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Uplift Storm Trilogy #3
Heaven's Reach
Winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards, David Brin brings his bestselling Uplift series to a magnificent conclusion with his most imaginative and powerful novel to date--the shattering epic of a universe poised on the brink of revelation...or annihilation.
The brutal enemy that has relentlessly pursued them for centuries has arrived. Now the fugitive settlers of Jijo--both human and alien--brace for a final confrontation. The Jijoans' only hope is the Earthship Streaker, crewed by uplifted dolphins and commanded by an untested human.
Yet more than just the fate of Jijo hangs in the balance. For Streaker carries a cargo of ancient artifacts that may unlock the secret of those who first brought intelligent life to the Galaxies. Many believe a dire prophecy has come to pass: an age of terrifying changes that could end Galactic civilization.
As dozens of white dwarf stars stand ready to explode, the survival of sentient life in the universe rests on the most improbable dream of all--that age-old antagonists of different races can at last recognize the unity of all consciousness.
The brutal enemy that has relentlessly pursued them for centuries has arrived. Now the fugitive settlers of Jijo--both human and alien--brace for a final confrontation. The Jijoans' only hope is the Earthship Streaker, crewed by uplifted dolphins and commanded by an untested human.
Yet more than just the fate of Jijo hangs in the balance. For Streaker carries a cargo of ancient artifacts that may unlock the secret of those who first brought intelligent life to the Galaxies. Many believe a dire prophecy has come to pass: an age of terrifying changes that could end Galactic civilization.
As dozens of white dwarf stars stand ready to explode, the survival of sentient life in the universe rests on the most improbable dream of all--that age-old antagonists of different races can at last recognize the unity of all consciousness.
557 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
About the author
David Brin
332 books3,173 followersDavid Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
February 9, 2011
(In my best Majel Barrett voice.) Last time, on my review of the Uplift Storm Trilogy…
… Alvin et al were rescued from their wrecked diving bell by none other than the submerged crew of the Streaker.
… a Jophur starship landed on Jijo, capturing the Rothen ship and promising a slow, painful annihilation if the Jijoans did not divulge the location of the Streaker (if they did, the Jophur promised a swift annihilation).
… to combat the Jophur threat and make good its escape, Streaker embarks on what appears to be a suicide mission to get to the hyperspace transfer point beyond Jijo's sun.
Fortunately, something unexpected occurs: Zang (hydrogen-breathing life forms) and machine harvesters show up to grab carbon from Jijo's sun, and this provides the distraction Streaker needs. Thanks to the glavers Gillian took aboard from Jijo, they have a rudimentary means of flagging down the Zang and hitching a ride under the Zang's dubious protection. When they emerge from hyperspace, the Jophur ship in hot pursuit, they find themselves back at the Fractal World, a sort of "retirement home" for galactic species that no longer want to engage with wider civilization. Oh, and it's where Emerson got his brain cut up and where Hannes Suessi became a cyborg. Good times.
And now, the conclusion.
Heaven's Reach is simultaneously the best and worst book of the Uplift series, no question about it. Few authors have managed to frustrate and elate me at the same time as David Brin. This book continues the drama and tension that pervaded Infinity's Shore, and always it is building toward what will hopefully be a final, awesome climax. And though "final" and "awesome" both have a place in this climax, it's just not quite what I wanted from this series. Moreover, with Heaven's Reach, Brin seems to fall back into his old bad habits (or else those same habits were present in Infinity's Shore, but the story was good enough to blind me to them).
Once again, we have a myriad of perspectives from all these different characters, and it can be difficult to grow attached to any one of them. In particular, Dwer and Rety's story as refugee sooners was fascinating but given such little time to develop. Rety, who struck me as an annoying but deep character, is little more than a petulant child in this book; Dwer gets to be a babysitter. I was anxious to hear how Streaker fared, but I was always thinking about these two as well. Still, Brin does give them the honour of being the only Jijoans who actually get to return home, so that's something.
No, what really frustrates me is that after teasing us for five books and spreading the mystery so thinly, Brin concludes with a book that packs in enough exposition for an entirely new trilogy. Suddenly, concepts that had never really mattered before (e.g., the various orders of life, the levels of hyperspace) took front and centre stage, fast enough to make one's head spin. Wait, hyperspace is tearing? Wait, the Transcendent order of life is manipulating everything? These are all great revelations, great plot points, but there is just so much in Heaven's Reach. I feel like a parched man who was trapped in the desert for five books and has suddenly been thrust into the ocean, without a life preserver. We've gone from too little to too much.
Amid these revelations, the one mystery that kept me reading never does get resolved. We don't learn if humans are truly wolflings or if they indeed have a lost patron. The way I interpret the resolution, it sounds like we are wolflings, but that's never made explicit. So for me, personally, this ending was a little disappointing, since it did not reveal what I wanted to know.
In all fairness, however, that's my problem. Brin never promised he was going to tell us the answer to that question, and the answers he does provide (to questions that were unasked, at least by me) are pretty damn epic. It turns out that the corpse Streaker carries from the graveyard of ships belongs to a member of a species active back when the galaxies numbered seventeen, not five. That's right: the number of galaxies accessible through hyperspace have slowly been decreasing. Apparently this is due to the expanding universe and its corresponding metric causing "tears" in hyperspace, although Sarah the sooner mathematician begs to differ. Honestly, any explanation for something involving hyperspace is going to be technobabble and witchcraft, so let's not dwell on that part.
The implications to this revelation are huge, of course. It speaks of manipulation on a massive scale, with the Galactic Library's records being altered to prevent mention of the last time this happened, 150 million years ago. And there is tragedy too, since it means anyone left in the galaxy or galaxies that get severed from the hyperspace routes are cut off from all galactic civilization, effectively forever. This is apparently why the Transcendents manipulated events, including much of the Streaker's journey, so they could eventually send a whole bunch of ships into a far-flung galaxy in an attempt to say "hi" to anyone left alive there.
Brin does a nice job spelling it all out for us, and I guess it makes sense, but it all feels like it's coming out of left field. I wish he had included more foreshadowing in previous books—more than the vague references to "a time of changes" coming upon us. And he falls into a trap common for authors who postulate a chessmaster: suddenly the protagonists don't feel like they have much free will any more. Streaker spends most of the book waiting for things to happen and reacting, which isn't very exciting. It isn't until the final, post-climactic confrontation between Streaker and the fleet surrounding Earth that Gillian and her crew ever get a chance to do anything clever.
When it comes to the new character introduced in this book, Harry Harms, I have to admit a soft-spot for talking chimpanzees. So he gets a pass from me, even though like Streaker, his role is more as an exposition trigger than anything else. He spends a lot of the time being gruff and incorrigible, as chimps ought to be, and that's just fine by me.
