Rating: 
Summary: Not a very spectacular finale to an otherwise great story.
Review: I my opinion D. Brin is unable to maintain the strenghth of the two previous novel in this third. He trys to wrap up the entire "Uplift" story-line in the last 6 chapters of this novel. By this time he has expanded to far out to be able to bring the conclusion to a concise ending. He looses control of the story in the end and try to cover this up by bringing in delusions. He should go back and re-read "Startide Rising", then rewrite this last novel along those guidelines. I was very disappointed with this final novel of the trilogy. The two previous were good, but this final one is very lacking.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr Brin or "Doc" Smith?
Review: I don't think I've ever read such a disjointed trilogy. The first book dragged, the second picked up pace, the third - "Heaven's Reach" read like a final E. E. "Doc" Smith effort. It all just seemed to get out of Brin's control towards the end, with ridiculous coinicidences, far too many new concepts (the "Harrower" is a McGuffin if I ever saw one) and cross-cutting that ruined the narrative flow. Also, Brin over-used his favourite tricks (cut from one narrative thread just as it is about to reach its climax to another narrative after it has resolved its crisis, and then work backwards, avoiding direct description of the critical action as it happened. - done in every other episode.Don't get me wrong: Brin is a first-rate author, as shown by much of his other work. Even this had enough (nostalgic "Lensman") action to merit 3 stars. But, as others have pointed out, it read like a contractual obligation novel - or alternatively a dutiful tying up of too many loose ends. Douglas Adams eventually felt he had to explain the "Hitch-hiker's Guide" logically - Big Mistake...
Rating: 
Summary: An ok conclusion
Review: I figured he'd tie up all the loose ends from the previous novels, but it seems as that task was too hard even for the author. While the book ends, too many mysteries are left unsolved, and it just seems like Dr. Brin got tired of this story line. I hope he comes back with another trilogy set in this universe, even if all it does is tie things up, and tell us what happens, in the end, to Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: The Big Bang at the End
Review: Faster paced than the two previous books in the trilogy. Some long awaited answers are given at last, though some new and old questions remain unanswered. The end is somewhat unsatisfying.
Never the less a very good read. Could handle a few hundred pages more though.
Rating:
Summary: The book leaves me wanting more.
Review: Each page of Heaven's Reach is an adventure. I wasn't able to put the book down. Please, tell me that there will be another book tieing up the loose ends. What happened to the skiff with Tom, Creideiki & etc...? Were the sooners able to get rid of the Jophur on Jijo? Does Kaa find Peepoe? Does Gillian ever see Tom again?
Rating:
Summary: As a Brin fan...I found this book disappointing.
Review: If you are a fan of the Uplift series and have read the other Uplift novels (especially Startide Rising, and the two previous tomes in this Trilogy) then you have to buy this book to find out what happens, but you will probably be disappointed as I was. Brin's technique of trying to maintain multiple characters storylines, jumping from one storyline to the others just at significant activity points (e.g. battles, "Natural" disasters, appearance of "gods", etc.) and eventually returning to that storyline after the "action", then recapping that only in the words/thoughts of his characters I found ultimately to be frustrating and not dramatic at all. The net result for me was reading this book was more like a chore than a pleasure. It took me almost a week to finish it...no "can't put it down", all-night reads. Like the other "Hard SF" novels of Dr. Brin, this book also contains a lot of fiction based on our current state of physics and cosmology science, and most of the story is scientifically plausible, but I was disappointed in the ending, when the major Galactic races besieging Earth were just frightened away. That was not plausible or satisfying. There are still a lot of unanswered questions in the 5 Galaxy Universe, and I would hope Dr. Brin would deign at some point to tell us the Tom Orley/Creideiki tale (perhaps in a slightly more straightforward manner...).
Rating: 
Summary: Rush to print without the required effort.
