Infinity's Shore

This review covers all three books in the 2nd Uplift Trilogy, (Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach).

At the end of the day, this rather long story, (nearly 2,000 pages over three volumes), is a good book that leaves some big openings for more adventures in the Uplift Universe. With that said, I really enjoyed the first three Uplift books, (Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War), more than I did this second trilogy. I think that is due to the stand-alone nature of the initial three volumes. I liked that each of those books told a relatively complete story that was set against a larger backdrop that stayed mostly in the background. Further, this fourth installment, (again, I'm talking about three books here), could show more have stood some editing. There is quite a bit of repetition of information - and not all of that can be attributed to getting the reader up to speed with what happened in the preceding volume. Rather, it sometimes felt as though Brin had lost some threads and was reminding himself, (and the reader), of where things stood. At times, he was (validly) revisiting a situation from the perspective of a different character - but often it felt like redundant info-dumping. Yes, we know most of the Galactics are against the upstart human 'wolflings' and their client species, the neo-chimps and neo-dolphins - please stop hitting us with that particular truncheon!

On to the good things: The overall story is really pretty great. As an unabashed and unapologetic Space Opera tale, this 2nd Uplift Trilogy does not disappoint. Throughout these Uplift books, Brin has taken a 'kitchen-sink' approach to the science, (he even says so in the afterword). He throws one big idea on top of another on top of third and a fourth. And then keeps doing it! His position as consultant for NASA is showing here in a big way - and that's a good thing because the ideas are grand and he does a good job of laying it out for us lay-people. Among all that science and big ideas, there are also a wide variety of characters to track - and there is a fair amount of head-hopping as a result - but Brin is a talented enough writer that he pulls off that aspect quite well. Helping to ease the transitions, most perspective shifts happen at logical chapter breaks. Now, with such a large cast of players, some are bound to be more interesting than others and a handful of characters do seemingly get short shrift - but I can see where Brin might re-visit some of them in order to explore their stories in greater depth. There are also other characters from the first three books that don't show up here at all, (most notably the ones left behind on Kithrup at the end of Startide Rising - which was, for me, the standout book of the entire Uplift series). I hope Brin's future plans include coming back to tie up some of those loose ends.

Having finally finished this trilogy, I feel like I have completed a marathon. Not that I've ever run a real marathon! LOL! Still, with the unrelenting onslaught of difficulties that every character seemed to be going through, always battling uphill against incredible odds. Facing implacable enemies. Managing one hair-breadth escape after another... it's nice to call this one done - at least for now.

Next up, I might have to try a nice post-apocalyptic story - just to lighten the mood! ;) show less

In Infinity's Shore, Brin continues the somewhat atypical story of the castaway races on Jijo from Brightness Reef, but also weaves in all the characters we know and love from his second Uplift book, Startide Rising. With this, of course, comes all of the galactic politics and intrigue that the readers have become accustomed to. This time, the main antagonists are a particularly alien alien race called the Jophur, who are composed of series of quasi-sentient rings merged into one being. It's fun following the supposedly unsophisticated Jijoans surprise the Jophur with their ingenuity, as well as how they learn about and interact with the Earthclan members from Startide Rising. In short, this is the classic David Brin space opera we're show more used to. My only big complaint is that Brin presents the reader with another non-ending ending, with it occurring pretty much in the middle of the action with very little resolved. Onto the next book, I guess... show less

As is usual for Brin's books, this book features well thought out science fiction concepts, and the engaging human/chimp/dolphin civilization of the Uplift universe. How the small fish get along in a very big galactic pond makes for an interesting story. The twist in this series is the mystery over the very nature of human intelligence - native or uplifted, and just who was the human patron, if they were uplifted?

Another good read. This second volume in David Brin's second Uplift trilogy is an epic tale that cleverly combines lots of unique characters and their individual stories and does well at giving a flavour of the various alien perspectives. The planet Jijo, which has been settled by six separate races despite a decree that it remain barren for a million years, is about to change. The exploration ship Streaker, on the run since discovering the secrets of a two-billion-year-old derelict fleet, has arrived with virtually the entire universe in pursuit. Overnight the peaceful, technologically backwards Jijoan society erupts into civil war, creating a chaotic tapestry of grief, sorrow, joy, love and, ultimately, hope.

More confusion, but still Brin and so it slips into 3-star category. His first Uplift trilogy is superior.

This is the second book in the trilogy and is an excellent read. David Brin has a knack for creating believable and interesting characters and worlds and in this series he has done a great job.

This book continues the story from Brightness Reef, and the familiar characters of Alvin, Huck, Pincer-Tip, Ur-ronn and others are now joined by the dolphins from the previous Uplift series. The tension builds as various schemes come together to try and outwit the Jophur who are threatening destruction for everyone and everything on Jijo.

I think it's a great book, easy to read and a good story. It's not a stand-alone book, obviously, and should really only be read after reading Brightness Reef and possibly the first Uplift trilogy as well.

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