Kevin's Watch

Brin's official website: www.davidbrin.com/

wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brin

I especially like his sci-fi work entitiled "Earth", "the Uplift Saga", and "the Uplift Trilogy."

"Earth" was written in 1991 and it's amazing how much our current world is so much like the society he wrote about then. He wasn't attempting any kind of prophesy. He merely extrapolated prevelent trends and built upon them.

I've been a Brin fan, but not much of a one these days. The uplift trilogy left a bad taste in my mouth. But I very much enjoyed Earth, and Startide Rising is one of the best all-time ever.

I love Earth and the Uplift series.

I used to have a Brin forum on Ahira's Hangar (sister site of the Watch), Heart of the Comet (co-authored with Gregory Benford), and Startide Rising are two of my favorite Sci-Fis ever. I loved the 1st Uplift trilogy, the 2nd was really tough to slog through, but the 3rd book is great (if you have the fortitude to make it). The Postman is a classic-and, basically, nothing like the movie. Speaking of movies The Core is, loosely, based on Earth. Earth is a very good book. Glory Season, The Practice Effect and Kiln People are other Brin's I'd recommend. The River of Time and Otherness are superb short story collections.

Haven't read many of them, but I did like Earth a lot.

--A

danlo says:

Speaking of movies The Core is, loosely, based on Earth.

I didn't know that, thanx danlo! I've also read Glory Season and Otherness but no other titles of Brin's. I suppose I enjoy his work because he is an actual Astrophysicist and therefore writes plausible sci/fi based on his scientific training and understanding. Speaking as someone who finally passed Calc I (after three attempts) with a "C" I'll give props to Brin anytime!

My thanks to everyone who participated on this thread!

How about Raymond Feist and his rift-war saga...Magician Apprentice & Master, Silverthorn, Darkness at Sethanon etc? I find that I identify quite closely with the character "Pug." I also fully appreciate Feist's concept of the Great Freedom which the nobility of the Kingdom of Isles takes seriously.

I'm a big fan of the first few series, especially the Empire series, which I find better than the Riftwar one. Chronologically, I have everything from Magician to Shards of a Broken Crown.

After that, they weren't as good anymore, I felt.

--A

Sundiver was good, Startide Rising was great, Uplift War was very good...couldn't get through the fourth one, Earth was good but also had a hard time getting through it. Glory Season was good and Postman was great.

re: Brin's concept of one more evolved space traveling species genetically manipulating the raw potential of a less evolved animalistic species with various results; maybe this isn't all that far-fetched given Drake's Equation. Perhaps Brin is much closer to the truth than mainstream science & religion would care to admit. It really stimulates the imagination to think that Yahweh or Jehovah, of the Old Testament for example, might possibly be leaders (hence the title "Lord" similar to "Captain") of a space faring race who once genetically manipulated the raw potential found on this world with decidedly mixed results. Of course this is nothing more than random musings of an admittedly over active imagination. We all know the human race is the Only Intelligent Species, right?

jacob Raver, sinTempter wrote:Sundiver was good, Startide Rising was great, Uplift War was very good...couldn't get through the fourth one, Earth was good but also had a hard time getting through it. Glory Season was good and Postman was great.

I agree with the first three books. Those are the only three I've read, though.

Startide Rising was so spectacular that I would recommend it to anyone. Excellent multi-plotlined chase story. Frankly, everything else I've read of Brin was looking for another book like that.

There are rumours of a 2012 movie I need to look into. [edit]Looked. Someone bought the option, produced a screenplay, and then it died. Too bad.[/edit]

I'll look out for it. Heard good things about the Uplift War too, but never seen it around.

--A

wayfriend wrote:Startide Rising was so spectacular that I would recommend it to anyone. Excellent multi-plotlined chase story. Frankly, everything else I've read of Brin was looking for another book like that.

There are rumours of a 2012 movie I need to look into. [edit]Looked. Someone bought the option, produced a screenplay, and then it died. Too bad.[/edit]

2012 is a film about the supposed Mayan "end of the world" scenario...

...just kidding. There was a lot of stuff left unanswered at the end of SR that wouldn't work so well for a stand alone film...could be awesome though.

wayfriend wrote:Startide Rising was so spectacular that I would recommend it to anyone. Excellent multi-plotlined chase story. Frankly, everything else I've read of Brin was looking for another book like that.

There are rumours of a 2012 movie I need to look into. [edit]Looked. Someone bought the option, produced a screenplay, and then it died. Too bad.[/edit]

Yeah, it was amazing.

Huge Brin fan, but his latest works have seemed a bit flat to me. I really loved Startide Rising & The Uplift War. Kiln People was enjoyable but ultimately forgettable. The Uplift Trilogy began really well, but I got a sense in the third book that he lost hold of all the threads he had. The driving need to EXPLAIN EVERYTHING really lost me a bit. Also introducing that new chimp character was totally unnecessary. If you have to introduce new POV or main characters in the third act... you have a narrative problem.

Yes, I'd, honestly, have to say I had a hard time getting to the end of Kiln People...

Sundiver, Startide Rising and Uplift War were epic...everything else wasn't as well done. I wanted to read about the next stage of the chase after our heroes, but we got instead a major jump in the timeline to the planet nobody ever heard of, with too many people to juggle in our heads to follow the story, so I'd say Brin went too far in the end.

Really like the first uplift set, and was up and down with the second set.
And, spoilering, just in case

Spoiler

I loved the ape's ascending...and who they chose. Struck my cool bone for some reason.

Earth was good...I never would have guessed that the Core flick was based on it, though.

I've read one of the ones he/benford did on the "Foundation" universe...heh...but I don't recall if it was his or Benford's...thought it was pretty good.