Sundiver (The Uplift Saga, Book 1)

by David Brin

1985

Status

Checked out

Publication

Spectra (1985), 352 pages

Description

Mankind encounters conflicts among the inhabitants of the universe, as brave individuals prepare to journey into the boiling inferno of the sun.

User reviews

LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is the first book in the The Uplift War series. It took me a while to get into this book. The characters, particularly the protagonist and main point of view character, Jacob Demwa, are likeable. I liked his love interest, Helene De Silva, too. But I can't say Brin's characters strike me as
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complex or memorable. The style is readable, but somewhat clunky. Brin is notably far too fond of the exclamation point among other things.

Two things rather won me over though and made this novel stick out in my mind. First, its take on human/alien relations is unusual. As this novel starts, humans had made first contact with a galaxy-spanning civilization whose previous space-going cultures had all undergone "uplift" from sponsoring older species, creating a patron/client relationship between species. Humans however, seem to be an exception of evolved intelligence. They therefore have no patron--but there are species very advanced technologically that would love to have them "adopted." This has had several affects on both internal and interstellar politics. Demwa, a Cherokee descendant, poignantly compares Earth's dilemma to what faced Amerindians when confronted with European settlers. How much can you, should you adapt of another, more technologically advanced culture to survive, without becoming dependent or losing who you are?

Besides this backdrop, this novel has the old-fashioned hard science-fiction pleasures of a novel of the Golden Age by an Asimov or Heinlein that revels in the wonders of astronomy. Much of the book deals with exploration of the sun and the riddle of Solarians--whether there is intelligent life on the sun and their possible relevance to human origins.

Add to this a murder mystery and elements of romance and it made for an entertaining story. I finished the novel intrigued enough to try the next book in the series someday, even if not motivated to immediately grab a copy.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
The ship swooped through the turbulent chromospheric crosswinds, tacking on the plasma forces by subtle shifts in its own magnetic shields ... sailing with sheets made of almost corporeal mathematics. Lightning fast furling and thickening of those shields of force -- allowing the tug of the
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conflicting eddies to be felt in one direction and not another -- helped to cut down the buffeting dealt out by the storm.
Those same shields kept out most of the screaming heat, diverting the rest into tolerable forms. What got through was sucked up into a chamber to drive the Refrigerator Laser, the kidney whose filtered wasteflow was a stream of x-rays which clove aside even the plasma in its path.
Still, these were mere inventions of Earthmen. It was the science of the Galactics that made the Sunship graceful and safe. Gravity fields held back the amorous, crushing pull of the Sun so the ship fell or flew at will. The pounding forces of the center of the filament were absorbed or neutralized, and duration itself was altered by time-compression.

Sundiver is set less than thirty-five years after First Contact with the Galactic Civilisation. Virtually all space-faring species were uplifted into sapience by a patron race, so humanity's lack of a patron race is unusual and their status is increased by having two client species of their own, having recently uplifted chimpanzees and bottlenose dolphins, and not everybody in the galaxy is happy about that. There are two groups of humans who have very strong opinions on the subject; the Skins, who believe that humanity uplifted itself through evolution, and the Shirts who are certain that we were uplifted by an alien race and then abandoned by them.

This book is basically a detective story. Jacob Alvarez is invited to pin the Mercury-based Sundiver project because the crews of the expeditions ships have started seeing strange things on their trips into the sun's chromosphere, ghostly figures that seem to be herds guarded by shepherd who sometimes transform themselves into humanoid shape and seem to be trying to communicate. Are these sun creatures real, and if so, could these sun creatures be humanity's lost patrons? It's a good mystery story, and I liked the aliens, especially Kant Fagin and Bubbacub, but the human characters were less so. Still, I am looking forward tot he rest of the series.
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LibraryThing member Isamoor
Jul10:

Plot: Patchy as shit. Backstory missing and not in a graceful way. The lead guy might as well be superman.

Characters: I liked the plant. Other than that they were all annoying. The lead just didn't have the depth needed. Despite the mental shock.