More importantly, he allows Brin to explore an interesting motif about species-wide versus individual "salvation." The emphasis in galactic civilization is all about one's species. A client improves patron species over generations, and those species act "for the good of the clan." In the end, millions of years down the line, those species go on to retire, seek the Embrace of Tides, and hopefully Transcend. This is markedly different from the individualist attitudes championed by the wolfling Earthlings, and it is amusing to see such attitudes gaining a cult following on Tanith.
This speaks to some of the deeper issues Brin has raised with his Uplift series. As we learn the truth about the Fractal World, about the white dwarf, the Transcendents, etc., we get a glimpse of the long, long game. Already, Brin had us thinking in terms of millions of years, and now he asks us to think about life in the universe by the billions of years. Maybe black holes are just a recycling unit, a way to get the older species out of the way so that new ones can emerge. Maybe they are a gateway to something beyond. Either way, it is a sobering reminder that, eventually, all things, all species, meet their end.
I love the premise behind Uplift, and I love the way Brin uses it to explore the relationships among galactic species. As an astrophysicist, Brin at least knows when he's diverging from the science and into the realm of fiction—but as a writer, Brin's skills are … frustratingly inconsistent at best. I am about ready to take a good, long break from David Brin, but I still think this series is worth reading. It is some of the best science fiction I've read, for its careful balancing of space opera with posthumanism and ecological themes. Though Heaven's Reach did not deliver exactly what I expected, it was an interesting journey nonetheless.
… Alvin et al were rescued from their wrecked diving bell by none other than the submerged crew of the Streaker.
… a Jophur starship landed on Jijo, capturing the Rothen ship and promising a slow, painful annihilation if the Jijoans did not divulge the location of the Streaker (if they did, the Jophur promised a swift annihilation).
… to combat the Jophur threat and make good its escape, Streaker embarks on what appears to be a suicide mission to get to the hyperspace transfer point beyond Jijo's sun.
Fortunately, something unexpected occurs: Zang (hydrogen-breathing life forms) and machine harvesters show up to grab carbon from Jijo's sun, and this provides the distraction Streaker needs. Thanks to the glavers Gillian took aboard from Jijo, they have a rudimentary means of flagging down the Zang and hitching a ride under the Zang's dubious protection. When they emerge from hyperspace, the Jophur ship in hot pursuit, they find themselves back at the Fractal World, a sort of "retirement home" for galactic species that no longer want to engage with wider civilization. Oh, and it's where Emerson got his brain cut up and where Hannes Suessi became a cyborg. Good times.
And now, the conclusion.
Heaven's Reach is simultaneously the best and worst book of the Uplift series, no question about it. Few authors have managed to frustrate and elate me at the same time as David Brin. This book continues the drama and tension that pervaded Infinity's Shore, and always it is building toward what will hopefully be a final, awesome climax. And though "final" and "awesome" both have a place in this climax, it's just not quite what I wanted from this series. Moreover, with Heaven's Reach, Brin seems to fall back into his old bad habits (or else those same habits were present in Infinity's Shore, but the story was good enough to blind me to them).
Once again, we have a myriad of perspectives from all these different characters, and it can be difficult to grow attached to any one of them. In particular, Dwer and Rety's story as refugee sooners was fascinating but given such little time to develop. Rety, who struck me as an annoying but deep character, is little more than a petulant child in this book; Dwer gets to be a babysitter. I was anxious to hear how Streaker fared, but I was always thinking about these two as well. Still, Brin does give them the honour of being the only Jijoans who actually get to return home, so that's something.
No, what really frustrates me is that after teasing us for five books and spreading the mystery so thinly, Brin concludes with a book that packs in enough exposition for an entirely new trilogy. Suddenly, concepts that had never really mattered before (e.g., the various orders of life, the levels of hyperspace) took front and centre stage, fast enough to make one's head spin. Wait, hyperspace is tearing? Wait, the Transcendent order of life is manipulating everything? These are all great revelations, great plot points, but there is just so much in Heaven's Reach. I feel like a parched man who was trapped in the desert for five books and has suddenly been thrust into the ocean, without a life preserver. We've gone from too little to too much.
Amid these revelations, the one mystery that kept me reading never does get resolved. We don't learn if humans are truly wolflings or if they indeed have a lost patron. The way I interpret the resolution, it sounds like we are wolflings, but that's never made explicit. So for me, personally, this ending was a little disappointing, since it did not reveal what I wanted to know.
In all fairness, however, that's my problem. Brin never promised he was going to tell us the answer to that question, and the answers he does provide (to questions that were unasked, at least by me) are pretty damn epic. It turns out that the corpse Streaker carries from the graveyard of ships belongs to a member of a species active back when the galaxies numbered seventeen, not five. That's right: the number of galaxies accessible through hyperspace have slowly been decreasing. Apparently this is due to the expanding universe and its corresponding metric causing "tears" in hyperspace, although Sarah the sooner mathematician begs to differ. Honestly, any explanation for something involving hyperspace is going to be technobabble and witchcraft, so let's not dwell on that part.
The implications to this revelation are huge, of course. It speaks of manipulation on a massive scale, with the Galactic Library's records being altered to prevent mention of the last time this happened, 150 million years ago. And there is tragedy too, since it means anyone left in the galaxy or galaxies that get severed from the hyperspace routes are cut off from all galactic civilization, effectively forever. This is apparently why the Transcendents manipulated events, including much of the Streaker's journey, so they could eventually send a whole bunch of ships into a far-flung galaxy in an attempt to say "hi" to anyone left alive there.
Brin does a nice job spelling it all out for us, and I guess it makes sense, but it all feels like it's coming out of left field. I wish he had included more foreshadowing in previous books—more than the vague references to "a time of changes" coming upon us. And he falls into a trap common for authors who postulate a chessmaster: suddenly the protagonists don't feel like they have much free will any more. Streaker spends most of the book waiting for things to happen and reacting, which isn't very exciting. It isn't until the final, post-climactic confrontation between Streaker and the fleet surrounding Earth that Gillian and her crew ever get a chance to do anything clever.
When it comes to the new character introduced in this book, Harry Harms, I have to admit a soft-spot for talking chimpanzees. So he gets a pass from me, even though like Streaker, his role is more as an exposition trigger than anything else. He spends a lot of the time being gruff and incorrigible, as chimps ought to be, and that's just fine by me.
More importantly, he allows Brin to explore an interesting motif about species-wide versus individual "salvation." The emphasis in galactic civilization is all about one's species. A client improves patron species over generations, and those species act "for the good of the clan." In the end, millions of years down the line, those species go on to retire, seek the Embrace of Tides, and hopefully Transcend. This is markedly different from the individualist attitudes championed by the wolfling Earthlings, and it is amusing to see such attitudes gaining a cult following on Tanith.
