Earth

Rating:
Summary: "Earth" is a book well worth reading.
Review: David Brin's effort in "Earth" is one that will frustrate many of his fans from the realm of hardcore sci-fi. The book is really a fantasy well floured in sound science and wrapped around a very overt environmentalist message. It is certain that both "greens" and their opposition will completely miss some of the hardheaded evolutionary conlusions drawn by Brin. At the same time, Brin is also taking some interesting looks at present day trends that probably are lost on readers too distracted by the environmentalist message. Among others, trends Brin examines include effects of the emerging "net-culture" and the potential of the use of video recording devices by citizens beyond Rodney King. There is also, implicit in the climactic battle, an intriguing allusion to eastern philosophy. I recommend it

Rating:
Summary: Great book but a bit heavy on the message....
Review: The book is great and I'd recommend it to any sci-fi fan... however, it's a tad heavy on the environmental message. I was hoping for more explanations on the tech and less on the social woes that can come about if we continue to destroy the environment. Overall, however, it has a unique plot and he does a good job weaving both a good story and an environmental message at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Well, it could have been worse...
Review: The characters are engaging, the author has a message, and the book is tightly written. Without doubt, David Brin is one of the best authors currently writing in the Science Fiction field. But to me, the book fell short. Clearly, this is a book with a "message," which is that mankind (if you'll excuse the expression) is doing serious environmental damage to the planet. I do not object to the message. The problem is that the message is so heavy that it overwhelms the novel in a way unusual for Brin. What is more, the conclusion is not only preposterous but it basically says that the only hope for the world is the emergence of a genuine Gaea: an enlightened autocratic goddess created by a scientific fluke. The book, however, does have strong characters, fast-paced action, and some compelling moments -- particularly the scene where Old Man River finally triumphs over the Army Corps of Engineers! This is a book that a committed environmental activist will enjoy, as will rabid fans of Brin's other works. For a better Brin book also based on a message, I would recommend GLORY SEASON, which is about gender politics and male/female roles (touching on many of the same issues dealt with in a different way in Le Guin's ground-breaking and award winning THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS more than two decades ago). Brin's uplift universe books, STARTIDE RISING, THE UPLIFT WAR, and BRIGHTNESS REEF -- books that truly set the standard for hard sf space opera -- also outpace EARTH (although one should be warned that REEF is the first of a planned trilogy and does not stand on its own)

Rating:
Summary: possibly the MOST uplifting Science Fiction I've read EVER!
Review: Being a long-time sci-fi fan, I was totally unprepared for the world that David Brin writes about in Earth. Having read quite a few shoot-em-ups in space and the *life will just be like living in a garbage can* depictions of the future -- I was stunned by the intricacies of this book. The ending will ABSOLUTELY blow your mind -- it did mine!

Rating:
Summary: Standard Characters and Eccentric Plot from a Sci-fi Master
Review: As he says in the introduction, Earth is David Brin's most optimistic view of what the future will look like. The fact that the planet he depicts is on the knife edge of environmental collapse and disaster shows us just how serious he believes our current problems are. This book could be classified into many different sci-fi subgenres; the Dystopian Future, the emergence of the Singularity, and of course the standard Planet in Peril storyline. The wrecked and dying planet provides the dystopian feel, and the discovery of a miniature black hole in the interior of the Earth gives the characters a deadline and a problem to solve. (I won't spoil the Singularity storyline.)

The characters in the book are realistic enough, but in some cases entirely too sane and well adjusted to be interesting. The three most interesting characters are a trio of teenagers who only appear in short blurbs in between major sections, while the ostensibly main characters have predictable, reasonable, plausible emotional reactions to the craziness going on around them.

The reach of the story is impressive, but it relies on several gimmicks for resolution that leave one feeling a little disappointed. Although this book was obviously meant to have several parallel storylines all but one of them is somewhat neglected. When one of these side stories turns out to be key in the resolution of the book the reader can be forgiven for wondering why it wasn't given more focus, or at least a more convincing lead-up and explanation.

Despite all this, David Brin is a very talented author, and this book is an enjoyable read. Coming from anyone other than the author of the Uplift books I would have expected less and been more pleased. If you've never read a book by Brin before start out with Startide Rising or The Uplift War first.

Rating:
Summary: Ambitious but imperfect
Review: The great allure of "hard" science fiction is its plausibility. Although some small liberties are taken here or there, the stories typically emphasize real science, or at least science that is possible as an extension of what we currently know. Unfortunately, this stress on the science often forces a sacrifice of more common plot elements such as character. In sci-fi terms, hard science fiction is kind of like a sophisticated robot: it exhibits intelligence and it moves, but it is also rather cold.

