The Uplift War

Shares a universe with the other books of the series, could stand alone. Describes life in an occupied land (world), and is somewhat better than the previous book. Still suffers from clunky descriptions and poor passages at times.

In its favor are stronger characters, especially Fiben. He and others are fully 3D, a welcome change from the previous book. Some of the clever technology used for tracking or attacking are also neat. Chief among the downsides are the pace - this book is slow. Took me a month and a half to finish it, as I would put it down and feel little compulsion to pick it up again.

Reviewing the series, the wide web of characters and plots is pretty interesting, and probably took a book to keep track of. Turns out one was published - [b:Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe|101888|Contacting Aliens An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe (The Uplift Saga)|David Brin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386923847s/101888.jpg|98229]. Three following books make up a new series, the Uplift Storm trilogy. I plan to catch up with some other books first, but will likely tackle at least the first of that series soon.

The last book of the original Uplift Trilogy, The Uplift War brings us to Garth; a planet almost destroyed by a model example of how the Galactic Uplift process can fail. Earthlings have been given a lease on the planet on the condition they do their best to resurrect the planet's ecosystem.

Unfortunately, the events of [b:Startide Rising|234501|Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2)|David Brin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476445711s/234501.jpg|251634] cause turmoil in the Five Galaxies, and the great clan of Gooksyu-Gubru decide to occupy the planet.

This is basically as far as the book is connected to the previous installment of the series; the spaceship Streaker is mentioned a few times in the book, but it's only a catalyst for the events, and the book is pretty much independent tale of Uplift and the conflict between Galactics and Earthlings.

Each book of the trilogy has focused on aspects of the Uplift, and they've done it partly through humans and their client species. The first book, Sundiver, had mostly human focus. Startide Rising was mostly about neo-dolphins, them having their first own spaceship and all. Now, in the Uplift War, it's time for our simian cousins; many of the main characters in the book are neo-chimps.

That doesn't mean they are running the show, though; as in two earlier books, Brin still gives the clients a father figure. This time it's Robert Oneagle, son of the Garth head honcho Megan Oneagle. He's not quite the generalist genius like Jacob Demwa or Tom Orley of previous books, but he's still a magnificent human being. Refreshingly, that generalist genius slot is taken by Athaclena, the daughter of Tymbrimi ambassador.

The Uplift War is a story about resistance to an occupying force, and as such, it's also a story about resourcefulness. More than that, though, it adds to Brin's universe by giving us more information about uplifting and Galactic politics. For the first time, we are also given a glimpse of the society of another Galactic race, as some of the chapters describe the happenings in Gubru empire.

Brin's world of Five Galaxies is a wonderful, inventive universe that I'd like to read plenty more of. This book, however, didn't quite match the expectations. It spends too much time clumsily describing relationships and personal ponderings, and too little on the bigger picture of even Garth, not to mention the galaxy.

The Uplift War is the longest book of the original trilogy. It isn't quite earned, though: I think it's also the one that would most benefit from losing some of its contents.