This speaks to some of the deeper issues Brin has raised with his Uplift series. As we learn the truth about the Fractal World, about the white dwarf, the Transcendents, etc., we get a glimpse of the long, long game. Already, Brin had us thinking in terms of millions of years, and now he asks us to think about life in the universe by the billions of years. Maybe black holes are just a recycling unit, a way to get the older species out of the way so that new ones can emerge. Maybe they are a gateway to something beyond. Either way, it is a sobering reminder that, eventually, all things, all species, meet their end.
I love the premise behind Uplift, and I love the way Brin uses it to explore the relationships among galactic species. As an astrophysicist, Brin at least knows when he's diverging from the science and into the realm of fiction—but as a writer, Brin's skills are … frustratingly inconsistent at best. I am about ready to take a good, long break from David Brin, but I still think this series is worth reading. It is some of the best science fiction I've read, for its careful balancing of space opera with posthumanism and ecological themes. Though Heaven's Reach did not deliver exactly what I expected, it was an interesting journey nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2020
A good conclusion to an entertaining trilogy. Brin has created a wonderfully inventive universe, complete with multiple levels of reality and a whole panoply of fantastic species. There were even hydrogen breathing eatees, reminding me strongly of E.E. “Doc" Smith's Lensman series. There were also overtones of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, as the Old Ones approach black holes to pass on to the next level of “spiritual" development. The reluctance of some Old Ones to move along to make room for upcoming species subverts the ideals of those of us who cut our science fiction eye teeth on the Star Trek universe. We are used to associating age with wisdom, but Brin reminds us that it ain't necessarily so. The use of black holes also made me think of Frederic Pohl's HeeChee series.
I have no doubt that David Brin has read all of those classics and many more. I love the tempered optimism of his creation. For example, the planet of Jijo, which is largely left behind during this book, but demonstrating how multiple species can live together in harmony. When this way of life is a challenge even for Old Ones, you know that it is exceptional.
Several Jijoans are spread out to carry this culture of mutual respect to the other galaxies, while a few outsiders end up at Jijo to add to that co-operative culture. The final denouement was a nice touch at the very end. I have enjoyed my time in the Uplift Universe.
Book number 368 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project
I have no doubt that David Brin has read all of those classics and many more. I love the tempered optimism of his creation. For example, the planet of Jijo, which is largely left behind during this book, but demonstrating how multiple species can live together in harmony. When this way of life is a challenge even for Old Ones, you know that it is exceptional.
Several Jijoans are spread out to carry this culture of mutual respect to the other galaxies, while a few outsiders end up at Jijo to add to that co-operative culture. The final denouement was a nice touch at the very end. I have enjoyed my time in the Uplift Universe.
Book number 368 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project
September 8, 2009
After reading all 6 novels and the follow-up story from Brins Uplift universe "temptation" (All in a row!), I've come to the conclusion that Brin is not that great of a SF author as some people claim he is.
The only thing that kept me reading his Uplift books was his creation of this fantastic universe. His notion of clans, uplifting species and the terran ("wolfling")clan surrounded by hostility had so much potential to begin with ... but alas, it was never meant to be.
((WARNING some SPOILERS))
Brin could've wrote this entire series into one book or at the very most two. There was absolutely NO reason to include the characters of Rety and Dwer which sadly encompases at least a fourth of the entire story. You feel no love for these characters and makes you wonder why your reading their chapters. I suspect Brin had a vague idea of where he wanted to take the series so he just creates characters ("fillers")and just rolls with it attempting to create a nice little package he thinks is a decent plot.
I found myself skimming through alot of the chapters because alot of it didn't concern the main plot.
Characters keep recounting their experiences over and over again from previous chapters ... fuck! I just read what happened 30 pages back!. You don't have to recount it as if I'd somehow forget reading it 30 minutes ago! ...
Plus not to mention the inane inner ramblings of each main character. Sure I wouldn't mind if it were a paragraph or two but some of it went on for pages and pages. Come on! get on with the damn plot already!. Stop padding your damn novels Brin!
AND finally my main problem. There are too many holes in the story he has written not only in Heaven's Reach but in most of the uplift novels. Like what happened to the group of Creideki, Tom, Kahaki, and Toshio ? in Startide Rising. They never caught Ro-Kenn who killed pincer ... did Brin just forget about it? or is it just one of another story arc he started but didn't know where to take it. Are Humans really wolflings? or are the Rothen patrons of Humankind, this was speculated on but never concluded. What happened to the Rothen on Jijo? after the Jophur and streaker left Jijo?, these are just one of many things that irk me about Brins plotline. If he's gonna start writing about it he should have finished it or else why the fuck! am I reading hundreds of pages of a story that isn't finished!. If he's gonna call it the last book in his uplift trilogy he should have finished all those open ended plot lines from this novel and previous novels.
Oh and not to mention the weak ending to the so called great trilogy. Come on, the streaker returning home to earth confronting a great hostile armada tricking the aliens into believing the ship is powerful causing all of them to flee?. What a cop out Brin! ... you build up your entire trilogy to that point?!. Brin's entire plot should've revolved around Earth and Streaker, not on Jijo and its sooners. That alone would've made all the uplift novels and this trilogy 10 times more better.
I'm glad I didn't spend money to buy these books. But if your tempted to read his novel then at the very best it's worth a quick skim through.
The only thing that kept me reading his Uplift books was his creation of this fantastic universe. His notion of clans, uplifting species and the terran ("wolfling")clan surrounded by hostility had so much potential to begin with ... but alas, it was never meant to be.
((WARNING some SPOILERS))
Brin could've wrote this entire series into one book or at the very most two. There was absolutely NO reason to include the characters of Rety and Dwer which sadly encompases at least a fourth of the entire story. You feel no love for these characters and makes you wonder why your reading their chapters. I suspect Brin had a vague idea of where he wanted to take the series so he just creates characters ("fillers")and just rolls with it attempting to create a nice little package he thinks is a decent plot.
I found myself skimming through alot of the chapters because alot of it didn't concern the main plot.
Characters keep recounting their experiences over and over again from previous chapters ... fuck! I just read what happened 30 pages back!. You don't have to recount it as if I'd somehow forget reading it 30 minutes ago! ...
Plus not to mention the inane inner ramblings of each main character. Sure I wouldn't mind if it were a paragraph or two but some of it went on for pages and pages. Come on! get on with the damn plot already!. Stop padding your damn novels Brin!
