One of my favorites. Read it in high school the first time. Have read it at least six times. The book has a savory taste for me.

The most recent reading, finishing it off tonight, I had just completed a course in Latin American history, and was associating the content of the book to the neocolonial patterns some historians use to interpret Latin American history. The book is always stimulating.

Comparing works by Che Guevarra to the client/patron elements in the book on this read. Considering the ideas of national sovereignity and social contract, as depicted in Brin's Uplift universe Galatic Civilization. Just a good read every couple years, always associable with something fresh. ( )

The whole universe has been following the same pattern for quite some time - be Uplifted to sentient intelligence by your parent race, find yourself in debt to them for untold years to pay off an unimaginable sum, and then set about Uplifting your own race so that somebody can owe you that same favor.

Well nobody told the humans that was how it worked, so when Man evolves itself into an intelligent species without any knowledge or assistance, quite a few alien races are more than a bit put off. The existence of a powerful new civilization without the burden of debt throws the universe into an uproar, and there are some who are determined to put the cheeky, upstart Humans in their place.

An exciting book with a plot that moves on an interstellar scale. Be prepared to follow up with Brin's other Uplift Series novels. ( )

No-one likes uppity monkey boys, or even uppity monkeys.

Humanity, being so cool and all, has done what none of those stody old slow types in the galaxy have done, raised non-sentient races to sentient intelligence. In this case, dolphins and apes, and working on the canine variety next. This makes the aliens unhappy, as the whole uplift another bunch means you get to exploit them for lots and lots of work and cash, to put it plainly.

The various Terrans have other ideas. Entertaining stuff.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/08/uplift-war-david-brin.html ( )

No-one likes uppity monkey boys, or even uppity monkeys.

Humanity, being so cool and all, has done what none of those stody old slow types in the galaxy have done, raised non-sentient races to sentient intelligence. In this case, dolphins and apes, and working on the canine variety next. This makes the aliens unhappy, as the whole uplift another bunch means you get to exploit them for lots and lots of work and cash, to put it plainly.

The various Terrans have other ideas. Entertaining stuff.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/08/uplift-war-david-brin.html ( )

I enjoyed this book very much. Like Startide Rising, it offers an ambitious plot that develops several related storylines that are ultimately brought together to reach a satisfying conclusion. The best things about the book are the well developed non-human characters: the neo-chimps, the invading bird-like Gubru aliens, and the two important Tymbrimi alien characters. Brin does a very good job of making the aliens profoundly different from humans in interesting yet reasonably plausible ways.

As in Startide Rising, I found the human characters to be less compelling and less sympathetic. The romance between Robert O'Neagle and the Tymbrimi Athaclena didn't really work for me, and the gung-ho "shoot 'em up, blow 'em up" human marine major felt like a caricature. Still, I give this a 9/10 enjoyability rating and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to any scifi fan. I would also point out that this story is only loosely related to the Sundiver story told in the first Uplift book; it certainly can be read out of series order. ( )