The Uplift War

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1. readthenotes1Jun 2025
   It's a great series of books by David Brin

   The Uplift War

   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uplift_War

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2. TeMPOraLSep 2018
   I binged "Sundiver" and "Startide Rising" over the last two weeks, and currently I'm well into "The Uplift War", and planning to continue on with the remaining three books. I love the universe so far.

   Fun fact, in "The Uplift War" (1987!) I found what looks like a reference to cryptocurrencies:

   "The money inside was GalCoin, untraceable and unquestionable throughout war and turmoil, for it was backed by the contents of the Great Library itself."

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3. eesmithFeb 2018
   My SF knowledge is quite dated. I've read little in the last 20 years, and SF has changed yet again during that time. Moreover, I've changed, and realized that too much of the SF I read was white male nerd escapism.

   (As a Heinlein fan, I really enjoyed Varley's "Red Thunder", written as an homage to Heinlein's juvenile series. There's a scene where the disgraced former astronaut is talking with the family of one of the teens, to convince them that it's okay for him to be on the experimental rocket. The teen's mother is a single parent, and the grandmother is was a Cuban refugee who crossed the Florida Straight in a makeshift boat. It's the grandmother who used her history to convince the mother that it was okay.

   This scene mirrors one from Heinlein's "Rocketship Galileo", where the esteemed nuclear physicist visits the mother and father of one of the teens, and the mother draws on the family history where her great-grandparents as teenagers crossed the country on a Conestoga wagon.

   The Heinlein one draws on standard American patriotism. I read the Varley version as a commentary that that courage isn't limited to the (primarily white European) people who colonized the American west.)

   Okay, that long parenthetical note aside, perhaps you would like David Brin's Uplift Saga series. I didn't like Sundiver that much, but "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" have elements which feel like Dune and the Foundation series.

   For more modern SF, you may be interested in Ian M. Banks' Culture series. That isn't much like Dune or Foundation, but it is well-written, complex, thoughtful, and full of interesting ideas. (Edit: I see cde-v mentioned Banks an hour ago.)

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4. pasbesoinJun 2012
   Of the more recent generations, I've particularly enjoyed Vinge and Brin, although Brin varies somewhat.

   There are probably a few others I could mention, but they have a nasty habit of not coming to mind when I make a conscious effort.

   For Vinge, I would recommend particularly A Deepness in the Sky and (prequel) A Fire Upon the Deep.

   For Brin, the second and third books of his Uplift Trilogy, adding also the first for context. The second and third are Startide Rising and The Uplift War. Also, his book Earth, which stands alone.

   P.S. Gibson and Stephenson. Gibson's Neuromancer and the two subsequent; after that, I couldn't continue (so, another "Card-esque" experience?). Also Gibson's collected short stories, Burning Chrome.

   I've quite enjoyed several Stephenson novels -- I guess they might tend to be his "older" ones. I tried The Baroque Cycle and could not stay with it.

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5. officemonkeyDec 2011
   There's a series of books by David Brin that explore the idea of "uplift", where humans learn how to augment intelligence in certain animals (dolphins, chimps, and gorillas) and then get busy doing so.

   In my opinion, "Startide Rising" and "the Uplift War" are the best books in the series.

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6. sketerpotApr 2009
   I'd like to recommend "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War", by David Brin. Aside from being very enjoyable books, they're a big source of new ideas -- these books singlehandedly made me appreciate the goals of the Internet Archive.

   Also, I've never understood the popularity of "Stranger in a Strange Land". I've always been a big Heinlein fan, but Stranger in a Strange Land always struck me as a book that was important and shocking and ground-breaking once upon a time.

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