David Brin

[biodroid]

Anyone read him? Looks quite interesting...

 

[UltraCulture]

Quite enjoyed his Uplift series.

 

[DeepThought]

I read The Postman; a pretty decent Post-Apocalyptic story (won a few awards too..). There was also a Hollywood movie based on this
starring Kevin Costner which IMHO was a butchery of Brin's novel. Also overlook the title (it leaves much to be desired) but the story itself as I've said before is very engaging and good SF.

Cheers, DeepThought

 

[Taltos]

Have read both uplift trilogies - although the second one is actually one story in three books AND the first trilogy is much better. Still enjoyable reading. And as DeepThought wrote The Postman is actually much better book, than the movie would let you think.

 

[Werthead]

Excellent SF author, and I'm quite disappointed that it's been so long without a novel from him. I think he's gotten back into actual science work, which has massively delayed his next book (Kil'n Time) and the new Uplift series which has occasionally been hinted at.

Of his books I've read:

Heart of the Comet
A collaboration with Gregory Benford. Actually extremely dull and I never finished it. The weakest of Brin's works I've read.

Glory Season
Very enjoyable, fantasy-tinged SF novel set on a female-dominated planet. Addresses gender issues in an intriguing manner.

The Postman
Excellent post-apocalyptic SF. The movie is a horrible butchering of the book which leaves out most of the good stuff and invents a ton of stuff (such as the awful bad guy) that is really inappropriate to the story.

The River of Time
Excellent short story collection. Contains his superb short story about WWII which is disrupted by the intervention of the Norse gods (!), which has spawned a spin-off comic book series.

Sundiver
The first Uplift novel, although it has next to nothing to do with the other five books in the series. Rather dull, but readable. You can skip it, though, and plunge into the series with the next book if necessary.

Startide Rising
Absolutely vintage, classic space opera. Possibly his best book and the start of the storyline that runs through the other Uplift novels.

The Uplift War
Or maybe this one is. One of the rare books to win both the Hugo and the Nebula when it was released. It is a stand-alone, but uses the events of Startide Rising as a backdrop and does set up important storyline elements for the later novels as well.

Brightness Reef
Another stand-alone and the opening part of the Uplift Storm Trilogy. However, the ending propels the storyline into the much bigger Uplift universe.

Infinity's Shore
Takes the new characters, races and situations unleashed in the previous novel and mixes them in with the greater Uplift universe, to excellent effect.

Heaven's Reach
Basically events reach a head, Brin kills more people in a few seconds than I think I have ever seen in a novel before, and the second arc of the Uplift storyline ends. There is still a ton of unanswered questions though, which is why Brin saying a few years back that a new Uplift series was on the cards was such great news.

Still to read: Earth, Otherness, Kil'n People.

 

[Ice fyre]

Read the uplift series a few years ago, thourghly enjoyed it, havnt really got around to his other work yet have see the female orientated world one but never picked it up looks good though.

Another uplift series? any word on this? Where did you hear about a new series! Hope its as good as the first two.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I read the Uplift series, very enjoyable. Glory Season was my favorite, but it's more my kind of thing. More new-wave than his other work.

 

[Omphalos]

Ive read a few of the Uplift books, and The Postman. Nothing really moved me at all, though the stories were good. He is a competent writer, and he obviously has a pretty big vision. And although I have heard people call Startide Rising a masterpiece, I personally dont think that he has produced one.

 

[chrispenycate]

Loved the first Uplift trilogy, less convinced about the second. "The practice effect" is a bit of silly fun, but I liked "Heart of the comet". Didn't think much of his "Foundation" volume, but my absolute favourite of his is "Earth". So probably not many others will like it.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Yes, the first Uplift trilogy was more fun. The second had too much science and not enough fiction in my opinion. Or least a poor balance of vision and story. I'm not sure, but something fundamental held it back.

I have been meaning to read Earth, somehow I never got around to checking it out. I'll have to do so.

 

[clovis-man]

I've read most of his output and have enjoyed it highly. I admit to finding The Practice Effect sophomoric and was surprisingly disappointed with Kiln People. But I've been more than satisfied with his vision and storytelling in everything else.

I do have a copy of Earth that I haven't started yet. Not sure why.

 

[littlemissattitude]

Loved the first Uplift trilogy, less convinced about the second. "The practice effect" is a bit of silly fun, but I liked "Heart of the comet". Didn't think much of his "Foundation" volume, but my absolute favourite of his is "Earth". So probably not many others will like it.

I've read Earth a couple of times. Need to read it again; it's been a couple of years since I last read it.

So, see, Chris...I liked it.

 

[Razorback]

I’ve read and enjoyed the first Uplift trilogy. I’ve also read Heart of the Comet (written with Benford). Unlike Werthead, I liked it. I have the second Uplift trilogy books and his Foundation book in my TBR-pile, but I haven’t gotten around to them yet.

 

[Pyan]

I rather enjoyed The Practice Effect...interesting idea, and quite funny in places...

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I rather enjoyed The Practice Effect...interesting idea, and quite funny in places...

Same here...in fact, it's the only one by him I still have on my shelf.

I keep hearing good things about the Uplift series though, so I suppose I ought to start that sometime.

 

[quidscribis]

I've enjoyed everything of his that I've read, which is about 75% of what he's written.