With this description in mind, Earth by David Brin is standard hard sci-fi. The story takes place around 2040 and focuses on the discovery of a miniature black hole in the center of the Earth. The black hole is slowly growing, and if not stopped, it will destroy the world within a few years. While some characters - led by genius scientist Alex Lustig - work to solve this problem, others try to exploit the situation for various agendas: either military or environmental.

This is an ambitiously written story, sprawling from outer space to the core of the Earth, with different plot elements tangling and untangling. In a way, it is too ambitious: with all the jumps from one setting to another, it's hard to maintain focus. In addition, though the characters are distinctive (for the most part), they are not extremely interesting. The book is driven by the ideas, not by any real interest in the fates of individual characters.

But - as stated before - this is typical of this subgenre of science fiction. Some authors do better than others to overcome these weaknesses, and Brin is about average in his performance. For fans of hard sci-fi, this should be a fun read, stylistically reminiscent of John Brunner (in particular Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up, both of which Brin acknowledges in the Afterword). Other readers, however, may be bored or left cold. I was somewhere between the two and find this a (high) three star effort.


Rating:
Summary: Terrific plot, unique premise, and good characters
Review: This is an absolutely great book. Terrific plot, unique premise, and good characters. Even though it is a "message" book, the message is well delivered and doesn't get in the way of a fun read. You don't have to believe the author's eco-message to enjoy reading this. My only complaint: I've thought for years that the author left the ending open enough for a sequel which has never come unfortunately. And I've tried reading some of his other series oriented books and found them to be pale and shallow in comparison, obviously produced to meet an unending string of deadlines.

Rating:
Summary: a bit too intricate
Review: Let me make this clear - I love David Brin. And this book was excellent as always. He has great ideas, great stories, and great characters. However this particular book felt a bit "dense" - I felt at times I was slogging through detail just to get to the "good" parts. If you really like his stuff, then you'll probably enjoy this one. But make sure you read his other ones first: the Uplift novels, Kiln People, the Postman, the Practice Effect, Glory Season... they're all excellent, and (I think) much smoother reads.

Rating:
Summary: Standard Characters and Eccentric Plot from a Sci-fi Master
Review: As he says in the introduction, Earth is David Brin's most optimistic view of what the future will look like. The fact that the planet he depicts is on the knife edge of environmental collapse and disaster shows us just how serious he believes our current problems are. This book could be classified into many different sci-fi subgenres; the Dystopian Future, the emergence of the Singularity, and of course the standard Planet in Peril storyline. The wrecked and dying planet provides the dystopian feel, and the discovery of a miniature black hole in the interior of the Earth gives the characters a deadline and a problem to solve. (I won't spoil the Singularity storyline.)

The characters in the book are realistic enough, but in some cases entirely too sane and well adjusted to be interesting. The three most interesting characters are a trio of teenagers who only appear in short blurbs in between major sections, while the ostensibly main characters have predictable, reasonable, plausible emotional reactions to the craziness going on around them.

The reach of the story is impressive, but it relies on several gimmicks for resolution that leave one feeling a little disappointed. Although this book was obviously meant to have several parallel storylines all but one of them is somewhat neglected. When one of these side stories turns out to be key in the resolution of the book the reader can be forgiven for wondering why it wasn't given more focus, or at least a more convincing lead-up and explanation.

Despite all this, David Brin is a very talented author, and this book is an enjoyable read. Coming from anyone other than the author of the Uplift books I would have expected less and been more pleased. If you've never read a book by Brin before start out with Startide Rising or The Uplift War first.

Rating:
Summary: Better described as "soap box"
Review: I read Earth after seeing it on a booklist with Frank Herbert's Dune. The booklist compared the two favorably. I loved Dune, so I gave Earth a try... and hated it.

It's not that David Brin's goals are indecent. They're quite noble. And I think that's the downfall. I can imagine Brin tapping away with lofty expectations, expecting his novel to be a catalyst. Every sentence preaches.

Brin uses a lot of "guess what I'm writing about" hat tricks. He sprinkles his novel with a heavy hand. It can be a really entertaining style, but less is better. Obscure cultural and science references abound, based I suppose on modern day extrapolations, but tweaked enough to make the windup painful, fleeting enough to make it vanish once the setting is accepted. Easy come easy go.

Each day was a new short story when Earth was being written. I get that feeling reading it. The result is a mess of ramblings meandering all over the place, each its own work of intense art but not one a shelter from the intense preaching.