Rating: 
Summary: Sticks and stones galactic civilisation disappoints
Review: David Brin has made the all to common mistake of associating an argicultural society with an evnvironmentallyresponsible society. This book pretends to be how to manual for ultra green civiliasation. Just like 'Earth' this green force feeding of the reader ruins what could have been, like the other Uplift books, one to read again and again. One can only hope that the second and third parts of the trilogy lifts off into outer space and leaves the moralizing to the boring mud stuck natives. I want intergalactic intrigue, not home made paper and other green crud.
Rating: 
Summary: Brin disappoints brilliantly!
Review: Once again, David Brin takes us back to the universe of "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War"; a universe as well thought out and constructed as any in science fiction history. After an eight year wait, this reader began the book with tremendous anticipation.
Only to discover that Brin simply didn't produce anything but leftovers, and bland leftovers at that.
Any reader familiar with Brin's work recognizes his fascination with humanity, and what he sees as the race's gifts; inventiveness, adaptability, hope. And he has certainly given us many other books which illumunate his attitudes toward these traits; but the big draw of the Uplift universe is exactly that; the universe of the Galactics and their cosmically old civilization.
Brin ignores all this and has the new story take place on a "fallow" world, ignored and avoided by Galactic society. The planet itself is infested with bland aliens, all of whom think and react in all-too-human fashions (I'm afraid that making a specific race replace "I" with "we" cuts it as good alien manufacture). The races have reached a peace, and view humans, the latest refugees to this boring planet of the lost, as advanced and adaptable neighbors to emulate. Brin is not subtle on his best days, and certainly nothing in this book changes this.
Brin tantalizes his fans with glimpses of a "mysterious" stranger; one easily recognized by the readers of his previous books; he also saves his trump card for the final pages of the book, but by that time even the most avid fan has become merely bored at best, or simply disgusted at worst. The author offers nothing new; even the injury suffered by the stranger has happened to another major character in the series.
The only explanation this reader can come up with is that Brin has built too good a universe; one that he cannot, with his limited skills as a writer, bring to satisfying life. Perhaps he could farm the actual writing out to other, better authors; surely the fans would thank him.
Rating: 
Summary: Book 4 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: Incomplete But Enjoyable
Review: David Brin's Brightness Reef centers around the planet Jijo and the six species of intelligent beings that have unlawfully settled on it. One of these species is, of course, Human. Others include the furry Urs, the crustacean-like Qheuen, the "wheelchair"-bound g'Kek, and the multi-ringed Traeki...as well as several other species. After many years of war amongst the intelligent species on Jijo, several generations of peace have reigned. Until Galactic criminals arrive on Jijo in an attempt to steal potential candidates for Uplift...and perhaps do other damage to those living peacefully on the planet.
Nothing is what it seems in this book. The reader starts out with a certain series of facts laid out in the first half of the book, and then by the end, most of what we think we know turns out to be...not quite what one thinks in the beginning. This goes for character development as well as the interlinking plots of the book. The biggest problem I have with the book is that NONE of the major plotlines of the book are resolved after 659 paperback pages. Granted, this is a trilogy, but Brin should have tried a bit harder to close at least a few of the more minor plotlines, making the transition of the major plotlines to the next book a bit easier. Of course, I have yet to read the next book, Infinity's Shore, perhaps Brin does a better job in bringing the storylines together and continuing them...but if the conclusion to Brightness Reef is any clue, Brin will have had a tough time.
Despite the loose, relatively undisciplined tangle of storylines, Brin's story is enjoyable and believable given the circumstances. In fact, he does a superb job of weaving together the complex relationships between Jijo's multiple intelligent species...as well as giving the reader a firm grasp of how these alien species view themselves with respect to Jijo and its environs. Also, despite the story taking place very separate from Galactic culture as a whole, Brin does a good job of giving the reader some insight into how the six species of Jijo connect to the greater Galactic culture.
Overall, despite the numerous loose ends left untied (some of which I thought could be tied) Brin's Uplift is an enjoyable read and I look forward to continuing onto the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Middlin' decent - fun
Review: If you're desperate to read this series, here's a shortcut: Read the first three pages of each chapter.For anyone who's read "Atlas Shrugged", you'll recognize the tactic of hideous, layered repetition. Specifically, you'll note that Brin takes the liberty of summarizing The Entire Series again, and again, and again. There _are_ new ideas involved in these books, and that's why I'm handing out the second star, but comparing these to "Startide Rising" is like comparing "Family Matters" to "Friends". Buy the Cliff's Notes if you have to, or find an online summary, or just start with book three (which contains summaries of the important events in the first two). The whole series just isn't worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but know what you're getting into
Review: Six sentient species live together secretly in hard-won harmony on the planet Jijo, which the almighty Galactics have decreed to be left unsettled. All goes well until their discovery by a starship crewed by humans with a mysterious purpose throws everything into chaos and uncertainty. David Brin is telling a big story here. The planet and the various alien cultures upon it are meticulously detailed and his concept of Uplift, whereby races achieve sentience and admittance to a heavily stratified galactic society through the patronage of more advanced races, remains one of the most brilliant concepts in science fiction. However, be warned. This is not a stand-alone book. As Brin himself acknowledges in his afterword, his story just kept expanding in the telling until it could no longer be contained within a single volume. This book does not even attempt to provide a temporary conclusion but rather leaves all of the various plot strands waving in thin air. Therefore, I do recommend this book, but only if you are prepared to go on and read the next two in the trilogy as well.
Rating:
Summary: Put it down many times
Review: I thought Startide Rising and The uplift war were great books!!! They had a nice pace and read easily. The most time it took to read one of them was probably a week from the first time I picked it up until the time I put it down. I am on month two of getting through Brightness Reef at about 400/650 pages. It is still not high paced and although a little faster than the first 400 hundred pages it is still no where near as enticing as the aforementioned books. The fate of Streaker has still not been revieled and after reading some of the reviews here I wonder if I should just put this book to rest and leave it 2/3 finished since the rest of the series doesn't seem to be highly accaimed. Too bad I already bought them =( There are many other books out there that deserve my attention to waste it on a Moby Dick paced book.
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