Rating: 
Summary: Better, but not by much
Review: "Brightness Reef" was a dog, and I read this one only because of the return of the wonderful characters from "Startide Rising". Enduring the rambling style wasn't worth it, with the writing seemingly done by a different person. Do not bother with this or with book three.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmmmmm ... as a second part, it was no E.S.B.
Review: A good, but not great, book. I am partial to Brin ... but I'm not sure this book works as well as it should. Brin seems to be dragging out the story a bit. What annoyed me the most, though, was NOT SEEING ANY OF THE ACTION DIRECTLY. Almost all the big acton we see from a distance, or hear about second-hand (I was reminded of Greek Drama, and Greek Drama was always frustrating that way). I love Brin--EARTH is perhaps one of the best Sci-Fi novels ever written--but this book (and indeed, this trilogy) seems highly experimental. And I'm not sure the experiment is a complete success. But, there *is* enough for UPLIFT fans to pick it up and enjoy!!!
Rating:
Summary: Startide Rising meets Brightness Reef
Review: An excellent read which combines the best elements from
SR and BR. Expanding upon the rich culture developed in BR,
IS quickly merges in the Streaker storyline into the
sequence of events unfolding upon Jijo.
New questions and issues are brought up regarding Jijo and
it's races, what has been happening to Streaker since Kithrup,
and how and why they have come together.
Questions raised - but not answered. Brace yourselves for
the wait till part III is available.
The plot moves along much faster than BR, however it bears
an uncanny resemblance to the overall plot in SR. However,
due to the new questions raised by Jijo and it's races,
I found the new detail and Brin's masterful storytelling to
keep me turning till there was no more. Looking forward to
the final installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Average Brin
Review: Brin finally reveals what is going on and a lot of background that helps make the story more interesting. This book definitely doesn't stand alone though. It also ends in a heck of a cliffhanger. Not Brin's best stuff, but not bad either as science fiction goes.
Rating:
Summary: Needs ruthless editing!
Review: Brin has, as always, produced a very rich world and universe in which to set his stories. I was thrilled to see the continuation of the Uplift sagas, and bought all three books in this second trilogy at once. After 3 months, however, I'm barely halfway through the second book in the series. As usual in Brin's recent publications, he goes into exhausting detail, with numerous characters, and it's very difficult to keep track of (or even care about) many of them. Yet he periodically glosses over major events with so little information that we're left completely clueless about what, if anything, happened. The stories wind up being disjointed to the extent that it's not easy to get "hooked" - these books are definitely not of the "can't put down" variety. Reading them becomes a chore... until something else happens and you get interested again for a while. As in previous (non-Uplift) books, I find myself tempted to skip over some characters' viewpoints. Chances are, there are a few that could have been eliminated entirely without major harm to the story - trouble is, you never know which they are, and the one you skip sometimes turns out to be crucial. Basically, Brin and his editors need to learn to cut down his works - this gets worse with every book he publishes. Cut out some of the extraneous details. Make the books more gripping and less of a chore.... the basic story line is fascinating and I really want to find out what Streaker has found, and what happens to them - otherwise, frankly, I'd give up right now. Rich as the tale is turning out to be, if your readers can't finish it, you've lost the point entirely.
Rating:
Summary: Book 5 of a Great Saga
Review: Currently, there are six books in Brin's Uplift saga. It's kind of hard to categorize these books as elements of a series, though. The first three books in the saga, "Sundiver," "Startide Rising," and "The Uplift War," are not really a trilogy or a series in the normal sense. Instead, "Sundiver" relates to the rest of the saga as Tolkien's "The Hobbit" relates to his "Lord of the Rings:" it sets the stage for all the rest of the books in the saga. "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" describe completely different plotlines originating from the same event far distant, time wise and space wise, from "Sundiver". In a pinch, you could read these books in any order and not really miss anything. They describe different points in time and space of the same Universe. Of course, the best order is the one listed, above.
Unlike the first three books in the saga, the second three books DO form a series. The first of this trilogy, "Brightness Reef," picks up with yet another totally independent plotline and brand new characters. However, it does contain a central character who ties the first three books into this set. Unfortunately, Brin doesn't say, specifically, who that character is until the very end of the book. Even worse, the last time the character was used was so far back in the saga that it's hard to remember anything about him. The remaining two books, "Infinity's Shore" and "Heaven's Reach," continue sequentially from the first and form a tightly knit trilogy with no breaks in time.
None of these books is "happy" or "light reading." For the most part, they're all intense, heavily detailed and fully characterized books. "Sundiver" is the least "heavy" and most lacking in the realistic feel of the rest of the books. But, for the most part, if you like "Sundiver," you'll definitely want to continue with the rest of the saga. Even if you don't like "Sundiver," I highly recommend you read at least "Startide Rising:" it has an entirely different feel to it and might be more to your liking. This saga is just too important to miss out on. As a whole, it's one of the great works of science fiction and one of the few pieces of science fiction that belong in the class of true literature.