Review: Unfortunately, David Brin got tired/lazy and foisted on his waiting fans a hack job that was just a fulfillment of a three-book deal. Very little that held one's interest through the first two books was resolved, little was explained as to why the various races were so intent on capturing the Streaker and its cargo, and the ending of the relatively short book made little sense. What happened to those left behind on Kithrup? No answer here. What happened to those left behind on Jijo? No answer here. How did Earth hold out against all the major races for so long? No answer here. Who were the Progenitors? No answer here. Also, much of the "science" made little sense. In all good science fiction, the science may be far fetched, but there is some sensible thought to it. Not here. One of the strange things about this book is that there was no mention on the web of its coming out - all of a sudden there it was at Borders. Usually, one can find publication dates, comments from authors, etc., but not with this book. Reminds me of a movie the studio did not show to the critics before it hit the theaters. I wish I had my money back. Save yours.
Rating:
Summary: Good capstone to a solid series
Review: Heaven's Reach is a fitting finish for the Uplift war series. Spanning 5 galaxies and millions of years of galactic history, Heaven's Reach ties up many of the questions that fans have been asking since Startide rising. New orders of life are introduced in this book, as are new types of hyperspace in the quaint, uniquely brin style of wacky science fiction. Those who liked Startide Rising for it's plethora of gadgets and effects will love Heaven's Reach, as it also benefit's from Brin's experience gathered in the interim from Startide.
Rating:
Summary: What a way to blow a promising trilogy.
Review: Mr. Brin's Uplift novels started out with an original approach to sentience and Sci/Fi first contact themes in general. Unfortunately, he blew it. The truism that an author has only two or three good novels in them holds true with this author. I was completely disenchanted with his prose, the storyline and the ending in Heaven's Reach. It appeared that Mr. Brin was utilizing his pet theories to from physics, to write this novel. Unfortunately, his approach was so demented as to destroy the original series thought provoking and entertaining ideas. In addition, his ideas were inconsistent with his original novels in this series to the point that I felt like I was in a whole new universe that was both dull and uninspiring. For instance, the combination of oxygen, hydrogen and machine sentient beings into one super organism, was as poorly a written idea with no consistent theme as I have ever seen in a novel. In addition, the ending has the earth ship made into a nea! rly invincible ship taking on the entire attacking fleet surounding Earth and defeating -- scaring them off. This ending was too unbelievable and appeared to be the Ludlum theory of getting out -- kill the people or in Brin's case wave your magic wond and all is well. Consider the following: the galaxy is based upon technology billions of years old. The attacking fleet has ways to monitor both normal and hyper space. To claim that a vehicle's vunerabilities vanished in hyper space, after the battle, and not be subject to detection is unbelievable. Consequently, having the fleet flee Earth's solar system in panic, despite the "emotional" ramifications appears to be nothing more than an attempt to finish a book that an author and publisher want to rush to press. A little more thought and effort would have produced a much more consistent, sophistiacted and believable ending. As is, Brin has left the Uplift universe exactly where it started at the begining of the! triology minus, of course, the odd galaxy or two. To sum ! it all up, just read Startide Rising and the Uplift War. Stop there. Hopefully, the author and/or his publisher will entertain the notion (as is happening with Asimov's Foundation Series and Star Wars now) and allow new authors to enter into the Uplift universe and provide us entertaining and thought provoking novels.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: David Brin is one of today's leading science fiction writers. Unfortunately, the quality of his work is erratic, as "Heaven' Reach," demonstrates. "Heaven's Reach" was clearly a rush job. The characters are poorly developed and wooden. While the book is loaded with many grand ideas as well as new species and life forms, they are for the most part mentioned only fleetingly. As in Mr. Brin's previous books, "Heaven's Reach" is divided into many short chapters. I found it annoying that almost every chapter contains several paragraphs recapping what has happened in previous chapters. Sometimes a chapter recaps what has happened in the immediately preceding chapter. Give us readers some credit, Mr. Brin! As his past books demonstrate, Mr. Brin is a very talented writer, and I look forward to his next book. Hopefully he will slow down and come up with something to match the excellence of "Startide Rising" and his other! books.
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