Does Uplift by David Brin improve?

[Ethics_gradient]

I’m just about to finish Sundiver and I’m staggered and annoyed at how poor it is.

The ideas are compelling enough and the pace is good, but the characters are ridiculous and it reads like a first draft. Contradictory sequences of sentences, atrocious grammar, random upper casing, MISSING full stops and exclamation points everywhere.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this for a decade.As far as the first book goes, I’ve been mislead.

Are the next two books better? I desperately want them to be.

 

[Droflet]

Yeah, it's sluggish, all right. Next, try Startide Rising. IMHO, it's his best book and a ripping yarn.

 

[Ethics_gradient]

My brother

Yeah, it's sluggish, all right. Next, try Startide Rising. IMHO, it's his best book and a ripping yarn.

My brother bought me the first three book omnibus for my birthday so I intend to. I just hope the grammar is better at the very least. I’m getting to the age where I resent spending time on bad books.

 

[BAYLOR]

My brother


My brother bought me the first three book omnibus for my birthday so I intend to. I just hope the grammar is better at the very least. I’m getting to the age where I resent spending time on bad books.

The series does get better as it progresses.

 

[tobl]

The series does get better as it progresses.

actually... no , it doesn't. his a nice series but nothing remarkable

 

[BAYLOR]

actually... no , it doesn't. his a nice series but nothing remarkable

He also did additional uplift stories and novels beyond the original 3.

 

[pogopossum]

Mmm. Disagree. Get a trifle schmaltzy but they, vols. two and three of the series, are both idea and character driven.
And along with Vernor Vinge's slightly later stuff, my favorites of the period.
And it's easy to be cynical about the Hugos, but each received the Hugo and Locus novel of the year award.


The later Uplift books, the Uplift Storm Trilogy, are okay but a little bogged down and wordy with very slow exposition.

 

[BAYLOR]

Mmm. Disagree. Get a trifle schmaltzy but they, vols. two and three of the series, are both idea and character driven.
And along with Vernor Vinge's slightly later stuff, my favorites of the period.
And it's easy to be cynical about the Hugos, but each received the Hugo and Locus novel of the year award.


The later Uplift books, the Uplift Storm Trilogy, are okay but a little bogged down and wordy with very slow exposition.

it's an interesting universe that David Brin has created.

 

[tinkerdan]

It's been a while, and I don't have David on the top of my to read list. I figure that's just me, though.
Some times a reader is just not a good fit with an author.
As far as the problems you note the only I might agree on is the characterizations feeling a bit off sometimes.
Aside from that the real problem I had with his stuff was that sometimes he veered away from where I thought he was going with some of his things.

I do recall that those books went just a bit slow for me.

Again, it's been a while. And I haven't read much more beyond the postman.

However I believe he did Foundation Triumph and I totally enjoyed all of those 2nd foundation books that were written by various authors.
That may have actually been the first of his novels I read.

 

[Droflet]

Apart from Startide Rising, I've never been much of a Brin fan. He has a healthy following so each to their own, I suppose.

 

[BigBadBob141]

Never read Sundiver but Startide Rising and The Uplift War are both pretty good!
I like the fact that one of the main characters in the latter is an uplifted chimp.
There is also a second trilogy which carries on I think from the first, but I've not read any of these yet.

 

[Stenevor]

I've read all 6. Sundiver Isn't really representative of the series, it's very small scale and in large part a whodunnit. I didn't enjoy it and delayed carrying on with the series for quite a few years untill I had nothing else handy. When I did, It definitely improved and I enjoyed reading it, it's all on a much bigger scale and more of a Space Opera with some pretty good world building, aliens and uplifted chimps/dolphins. That being said it's far from the best space opera i've read and if there was an addition to the series I probably would't bother with it. I couldn't tell you a great deal about any of the characters, from memory I think there was a lack of continuity of cast between one book and the next which I found disappointing.

 

[Ethics_gradient]

Great news. A couple of chapters in to the second book and it’s as though a different writer is behind it - or, as I suspect, a much stricter editor. The writing is still weirdly passive in places but the commas are under control and I’ve not come across any exclamation marks yet. Much better than that, though - the characters aren’t as... childish? This is much more enjoyable stuff.