AND finally my main problem. There are too many holes in the story he has written not only in Heaven's Reach but in most of the uplift novels. Like what happened to the group of Creideki, Tom, Kahaki, and Toshio ? in Startide Rising. They never caught Ro-Kenn who killed pincer ... did Brin just forget about it? or is it just one of another story arc he started but didn't know where to take it. Are Humans really wolflings? or are the Rothen patrons of Humankind, this was speculated on but never concluded. What happened to the Rothen on Jijo? after the Jophur and streaker left Jijo?, these are just one of many things that irk me about Brins plotline. If he's gonna start writing about it he should have finished it or else why the fuck! am I reading hundreds of pages of a story that isn't finished!. If he's gonna call it the last book in his uplift trilogy he should have finished all those open ended plot lines from this novel and previous novels.
Oh and not to mention the weak ending to the so called great trilogy. Come on, the streaker returning home to earth confronting a great hostile armada tricking the aliens into believing the ship is powerful causing all of them to flee?. What a cop out Brin! ... you build up your entire trilogy to that point?!. Brin's entire plot should've revolved around Earth and Streaker, not on Jijo and its sooners. That alone would've made all the uplift novels and this trilogy 10 times more better.
I'm glad I didn't spend money to buy these books. But if your tempted to read his novel then at the very best it's worth a quick skim through.
September 14, 2017
Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 3/5
In the author's afterward at the end of Heaven's Reach, Brin shares that "the Uplift Universe gives me a chance to experiment with all sorts of notions about starfaring civilization. And since it is unapologetic space opera, those notions can be stacked together and piled high!" (Exclamation in the original.). No, David Brin. Not at all. Stacking is the beginner's way of of constructing. Experts build. They integrate components, tie to foundations, bolster and support. But stack you did. Neat, awesome, spectacular idea after idea gets added to the already towering and leaning structure that has been the Uplift series. In my reviews of the other books in the series, I used terms such as "casual," thrown in," "jumble," "chaotic," "undisciplined," "unsatisfying," "creative confusion," "unrestrained," and "unnecessary." The earlier books had been all those things, but I was still a fan. You'd created a provocative universe with features worthy of contemplation and elaboration. I realized in this iteration that I had been forbearing all the chaos and disorder, making sense out of the jumble myself, giving focus to the disarray and giving it purpose and meaning. I was waiting for you to mature as a writer and for the series to approach its end - for you to bring it together and weave something orderly and coherent from all the disparate threads. I should have stopped making excuses for you and the series long ago. After all, by the time of this novel's publication, you'd been a published author for nearly two decades with ten novels to your credit. This was your sixth Uplift book. It shouldn't have surprised me that instead of winnowing and resolving that you would accelerate your previous impulses - more grand spectacles, more disconnected big ideas, more character perspectives, more planes of existence, more, more, more, more!. And so you stacked. Stacked with more enthusiasm than ever before. Stacked bigger and bigger pieces, eclipsing even the foundation. It was a free-for-all, let's-see-what-else-we-can-fit-in bonanza that toppled over into literary hysteria.
It's not that the ideas here are bad. It is that they were not developed from the beginning- not planned when the foundation was set. There are enough events and ideas here for at least one new trilogy, and enough leftover, unanswered questions and developments to still demand a concluding volume to these past five. Thus what we really have here is an annotated outline sketching out a entirely new series but which fails to bring to close much of what he'd already done . I have had some reservations all along, but this one spoiled the entire Uplift Saga for me.
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 3/5
In the author's afterward at the end of Heaven's Reach, Brin shares that "the Uplift Universe gives me a chance to experiment with all sorts of notions about starfaring civilization. And since it is unapologetic space opera, those notions can be stacked together and piled high!" (Exclamation in the original.). No, David Brin. Not at all. Stacking is the beginner's way of of constructing. Experts build. They integrate components, tie to foundations, bolster and support. But stack you did. Neat, awesome, spectacular idea after idea gets added to the already towering and leaning structure that has been the Uplift series. In my reviews of the other books in the series, I used terms such as "casual," thrown in," "jumble," "chaotic," "undisciplined," "unsatisfying," "creative confusion," "unrestrained," and "unnecessary." The earlier books had been all those things, but I was still a fan. You'd created a provocative universe with features worthy of contemplation and elaboration. I realized in this iteration that I had been forbearing all the chaos and disorder, making sense out of the jumble myself, giving focus to the disarray and giving it purpose and meaning. I was waiting for you to mature as a writer and for the series to approach its end - for you to bring it together and weave something orderly and coherent from all the disparate threads. I should have stopped making excuses for you and the series long ago. After all, by the time of this novel's publication, you'd been a published author for nearly two decades with ten novels to your credit. This was your sixth Uplift book. It shouldn't have surprised me that instead of winnowing and resolving that you would accelerate your previous impulses - more grand spectacles, more disconnected big ideas, more character perspectives, more planes of existence, more, more, more, more!. And so you stacked. Stacked with more enthusiasm than ever before. Stacked bigger and bigger pieces, eclipsing even the foundation. It was a free-for-all, let's-see-what-else-we-can-fit-in bonanza that toppled over into literary hysteria.
It's not that the ideas here are bad. It is that they were not developed from the beginning- not planned when the foundation was set. There are enough events and ideas here for at least one new trilogy, and enough leftover, unanswered questions and developments to still demand a concluding volume to these past five. Thus what we really have here is an annotated outline sketching out a entirely new series but which fails to bring to close much of what he'd already done . I have had some reservations all along, but this one spoiled the entire Uplift Saga for me.
July 30, 2009
I consider David Brin one of the three best genre writers among those who started writing after 1970 (the other two are Lawrence Watt-Evans and Steven Brust; Barry Longyear might be on that list except I think he started writing before 1970, and I haven't seen anything new from him in quite a while. Barry Hughart would be on that list if he hadn't had to give up writing due to his idiotic publishers).
I'm a huge fan of a lot of his work. His original Uplift trilogy is a favorite of mine. But I was disappointed by the first two books in his second Uplift trilogy. Heaven's Reach represents a significant improvement on those books.
It might get a bit too cosmic (in the same way that his Kiln People did, towards the end), but it's a solid, intelligent, imaginative, and well-written book. Perhaps I like it more because the action takes place out on the space lanes, rather than being cooped up on the sooner planet of Jijo.
Many mysteries are explained, and the resolution, while by no means tying up all the threads of the Uplift series, is quite satisfying. I plan to go back to the first two books in the trilogy to see if I like them better in the light of this book.
And I'll be re-reading the entire first trilogy before too long, of course.
I'm a huge fan of a lot of his work. His original Uplift trilogy is a favorite of mine. But I was disappointed by the first two books in his second Uplift trilogy. Heaven's Reach represents a significant improvement on those books.
