The Practice Effect

Rating:
Summary: A Case Study in the Growth of an Author (Before)
Review: The premise of this book is an interesting one. Unfortunately, Brin's writing talents at the time weren't what they are now. Basically, the writing is trite and juvenile. Looking at the copyright dates of his books, it looks like "The Practice Effect" is either his third or his fourth novel. The first novel was "Sundiver" (1980). The second was "Startide Rising" (1983). Then in 1984, he wrote (apparently) both this book and "The Uplift War." From a technical perspective (i.e., the style of the writing), it's hard to believe that he wrote this book right in the middle of his Uplift War saga. The writing style is far closer to that in his 1980 "Sundiver" (and "Sundiver" is FAR better than this book) than it is to his 1984 "The Uplift War." My guess is that he wrote this well before the rest, had it lying on a shelf, and just pushed it out to capitalize on his popularity.

Just for the sake of a comparison to his later works, and because the concept is so interesting, I do recommend people read it. Just don't expect too much out of it.

Rating:
Summary: The book could use practice...
Review: This book was written, clearly, before David Brin had "practiced" his writing skills to full effect. Characters are very flat, especailly the clicheed and obvious antagonist. The premise is interesting and the first 25 pages strong, and while some concepts are addressed with a flair that would come to be known as distinctly David Brin, it is painfully obvious in this attempt that he was more scientist than author at this point in his career. In fact, it makes an interesting study to see how far someone can go, how great someone can improve if they just... you guessed it... practice.

Rating:
Summary: Immature, but amusing
Review: This is certainly not Brin's best novel, and he clearly still had a lot to learn in his craft when he wrote it. However, it is based on an interesting concept and is entertaining enough to keep the reader amused.

Rating:
Summary: Fast and Ferocious
Review: This is one of David Brin's shorter books, but the length suits its purpose. The story moves quickly, not bothering with the lengthy descriptions that are characteristic of his other novels. Many traits of the characters are easy to discover by reading what they say, and placing the story in an Earth-like environment made it easy to picture how it looked. Most of it is hilarious, like when the main character, Dennis Nuel, discovers where he was, but throughout the story is the underlying problem of how he was going to get home. The Practice Effect has little to do with any other story Brin has written, but it is a wonderful book, easy enough for anyone to read and enjoy.