The following are some comments on the individual books:
Sundiver: Somewhat different from the other books in the saga in that it's more of a science fiction mystery than a science fiction drama. This book sets the stage for the rest of the saga as it chronicles events that happen several hundred years before what happens in the other books. About the only thing negative I can come up with is that I wish Brin had written several prequels to it so we could read about the earlier adventures of Jacob Demwa that are referenced in this book.
Startide Rising: This book focuses on the group that starts all the other events noted in the remaining books of the saga. Though the main characters start off in a very bad way, Brin does a good job of moving them forward, and upward, throughout the book.
The Uplift War: The events in this book start from the same event that kicks off "Startide Rising." But, other than that, the two books are totally independent. Like "Startide Rising," Brin produced a gripping plot, great character development, and a good progression towards a positive goal.
Brightness Reef: This is definitely not a happy book. It starts out with many non-pleasant activities and fights its way forward from there. The biggest problem I have with it is that it's very hard to see how anything good or positive is going to happen to the main characters, no matter how much they try.
Infinity's Shore: First, the negative: once this book starts, it's very apparent that a whole lot of relevant stuff has been happening elsewhere that we missed. Essentially, there's at least one entire book that sounds extremely interesting that's missing from the saga. Brin fills in most of this back-story during this book and "Heaven's Reach." But, I'd sure like to have read that missing book. On the positive side, this book re-introduces us to old friends and subtly changes the focus to them. Everything's still happening in the same place with mostly the same characters, but the attitude changes and becomes more can-do.
Heaven's Reach: One difficulty with this book is due to how it continues from the previous book. It's merely a change of venue instead of a new set of adventures. A quote from one of the main characters near the end of this book sort of sums up my feelings about it: "...what will one more worry matter? I've long passed the point where I stopped counting them." Essentially, by the time this book and saga starts winding down (and even at the point of that quotation, it really hasn't started that yet), the reader is totally fatigued by never-ending problems. I really like these works, but the lack of a tie-up between "Infinity's Shore" and this book is grinding.
Rating: 
Summary: Like eating your favorite dish and left wanting for more
Review: David Brin does it again. This is a masterful novel of epic proportions. I am looking forward to reading book three "Haven's reach" which I have learned about on the same day that I finished reading book two (IS). Brin's style in BR (the first book) is very frustrating, jumping from seemingly one unrelated thread to the other. In IS, his style seems to have improved as the plot got tighter, either that or I got hooked. While I had to speed-read through many slow part of BR to keep me from shelving the book, IS more than made up for it. Reading through the two books is like tree-trversal, breadth first, bottom up. All the threads converge at the root. This puts BR at the very bottom of the tree. I agree with other reviewers who suggested that BR could've been shorter but I wouldn't take anything away from IS. IS reads like a Candide, an unlikely tale of travelers on fantastic journeys. I found myself calculating the odds in my minds as the story went on for unlikely coincidences. Makes you think there is an invisible hand pushing the actors through their adventures <bring> All in all, IS a must read if you have survived BR . But then if you are a BR survivor, you probably don't need my recommendation to read IS. :)
Rating:
Summary: Wow!!
Review: David Brin has done it again. He is the only human I know who can create true aliens. Most SF authors create beings that are just bigger or stronger or strange. Brin's aliens (such as the tracki or the g'Kek) are true unearthly beings, yet a reader comes to care for them. A good read for any SF or fantasy fan. Be forewarned! It's a BIG book and a bit confusing if you haven't read Brightness Reef. I'm going to buy all his books and read them all in order when I'm retired. David Brin will take you "out of this world"
Rating:
Summary: A real gripper! I could not put it down until it was done!
Review: David Brin has invented the best aliens since Poul Anderson's Trouble Twisters. You really get into their minds. It is so good. The only bad thing about this book is that I will have to wait another year for the next part.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible aliens, entire worlds, intelligent writing..
Review: David Brin is amazing. I accidentally received Brightness Reef from the Sci-Fi book club and figured I would read it. Wow! I finished it in 4 days, and had to wait months for Infinity's Shore.
These books are icredible, David Brin creates entire worlds complete with alien species he describes so well, that I can picture them, smell them, even hear their breath!! I am a fan of many types of reading from auto-bio's to comic books, but David Brin has far and away become my favorite!!
Follow the "Streaker's" crew as they flee from numerous alien races, all the way to a forbidden planet, inhabited by six(?) completely different alien races, some of whom are at war elsewhere.
Here these races form an alliance that will take your breath away. David Brin has me longing for the time of Contact, and the hopes it could possibly be as he has written.
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