It might get a bit too cosmic (in the same way that his Kiln People did, towards the end), but it's a solid, intelligent, imaginative, and well-written book. Perhaps I like it more because the action takes place out on the space lanes, rather than being cooped up on the sooner planet of Jijo.
Many mysteries are explained, and the resolution, while by no means tying up all the threads of the Uplift series, is quite satisfying. I plan to go back to the first two books in the trilogy to see if I like them better in the light of this book.
And I'll be re-reading the entire first trilogy before too long, of course.
May 13, 2017
-Aunque al final tengamos algunas respuestas, es más de lo mismo.-
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El neochimpance Harry Harms patrulla el Espacio E mientras, en Jijo, los pasajeros de la Streaker, de distintas especies que por diferentes razones terminaron en el planeta, esperan poder afrontar que las Cinco Galaxias les hayan encontrado y que los Jophur les persigan con algún rehén del grupo en sus manos. Dentro de la serie La Elevación de los Pupilos, sexto libro de la serie ambientado en esa línea argumental y tercer libro de su segunda trilogía.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El neochimpance Harry Harms patrulla el Espacio E mientras, en Jijo, los pasajeros de la Streaker, de distintas especies que por diferentes razones terminaron en el planeta, esperan poder afrontar que las Cinco Galaxias les hayan encontrado y que los Jophur les persigan con algún rehén del grupo en sus manos. Dentro de la serie La Elevación de los Pupilos, sexto libro de la serie ambientado en esa línea argumental y tercer libro de su segunda trilogía.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
September 8, 2009
I have to admit I gave up on Brin at this point - after following the Streaker and its crew through six books and never finding out what they had discovered, I threw up my hands in disgust and moved on to more rewarding reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2013
THERE'S MORE TO SEE HERE.
That's pretty much the takeaway from this. Brin "owes" us one more Uplift book or trilogy... right? I mean, he never got back to the half of the cast he left behind in Startide Rising. Maybe that's just how he rolls but still.
HARSH.
STILL.
That closing paragraph. Grrr.
I built this one up a bit too much internally, I think. It couldn't live up to what I what I wanted. That or it wasn't quite as good as it should have been. A little of both, most likely. Most series finales leave me with more than this one did. I mean, we get most of the resolutions... but some of them felt pretty rushed: what the hydros did to some of the oxys (I mean, is it transcendence if it's forced? That doesn't seem right at all) and the Streaker's portion of the finale, for two.
I did like how Lark and Ling's portion of the finale kind of puts everything into an even crazier perspective.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, indeed. Even gods...
Brin's (trademark?) habit of having important things happen off panel continues as well. Sometimes it works, but most of the time here it felt off to me (the traitor's capture, the Terran's parallel discovery of Sara's amazing discovery - I get why that would be the case, but... it felt like something was missing still).
Oh. and [SPOILER] doesn't die. GRRR. But [SPOILER] does. Which made me a little sad.
THREE AND A HALF STARS
Because there was a ton of cool here - big ideas and impossibly big explosions - but it felt like they all needed more room to breath. This probably should have been a quartet instead of a trilogy.
That's pretty much the takeaway from this. Brin "owes" us one more Uplift book or trilogy... right? I mean, he never got back to the half of the cast he left behind in Startide Rising. Maybe that's just how he rolls but still.
HARSH.
STILL.
That closing paragraph. Grrr.
I built this one up a bit too much internally, I think. It couldn't live up to what I what I wanted. That or it wasn't quite as good as it should have been. A little of both, most likely. Most series finales leave me with more than this one did. I mean, we get most of the resolutions... but some of them felt pretty rushed: what the hydros did to some of the oxys (I mean, is it transcendence if it's forced? That doesn't seem right at all) and the Streaker's portion of the finale, for two.
I did like how Lark and Ling's portion of the finale kind of puts everything into an even crazier perspective.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, indeed. Even gods...
Brin's (trademark?) habit of having important things happen off panel continues as well. Sometimes it works, but most of the time here it felt off to me (the traitor's capture, the Terran's parallel discovery of Sara's amazing discovery - I get why that would be the case, but... it felt like something was missing still).
Oh. and [SPOILER] doesn't die. GRRR. But [SPOILER] does. Which made me a little sad.
THREE AND A HALF STARS
Because there was a ton of cool here - big ideas and impossibly big explosions - but it felt like they all needed more room to breath. This probably should have been a quartet instead of a trilogy.
April 18, 2013
The six book series finally comes to an end. The Streaker has made a desperate bid to escape Jijo, drawing the Jophur ship away from the hidden world, hoping to destroy it and themselves in the new transfer point opening in space, taking Sara of Jijo with them. However, ships already there give them another chance to flee and attempt once more to get their information out to the galaxies. Trapped aboard the Jophur ship, Lark finds unlikely allies, while Dwer has to use his hunters skills in the strange world of space travel. All three stories crash together as they are drawn into events disrupting the whole of the space continum. As the universe expands, so the galaxies are dragged apart, something known by the ancient races, but hidden from those now fighting over Earth. With all life threatened, the three children of Jijo find themselves at the forefront of the fight to survive.
A great end to the series. I prefered the one planet stories, rather than this universe encompassing space opera, but it was a fantastic, fast-paced ride to the end. There is so much I would loved to have found out - how the characters fared in their new roles, but I guess that is something I can muse on in my own time! Overall, I have really enjoyed these books, but not sure if I would give them a second read. Maybe someday in the future I will return to them.
A great end to the series. I prefered the one planet stories, rather than this universe encompassing space opera, but it was a fantastic, fast-paced ride to the end. There is so much I would loved to have found out - how the characters fared in their new roles, but I guess that is something I can muse on in my own time! Overall, I have really enjoyed these books, but not sure if I would give them a second read. Maybe someday in the future I will return to them.
April 6, 2009
The whole second "uplift" series by Brin, and especially this book, showcases both the inspiration and disappointment of sci fi. The imagination here is staggering -- he's actually created a whole Galactic sociology that kind of makes sense, a technically realistic way the universe could be full of life that all talks and interacts. I've read this book time and again for its scope -- hydrogen breathers, "transcendent" beings diving into black holes, etc.
But the way it's written is a big disappointment. Too many things that seem to be important plot points are described only in summary retrospect on in fragmentary views, and the sheer number of points of view tends to break the narrative (rather than providing a "kaleidoscope" of perspectives as I imagine was the goal).
Brin wrote much better, in terms of both characterization and linear narrative, in The Uplift War and Startide Rising. But those are set on planets. If you want to fly around in space this is the one. .
But the way it's written is a big disappointment. Too many things that seem to be important plot points are described only in summary retrospect on in fragmentary views, and the sheer number of points of view tends to break the narrative (rather than providing a "kaleidoscope" of perspectives as I imagine was the goal).