Style: Old school SciFi. Mostly science with a
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little story. Not too damn dry at least. It was acceptable.
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LibraryThing member DirtPriest
This is the first of six highly acclaimed books in the Uplift series that I have been looking forward to reading for years but could never find this volume. I bought it online so here goes. It starts after humans have genetically engineered both dolphins and chimpanzees into human level
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intelligences and added speech mechanisms. That makes man unique in the galaxy as sentience is bestowed by a patron species on a client species, hence the term Uplift. Man is the only species to have achieved entry into the galactic civilization without the aid of a patron and are elevated in this society by virtue of their two client species. This causes instant resentment from older races that foreshadows conflict in future books. In Sundiver, the bulk of the story takes place on Sundiving ships that are exploring the sun and discover a form of life that lives in the photosphere. A Hercule Poirot style mystery erupts when Bubbacub, a Pila alien, is caught manipulating events involving these sun beings, and hijinks ensue. There is no record in the immense galactic Library of life like these beings in the sun, fueling speculation that these are either the Patrons of mankind, or perhaps the original Progenitors that founded the galactic cultures billions of years ago. The series revolves around the search for these entities and the other races jealousy and hatred of humans and their clients, the dolphins and chimps. The writing is pretty clear, but there are a few fuzzy areas here and there. I don't have a problem with this, as the story continues on, but it's not perfect. The science is definitely emphasized and is in itself pretty interesting. You figure out a way to build a spaceship capable of entering the sun without sounding like a moron! I am a ways into book two, Startide Rising. It is much more dense and significantly longer. My early opinion is that it is hard to remember the characters as they are almost all dolphins with goofy names (Creideiki, K'tha-Jon, Keepiru, Tsh't, and about twenty more of two rival species of dolphin) and that they are pretty fortunate to have found an ocean world to hide on while they repair their ship. Several fleets duke it out in space for the right to capture them for information on a billions-year-old derelict fleet that they discovered way above the galactic plane, itself a freakish coincidence. More later.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
I don’t think I fully “got” this book. The premise is an intriguing one. It is the far future, and mankind has made contact with aliens. Every other species in the known universe, going back to the original Progenitors (who have since departed for some other plane), was “uplifted” by an
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older species into sentience, and then given access to the collective technology and knowledge via a central Library. Mankind is the only space-going species that was not uplifted, or the process was started and then abandoned by some unknown alien race, a matter of debate. Man has started uplifting other species on Earth, namely chimpanzees and dolphins, and so are accepted into the galactic community.

This is all background. The story begins when Jacob Demwa, who is working with a sentient dolphin, is asked by an alien emissary to join a mission to explore the chromosphere of the Sun. Using a specially designed ship called Sundiver, the explorers have discovered at least two previously unknown species of intelligent aliens living within the chromosphere, and they want Jacob to help communicate with them. Also aboard the ship are representatives of three alien species and a scientist who will attempt telepathic communication.

The main plot is a convoluted mystery, which I had some trouble following. But more confusing, at least to me, was Jacob’s character, which seems to be split into a dual personality over which he has some, but not total, control. This happened after a pivotal event in Jacob’s past, when his wife died and he did something heroic involving saving one of Earth’s space elevators, a story Jacob keeps promising to tell but never really does. I began to wonder whether this novel was actually a sequel and I had missed the earlier installment, although I know this is the first part of a trilogy. This slipperiness kept me from fully engaging with the story and following its twists and turns. Although I appreciated the novelty of the Mercury setting and the sun ship, I just didn’t make an emotional connection with what was going on. I’m not sure I’ll continue the series.

UPDATE: I just discovered that the second part, STARTIDE RISING, does not have any of the characters from SUNDIVER, and it seems to be a much more highly regarded book. I probably will give it a whirl after all, since it’s already sitting on my shelf.
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LibraryThing member KevlarRelic
The latest in my Sci-Fi binge, this book pleasantly surprised me by starting in the middle of the action, much like a good short story would, and skipping all the standard world building (WHOOSH! Our spaceships fly FAST!) and character building (Though humble, turns out our hero is the best at
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EVERYTHING!) stuff in favor of letting it all come up naturally.

Unfortunately the plot wasn't that compelling for most of the book. It only seemed to gain momentum near the end, but was marred thereabouts by a pretty deus-ex-machina-y finale.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. I heard that the sequels blow this one out of the water; I look forward to reading them.
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LibraryThing member raynim
The book was interesting in its speculation on a venture to the sun. However in the end I felt that the book offered little more than a mystery reminiscent of scooby doo. This was my first novel by Brin and based on what I have heard one of his early and weaker attempts, so i hope for more in his
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later novels.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
First of the Uplift sextet. Introducing the readers to the turbulent times of the five linked galaxies. Earth is just about recognised as a civilised place having already genetically enhanced some of its natural species to helpful levels. But aliens in the galaxy have been exploring of 10000s of
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years before man even arose on the Savanah and are not inclined to civility bound by codes of conduct millenia old. Human investigations old technologies new to mankind don't bring any favours and when some "new" is discovered politics starts again.

