in Practice Effect, Sundiver, and Startide Rising, in that order. They form a dramatic demonstration of how a writer matures. If you want to learn how to write books like Startide Rising or the Uplift War, start by learning how to write books like Practice Effect and then refine your skills from "merely" very good to Hugo- and Nebula-award winning.
Rating: 
Summary: Rediculous Scientific Premise = Rediculous Sci-fi Story
Review: I read the book long ago, about 8 years ago, I think, but one thing I do remeber is that the story revolves around the premise that the more you use an object, the more suitable it becomes for use. In other words, you can turn a zipper into a tree saw, with a little "practice." Does that sound like it makes sence? I thought not, and neither does the book, it sucks.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book...terrible ending
Review: I really liked this book alot. The plot was original and the human themes were compelling...heroism, adventure and achievement through understanding the laws of nature (in this case, those laws being a bit different, than usual). I would have given this book 5 stars if the author had left off 10-15 pages before the end, where he cheapens and weakens his efforts by attempting to explain, "The Practice Effect" as an artificially induced phenomena. Also, there is a lead in for a sequel that never happened...
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic departure from hard-core Sci-Fi
Review: I've read everything Brin has published. He weaves a very real and believable story, usually based upon real science, or real theory.This book was obviously a departure into fantasy. I found The Practic Effect to be a fun light-hearted Sci-Fi fantasy. It was interesting to explore the notion of, "What if physics and natures laws worked differently, somewhere else?" It was, of course, written very well, in Brin's cinematic style.
Rating:
Summary: Brin had fun writing this one...
Review: If you are a physicist (like this reader), you will be rolling on the floor laughing. If not, you will simply find the book very, very funny. Brin sneaks in everything, from parodies of Star Wars to bad Latin puns. So it falls in the standard hero-goes-to-strange-country-and-makes-good, complete with Helpful Sidekick and Beautiful Damsel. So what? Brin obviously had great fun writing this one. I had fun reading it. Hope you do too.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: Most SF contains one or more "What if"s. Brin has chosen one of the toughest---"What if I change some of the basic physical laws of nature?" From that simple premise, he manages to spin an interesting yarn, that's well thought out, and quite entertaining; it is certainly one of the more humorous novels I've read this year. My only complaint is that the ending seems somewhat rushed; it seems as if Brin knew where he wanted to go, and cut out a scene or two along the way to get there. Other than that, though, it was highly enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific lighthearted "SF fantasy" novel
Review: Once every so often, SF authors escape their genre and write something on a lark that turns out to be really special. That's the case with The Practice Effect. While I've generally found Brin a bit tedious (overlong, overplotted, overwordy), I loved The Practice Effect the first time I read it and enjoyed it at least as much when rereading it years later. It reads like Harry Harrison's best, or (most aptly) like The Flying Sorcerors. The hero is a technologically adept person, thrown into a less technological environment, who learns to combine his modern-day savvy with the peculiarities of his new environs to his considerable advantage. And, of course, to the delight of his readers. The gimmick in "The Practice Effect" is too entertaining to give up in a review, but you'll enjoy every minute of seeing it exploited. It's a short book (I wouldn't mind more of these, actually) but one you'll want to read and re-read every word of.
Rating:
Summary: If you like puns, this is for you!
Review: One of the funniest SF novels ever. I have been waiting *years* for this to be re-issued! The setting of the first part of the book is in an advanced physics lab located in an oil-rich Middle Eastern state. Physics has gotten too expensive to be afforded by "first world" countries, and scientists must go where funding is available.
Our Hero, who is a physicist (like the author) is deeper than he wants to be in lab politics. He gets volunteered for a risky mission, and the camping gear he requests be purchased from a mountaineering outfitter is bought instead from a discount store by a rival junior scientist, who wants him permanently gone.
NOTHING in the new world is as he expected it to be. . . .
Rating:
Summary: An interesting application of cliche Practice Makes Perfect.
Review: Take the phrase "Practice Makes Perfect" and apply it to THINGS instead of people... David had a very interesting notion there, and The Practice Effect explores the notion very well
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