Brin wrote much better, in terms of both characterization and linear narrative, in The Uplift War and Startide Rising. But those are set on planets. If you want to fly around in space this is the one. .
April 30, 2010
Gah. I admittedly skipped from Book 3 of the Uplift War to this one because I wanted to find out what happened to the Streaker and it's crew and I didn't care about the new world of Jijo.
Way to drag readers on for SIX BOOKS and not reveal what they found at the end. The only reason I'm not one-star'ing it is because the universe he's crafted is wonderful and this book continues that line.
Way to drag readers on for SIX BOOKS and not reveal what they found at the end. The only reason I'm not one-star'ing it is because the universe he's crafted is wonderful and this book continues that line.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2023
I finally finished the second Uplift trilogy! This had been sitting on my shelves for something like 15 years, ever since I read the Uplift War and learned that it didn't answer any of the burning questions introduced in Startide Rising. This trilogy as a whole is more or less a continuation to Startide Rising, as well as adding in a drove of other characters and a new main locale, Jijo, the planet on which most of the trilogy's action takes place. I mainly wanted to read this to finally get the answers to those questions that Startide left hanging. Whose ships were in the shallow cluster? Is Herbie one of the fabled Progenitors? Are the Progenitors even real? So, did this trilogy answer those questions? Eh... the short story is no. The long story is that it expands the scope of the Uplift universe so wide that the original questions almost don't matter anymore. So... Is it worth reading some 1800 pages when the answers may not be what I was searching for? I'm still debating about that.
Talking about the trilogy as a whole, I feel like this definitely did not need to be three books. There are far too many characters, and many of them almost feel like they're of little consequence. The events in the trilogy happen to them without much agency on their part. There definitely could have been some trimming. Like the brothers, Dwer and Lark. Each brother is off on his separate adventure, each with a female counterpart. Other than some different background information about these two, I couldn't tell you much about the difference between who they are as people. These two plots mostly blended together for me. Their sister Sara, also a POV character, was much more interesting, and she was also paired with a counterpart, a male one. I honestly think all 3 of these characters could have been combined into one, and the books would have been richer for it. Alvin and the gang of alien misfits were entertaining to read about, but once they encounter the crew of the Streaker, their part in the story seems inconsequential.
Thinking about it now, I think this trilogy, if it had to be a trilogy, would have been much more entertaining as 3 separate loosely connected novels, like the original Uplift trilogy. They could have explored the same grand ideas and given this large cast of characters more time to shine on their own instead of being muddled together.
Lastly, speaking of those grand ideas... wow. Just... wow. Have you heard the term "scope creep?" Where the scope of a story sometimes outgrows the story itself? Well, Heaven's Reach is possibly the biggest example of this I've ever read and likely ever will. From the start to the end of the book, we've gone from the action taking place on a single planet to encompassing multiple galaxies with universal consequences. Normally, I would be put off by this, but since I wasn't particularly caring about most of the characters anyway, I was all about this insane, whacked-out ride. I have some images in my head that will be in there forever now, as my brain did its best to imagine what all this chaos would look like.
So do I recommend these books? Well... IF you loved Startide Rising as much as I did and you REALLY want to know what happened, I'd say yes. You may not get the answers you're looking for, but the ones you get should at least be close to satisfying.
3/5
Talking about the trilogy as a whole, I feel like this definitely did not need to be three books. There are far too many characters, and many of them almost feel like they're of little consequence. The events in the trilogy happen to them without much agency on their part. There definitely could have been some trimming. Like the brothers, Dwer and Lark. Each brother is off on his separate adventure, each with a female counterpart. Other than some different background information about these two, I couldn't tell you much about the difference between who they are as people. These two plots mostly blended together for me. Their sister Sara, also a POV character, was much more interesting, and she was also paired with a counterpart, a male one. I honestly think all 3 of these characters could have been combined into one, and the books would have been richer for it. Alvin and the gang of alien misfits were entertaining to read about, but once they encounter the crew of the Streaker, their part in the story seems inconsequential.
Thinking about it now, I think this trilogy, if it had to be a trilogy, would have been much more entertaining as 3 separate loosely connected novels, like the original Uplift trilogy. They could have explored the same grand ideas and given this large cast of characters more time to shine on their own instead of being muddled together.
Lastly, speaking of those grand ideas... wow. Just... wow. Have you heard the term "scope creep?" Where the scope of a story sometimes outgrows the story itself? Well, Heaven's Reach is possibly the biggest example of this I've ever read and likely ever will. From the start to the end of the book, we've gone from the action taking place on a single planet to encompassing multiple galaxies with universal consequences. Normally, I would be put off by this, but since I wasn't particularly caring about most of the characters anyway, I was all about this insane, whacked-out ride. I have some images in my head that will be in there forever now, as my brain did its best to imagine what all this chaos would look like.
So do I recommend these books? Well... IF you loved Startide Rising as much as I did and you REALLY want to know what happened, I'd say yes. You may not get the answers you're looking for, but the ones you get should at least be close to satisfying.
3/5
August 24, 2020
"Heaven's Reach", and in fact the entire "Uplift Storm" trilogy, is a shining example of just how devastating scope creep can be. There are so, so many interesting things in this book that frankly nothing really hangs together. And you can just forget getting any kind of closure with regard to the Egg, the Buyer, or really any of the events that occurred on Jijo. If you were holding out hope that you might find out what happened to Tom, Creideiki, and Hikahi, well your optimism is adorable. I can dimly perceive that Brin was hoping to craft a sweeping epic that deftly juxtaposes events of a pan-galactic scale with the individual and the personal, but I don't think he made it happen. It seemed like he just kept haring off on concepts that were individually interesting and completely forgetting about what the story was actually about. I get it, creating a completely new meta-lifeform by combining the different life orders: cool. More advanced life orders still struggling with what the meaning of existence really is and hoping to communicate with EVEN MORE advanced folks to ask them whether or not there is an afterlife: cool. The E level of hyperspace and all the ideas-based life that proliferates there: cool. And I could go on and on with the cool things Brin explores that have foundations in real science and compel the reader to think more deeply about the nature of reality. But what about Streaker and Jijo? At the end of the day, those are the things and the people I really care about and really keep me reading, and Brin shamefully neglected them in this book.
FURTHERMORE, there are some major issues with Brin's writing in "Heaven's Reach" that were less of a problem in "Brightness Reef" or "Infinity's Shore".
1. The repetitiveness. Dear God, the repetitiveness. Do we really need to hear 10 or twelve times the explanation of how species mature through retirement to Transcendence? Is it really necessary to explain how Asx became X EVERY TIME it speaks? How many times do I need to hear about the miraculous coating that saves Streaker from certain destruction? It was almost like Brin assumed (correctly, as it turns out) that his readers would be repeatedly throwing the book aside in frustration and would need a refresher at the beginning of every bloody chapter.