An interesting concept in a novel universe.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
Not as cool as _The Postman_. Dry, 2 dimensional characters, dated writing, decent plot but not all that exciting. Confusing at first.
LibraryThing member novawalsh
Not that great, characters not built well, confusing hard to finish
LibraryThing member wfzimmerman
A treasured first edition of a perfect novel debut by David Brin.
LibraryThing member faganjc
I probably would have liked this better if I'd read it in 1980. Also the unique things about it, I'd experienced in Startide Rising, which is much superior, and so they weren't new or as interesting to me. Yukky mel-fem relationship (gag).
LibraryThing member Karlstar
This isn't so much the first book of the Uplift series, as it is somewhat of a prequel. The humans and other inhabitants of Earth, including chimps that the humans have given enhanced intelligence, have just been 'discovered' by alien races. While on an expedition to explore the sun in person, a
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group of humans must deal with aliens on board, and survive an alien plot to keep the humans confined to Earth, meanwhile making discoveries about the Sun.
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LibraryThing member ScoLgo
★★★-1/2

Good hard science fiction that, at it's core, is really a closed-room murder mystery. Agatha Christie in space, if you will. Along with our intrepid yet reluctant sleuth, Jacob Demwa, we have the typical cast of characters and the usual suspects, (comprised of humans, aliens, and an
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'uplifted' neo-human chimpanzee). Brin throws a few very effective red herrings into the mix and, by the time the dust settles, our culprit turns out to be someone I didn't suspect. Well done, Mr. Brin!

This would have been a solid 4-star read for me if the initial 35% or so had not been spent on setup and exposition. Lots of hard science about how the sun works and about the galactic community that humanity has recently joined made it difficult for me to lose myself in the story. BUT... once that is out of the way, and the diving into the sun stuff begins, things really start to pick up as we thunder toward a bang-up of a finale. I expect all that setup will also provide a thorough background picture for continuing with the rest of the 'Uplift' books - which I intend to do right away. Next up: Startide Rising!
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LibraryThing member wishanem
"Sundiver" has made me resolve not to read any more Science Fiction that is older than I am. It has charming elements: a voyage to the sun, vivid descriptions of plausible scientific advancements, and a clever whodunnit murder mystery. While the physics and engineering of the sunship are well
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described the 1980 imagining of other future tech is amusingly quaint. For instance, there is nothing resembling a cell phones in this future world, and wireless computers in general are absent. I could have loved this book, if not for the characters. The main character is a scientific researcher who has worked on raising chimpanzees and dolphins to human intelligence. He is also a tall, dark, handsome, incredibly fit, combat-ready, crack shot, pickpocket, detective. When the love of his life died tragically he sealed away the adventerous troublemaking side of himself, but the dark side of his split personality soon becomes his only hope of solving the mystery. The cliche is a bit painful.

Then there's the beatiful young ship captain who flirts with the protagonist, and what do you know later on she breaks down crying into Mr. Protagonist's shoulder and she just wants to have his babies. I disapproved strongly of this character, and I thought her relationship with the protagonist was unjustified, uninteresting, and gratuitious.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless they're specifically interested in the history and development of the Sci-Fi genre.
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LibraryThing member robsack
This must be my fourth or fifth reading of Sundiver, working my way through the Uplift saga again. It's still good, but IMHO Brin's writing improves significantly throughout the series, making this the weakest link in the chain.
LibraryThing member stefferoo
This was a recommendation from my husband, who read these books (The Uplift Saga) when he was younger and loved them. For a science fiction novel that was written and published before I was born, I have to say it has aged very well; this could have been written today. The technology and the science
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described is excellent, which was why my husband figured I would like this in the first place.

It was also an unexpected pleasure to discover as I was reading that Sundiver turned out to be a pretty decent whodunnit mystery, and the perpetrator behind it all would surprise you.
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LibraryThing member Nodosaurus
David Brin has a degree in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in space science from UCSD. He writes hard science fiction, and has won 2 Hugos (Startide Rising 1984, The Uplift War 1987) and 1 Nebula award (Startide Rising). Half of his books are part of the Uplift
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series, for which he is famous.

