Product Description

Circling the Sun, under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage in our history. A journey into the boiling inferno of the sun, to seek our destiny in the cosmic order of life. For in a universe in which no species can reach sentience without being 'uplifted' by a patron race, it seems that only mankind has reached for the stars unaided. And now, the greatest mystery of all may be explained...Sundiver is the firs book in David Brin's magnificent Uplift series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47587 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 340 pages

Review
'The Uplift books are as compulsive reading as anything ever published in the genre.' John Clute, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION 'His best stories surge forward with tremendous energy, each one avid to find some extrapolated consequence of its premise which will startle and challenge the reader.' INTERZONE

About the Author
David Brin is the Hugo and Nebula award winning author of 12 books, possesses a doctorate in astrophysics and has served as a consultant for NASA. He lives in California.

Customer Reviews

First in the epic Uplift series. Good setting but weak plot.
The Uplift series kicks off with Sun Diver which introduces Brin's Uplift universe. Uplift refers to a process where a patron race nurtures intelligence in another race to help it reach sentience. In return, the uplifted race must serve the patrons for some considerable time before it's allowed independence and participation in patronage. Mankind, only recently "discovered" by the alien races, seems to be lacking a patron, without which sentience is deemed unachievable. The "natural" development of the human intellect is considered by some races as heresy, whereas others step to defend humans and sponsor their entry into the federation. Sun Diver deals with the intrigues surrounding this situation, which is complicated even further by the existing uplift process of dolphins and chimps, that humans initiated before any alien contact. The plot centers on human expedition into the Sun's corona, where signs of possible sentient life have been found, thus adding another twist in the tail. The expedition was made possible by rapid adoption of alien technology, and indeed, there are alien observers on board of Sun Diver, the probe that becomes the stage on which the tensions between the races are given its release.

A Phenomenal Read - Try this book
Sundiver is the best book I've read in the last 10 years.

If the premise of the book is at all interesting, I recommend trying the book.

This is my favourite book in recent memory because of the individual quality and interplay of many factors.

First, David Brin creates a very interesting story with entertaining and plausible twists.

Second, the universe David Brin creates is a complex, dense, and consistent society that is intriguing even for well read SF readers, yet this context does not supercede or overwhelm the story.

Third, Brin manages to to develop likeable (and detestable), full and rounded characters unlike almost all SF writers.

Fourth, the book effectively can be read as commentary on scientific development and cultural evolution, which is interesting in its content and expertly expressed in the detailed exposition. (I must admit I generally care nothing for this stuff, bur Brin does it so well, I became intered in it for this series. Also, this side of things only interested me after I had fully enjoyed what a great story it is with great characters in such a weird universe)

Fifth, the interplay of the above as well as Brin's creative approach give the book an overall richness and depth that is reminiscent of the best works of Tolstoy, Doestoyevsky, and Solzhenitsyn.

So far, I have only read the first three books in the series, since the books are so good that I want to space them out for as long as possible though I'm always very eager to read the next book.

I hope you enjoy these books as well. They are a very fun read.

INTRODUCTION TO UPLIFT
I have read the first three books of the UPLIFT Series so far. This book made me to read the other two. I was hoping to continue with the same characters but what i met was nearly totally different and much more better than the first book in the next two books of the series. YET, to understand the next books you need to read this. It is like "Introduction to UPLIFT THEORY" or "Elemantary UPLIFT THEORY". It is a prerequisite for the others.