2. The criminal overuse of the retrospective point of view. Basically everything that happens in the book you hear about after the fact rather than experiencing "as it happens," so to speak. "Lark reflected, as he floated naked next to Ling and all the other myriad life making up the new meta-lifeform of which he was now a part, on the almost miraculous way Streaker had escaped from certain destruction. He recalled how Gillian had..." and blah blah blah. THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' BOOK IS LIKE THAT. Not only is Brin telling rather than showing, the telling itself is SECONDHAND.
3. Harry Harms. Don't get me wrong. I love Harry. He's probably the highlight of the book for me. But why in God's name do you need to introduce an entirely new character in the final book of a trilogy that already has TOO MANY characters? It just feels lazy, like Brin got tired of the characters he already had, and tired of the story he already had, so he was just like, "You know what's cool? Chimpanzees. And a weird hyperspace thing I just thought up. I think I'd rather write about that just now."
I desperately wanted to like "Heaven's Reach." I really wanted the epic tale of Streaker to have a finale worthy of its inception in "Startide Rising." Heck, I would have settled for a satisfying resolution to even a few of the mysteries on Jijo that Brin carefully developed all through "Brightness Reef" and "Infinity's Shore." Ultimately, however, it seemed like Brin had far more ideas than he had sense when writing this book, so we are all left with a huge number of loose ends and the one end that IS more or less tied up culminates with a vague, unsatisfying lecture from the Niss Machine. Given how disappointed I am, my two star rating is generous.
FURTHERMORE, there are some major issues with Brin's writing in "Heaven's Reach" that were less of a problem in "Brightness Reef" or "Infinity's Shore".
1. The repetitiveness. Dear God, the repetitiveness. Do we really need to hear 10 or twelve times the explanation of how species mature through retirement to Transcendence? Is it really necessary to explain how Asx became X EVERY TIME it speaks? How many times do I need to hear about the miraculous coating that saves Streaker from certain destruction? It was almost like Brin assumed (correctly, as it turns out) that his readers would be repeatedly throwing the book aside in frustration and would need a refresher at the beginning of every bloody chapter.
2. The criminal overuse of the retrospective point of view. Basically everything that happens in the book you hear about after the fact rather than experiencing "as it happens," so to speak. "Lark reflected, as he floated naked next to Ling and all the other myriad life making up the new meta-lifeform of which he was now a part, on the almost miraculous way Streaker had escaped from certain destruction. He recalled how Gillian had..." and blah blah blah. THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' BOOK IS LIKE THAT. Not only is Brin telling rather than showing, the telling itself is SECONDHAND.
3. Harry Harms. Don't get me wrong. I love Harry. He's probably the highlight of the book for me. But why in God's name do you need to introduce an entirely new character in the final book of a trilogy that already has TOO MANY characters? It just feels lazy, like Brin got tired of the characters he already had, and tired of the story he already had, so he was just like, "You know what's cool? Chimpanzees. And a weird hyperspace thing I just thought up. I think I'd rather write about that just now."
I desperately wanted to like "Heaven's Reach." I really wanted the epic tale of Streaker to have a finale worthy of its inception in "Startide Rising." Heck, I would have settled for a satisfying resolution to even a few of the mysteries on Jijo that Brin carefully developed all through "Brightness Reef" and "Infinity's Shore." Ultimately, however, it seemed like Brin had far more ideas than he had sense when writing this book, so we are all left with a huge number of loose ends and the one end that IS more or less tied up culminates with a vague, unsatisfying lecture from the Niss Machine. Given how disappointed I am, my two star rating is generous.
May 2, 2020
Pretty awful. There are some good bits interspersed in a vast desert of boring thoughts and made-up metaphysical "explanations". Brin says that the "Uplift Storm" wasn't originally intended to be a trilogy, but he found that he had a lot to say. I beg to differ: it seems that he only had enough material for one and a half books, and he stretched it out across a trilogy by adding lots of boring filler. Most of the filler went into this book, and some into the second book. Only the first one was great.
I wanted to stop reading several times, but since I was so heavily committed to this trilogy already I had to see how it ends. Let me say, it ends with a whimper, not a bang: there's a sort of "Deus Ex Machina" at the end. I was ready to murder Gillian Baskin by then.
And finally, a quibble about the blurb. As I've come to recognize is the modus operandi for all blurbs of Brin novels, this book's blurb promises far more than is actually delivered. Few mysteries are solved; the artifacts carried by Streaker aren't really important; the survival of sentient life is not at risk; etc.
I wanted to stop reading several times, but since I was so heavily committed to this trilogy already I had to see how it ends. Let me say, it ends with a whimper, not a bang: there's a sort of "Deus Ex Machina" at the end. I was ready to murder Gillian Baskin by then.
And finally, a quibble about the blurb. As I've come to recognize is the modus operandi for all blurbs of Brin novels, this book's blurb promises far more than is actually delivered. Few mysteries are solved; the artifacts carried by Streaker aren't really important; the survival of sentient life is not at risk; etc.
June 12, 2013
David Brin picks up the strands of his story and follows his characters off the surface of the planet Jijo and into the cosmos. The crew of the Streaker, pursued relentlessly by a powerful Jophur dreadnought, searches for someone that can be trusted with the terrible secret they have uncovered. This desperate adventure coincides with the prophesied Time of Changes, a suitably cataclysmic event that answers most of the questions raised in the series and leaves a pleasant sense of ambiguity surrounding some.
I do not share many of the misgivings voiced by others about this series. I felt that David Brin wrapped up his various plot threads in a fulfilling manner and provided a satisfying answer to the great mystery that drove this ambitious saga. I admit to being disappointed that Tom Orley and Creideiki never did turn up again in this narrative, but I have hopes of meeting them again in the next Uplift story that Brin has promised.
I do not share many of the misgivings voiced by others about this series. I felt that David Brin wrapped up his various plot threads in a fulfilling manner and provided a satisfying answer to the great mystery that drove this ambitious saga. I admit to being disappointed that Tom Orley and Creideiki never did turn up again in this narrative, but I have hopes of meeting them again in the next Uplift story that Brin has promised.
May 28, 2014
Brilliant book that wraps up many loose ends (also from Uplift Saga Startide Rising) and shows us the greater goal toward which many unrelated adventures have weaved through trilogy. Saga's ending is not something totally new, but it is unexpected.
Through both trilogies author introduces many brilliant alien races, planet and space adventures, so that you want to keep on reading to see what happens next. It is good to see that humans are not demonized for gene manipulation and they are at least given a chance to justify their path to be cosmic race. On the other hand author draws our attention to environmental situation on Earth.
One thing which annoyed me during both trilogies is that some facts about universe are taken for granted and not enough background information is provided.
Through both trilogies author introduces many brilliant alien races, planet and space adventures, so that you want to keep on reading to see what happens next. It is good to see that humans are not demonized for gene manipulation and they are at least given a chance to justify their path to be cosmic race. On the other hand author draws our attention to environmental situation on Earth.
One thing which annoyed me during both trilogies is that some facts about universe are taken for granted and not enough background information is provided.
July 28, 2014
David Brin picks up the strands of his story and follows his characters off the surface of the planet Jijo and into the cosmos. The crew of the Streaker, pursued relentlessly by a powerful Jophur dreadnought, searches for someone that can be trusted with the terrible secret they have uncovered. This desperate adventure coincides with the prophesied Time of Changes, a suitably cataclysmic event that answers most of the questions raised in the series and leaves a pleasant sense of ambiguity surrounding some.
I do not share many of the misgivings voiced by others about this series. I felt that David Brin wrapped up his various plot threads in a fulfilling manner and provided a satisfying answer to the great mystery that drove this ambitious saga. I admit to being disappointed that Tom Orley and Creideiki never did turn up again in this narrative.
I do not share many of the misgivings voiced by others about this series. I felt that David Brin wrapped up his various plot threads in a fulfilling manner and provided a satisfying answer to the great mystery that drove this ambitious saga. I admit to being disappointed that Tom Orley and Creideiki never did turn up again in this narrative.
December 31, 2019
Even better on a re-read. I picked up lots of detail that I either had forgotten or hadn't noticed on the first read. David Brin really let his imagination run loose.
Solid 4 stars.
Note: This trilogy is all one story. Start with the first book.
Spoiler for an earlier book:
Solid 4 stars.
Note: This trilogy is all one story. Start with the first book.
Spoiler for an earlier book:
March 13, 2008
This is part of a grand trilogy that started with the Uplift War, Startide Rising and Sundiver, and while they share the same universe, they aren't required reaqding.
This Trilogy about the world Jijo on the otherhand are all tied together and they weave a grand tapestry together about all of the loose ends from the previous three novels.
In the end Brin makes his case for greatness and leaves you wanting more...
This Trilogy about the world Jijo on the otherhand are all tied together and they weave a grand tapestry together about all of the loose ends from the previous three novels.
In the end Brin makes his case for greatness and leaves you wanting more...
April 10, 2011
Brin throws in a zoo of alien civilizations, many as the initial narrators. I was fascinated by the questions of environmental ethics throughout the series and they really take front stage in the second trilogy. In total, a top-notch work of modern sci-fi: if the Grand Masters were about physics (rocketships and space), Uplift is about biology and ecology, with smatterings of quantum, probability, and psychology.
November 17, 2011
David Brin delivers in this last novel of the Uplift Storm Trilogy. The hard science of Brin's world is much more in affect in this novel than in the previous two, and we're introduced to a few new characters. But it picks up exactly where Infinity's Shore dropped off. Though each subplot is tied off nicely, we never spend any time on Jijo, which was my favorite part of the novels. That's the main reason behind my 4-star rating, that little bit of disappointment.
May 4, 2013
The final book in this 6 book story is epic. Like most long space epics, the plot and ramifications grow and grow. The expectation for the eventual resolution grows in parallel. Usually this all deflates with a whimper instead of a good resolution. Heaven's reach does a great job of bringing the main plot to a truly epic conclusion with implications not just for one galaxy but for lots of them. Great book.
May 13, 2014
6th and (so far) final book of Brin’s Uplift series. An intricately woven epic, a tremendous finale that heaps wonder upon wonder, crescendoing to staggering heights. A vibrant panorama of likable characters and alien races, hyper-aliens, meta-aliens, godlike-intelligences, sublime scopes, ancient cosmic mysteries, space battles and narrow escapes! Mind-expanding rip-roaring unapologetic space opera at its absolute very best!
January 16, 2018
Re=read this from Dec. 26/17 to Jan. 10/18. 3.5 stars. Iwas disappointed in this and was also the first time I read it. I didn't care about the characters as much as in the previous 5 novels, and I felt that Brin crammed too many characters and plot threads together. My least favourite of the series, but sections were excellent. If only Brin had emphasized the excellent sections and minimized the dross, amid all the roiling turbulence.
August 25, 2021
In general I enjoined the uplift universe, this volume however is a mess.
The author tried to add to many elements and the result is significantly lower than the previous books. The are many aspects that are explained too briefly, while almost irrelevant side stories are added. All the subplots on Jojo are not even mentioned.
After 5 books with the hunting mystery of the lost fleet fund by dolphins, we discover that *it was not that important*, and in fact it is left unsolved.
The author tried to add to many elements and the result is significantly lower than the previous books. The are many aspects that are explained too briefly, while almost irrelevant side stories are added. All the subplots on Jojo are not even mentioned.
After 5 books with the hunting mystery of the lost fleet fund by dolphins, we discover that *it was not that important*, and in fact it is left unsolved.
December 18, 2010
Conclusion to the Uplift trilogy. The ending (spoiler) always struck me as sad and bittersweet. The Streaker makes it home, but part of their crew, who escaped the events in Startide Rising in a separate ship, is still out there, lost in the Wilderness of the Galaxies. I hope Brin takes up that part of the story and concludes it.
December 26, 2010
One of the pinnacles of modern hard sci-fi. Numerous alien races are given detailed treatments, and the science never overshadows the character (even if said character is a gelatinous stack of ring tori). This is what I love about science fiction, you create a world of such incredible detail, only so it can serve as the backdrop for an epic story.
September 19, 2011
An excellent ending to a challenging series. Leaves things open for more stories if Brin ever wanted to revisit all these years later. The concepts are mind-blowing while still grounding much of the story in characterization even when -- or, perhaps, especially -- dealing with interspecies relations. Enjoyed the ride!
November 7, 2011
This book has an amazing breadth and yet it still manages to tie up most of the loose ends of the trilogy.
I enjoyed the discussion and interplay of the various orders of life forms - oxygen, hydrogen, mechanical, memetic, retired, and transcendent...
A very satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.
I enjoyed the discussion and interplay of the various orders of life forms - oxygen, hydrogen, mechanical, memetic, retired, and transcendent...
A very satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.
July 12, 2014
Despite many passages of repetitive information (likely inserted to help readers keep the myriad threads straight), this was an excellent conclusion to the Uplift series. Not all ends are tied, and that makes me happy. It's not the hollywood conclusion, and it's not without character losses. There is always a cost. Well done, Brin.
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