Sundiver is the first in the Uplift series. It introduces us to the concept of the uplift, which is where a senior species with space travel selects a primitive race. Then through training and genetics, helps that species advance to the point of space travel. That species then owes service to the senior.

In Sundiver, the self-uplifting humans work with a team of aliens to dive into the Sun to explore a new sentient species unknown to the galaxy. The first dive ended in disaster, and a subsequent trip has problems that suggest sabotage. The story has intrigue and borders on being a mystery, except that the reader does not have sufficient backstory information to attempt a solution and must follow the story line.

The book sets up some interesting politics and potential for further stories, evidenced by the large number of books in the series. We are introduced to a new Earth with restrictions on travel, some odd cultural subgroups, and alien zones. Since humanity is self-uplifted, there is some resentment among other species who owe debts for having space travel and being part of a galactic community. We only experience a few aliens, they are unique and well thought out.

I had difficulty understanding the main character, Jacob Demwa. His character was not well defined for me, maybe I missed something. The book opened with him working with some sentient dolphins, when he was invited to join an expedition to study the solar chromosphere. It wasn't clear why this character was important to the project. In spite of this weakness, the story is well told, the technology is interesting, and the pace is very good.
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LibraryThing member Hegemellman
In my state of breakfast-taco deprivation I am having a hard time putting my thoughts together coherently about this book. It is a book that is all about setting written by a man who clearly loves the setting and knows the science. However, when I say it was all about the setting I don't mean the
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plot wasn't fun, what I mean is it has about as much plot as a TV episode spread out over three hundred pages of gorgeous descriptions of what it would be like to go into the sun and what creatures we might find there. There were twists that I didn't see coming (and some that I did), characters that I found interesting, and an introduction to galactic politics that I am eager to see play out in the next books in the series.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
An interesting story with an interesting view of the human race.

Humans are rare in the universe because they weren't uplifted by another race. Now that we've made contact other races aren't sure how to take the humans and many human's aren't sure how to take the aliens, down to being downright
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distrustful.
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LibraryThing member nwdavies
Took me a while to get round to it but I've finally read the first of the Uplift novels and it was very very good. Classic science fiction of the type I've always liked but struggle to find these days (except by re-reading old Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, Dick etc.). It was also my first novel by
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David Brin so I will be searching out more of his books, both Uplift novels and others.
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LibraryThing member clong
This is a reasonably entertaining book, but not really in the league of the much more ambitious Startide Rising and The Uplift War.

The story is fairly simple, a sort of "whodonit?" set around a space program that appears to have made contact with energy beings who live in and around the sun. The
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story builds to a fairly early false climax, but then quickly begins rebuilding tension as it moves towards a second big suspenseful climax. The best things about the book are some of the very intriguing technology concepts that make it possible to explore the sun (some of these are human developed; some are gifts from the intergalactic Library that plays a key role in the dissemination of knowledge in Brin's Uplift universe).

I had enjoyed the character development in Startide Rising and The Uplift War, especially of the nonhuman characters (neochimps, neodolphins, and aliens). The characterization in Sundiver left me disappointed. The protagonist was neither sympathetic nor particularly convincing (the whole pseudo suppressed split personality thing just seemed silly to me). And the three important alien characters were interesting as excercises in alien design, but as key players in the story they left me unconvinced.
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LibraryThing member DanJlaf
Always fun to dive back in and re-read a good book...the one that started Brins Uplift war saga
LibraryThing member longhorndaniel
Wonderful look at the possibilities of the types of beings and intelligence that could really be out there as well as looking at the reasons for both creating and not creating intelligence "into" other species; excellent series; makes you really care about the characters as well as the future of
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all (well mostly all) these possible beings.
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LibraryThing member Phrim
Sundiver is a mystery novel in a science fiction universe in which humans have made contact with a galactic civilization consisting of many races, and are trying to find a place for themselves despite the aliens mostly considering them to be barbarous upstarts. The broad setting of the novel is
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very intriguing--there's lots of political interplay between the humans and aliens, between different factions of humans, and even between different alien races. However, I found the character and plotting of the book to be a bit lacking. The main character is a terrestrial biologist whose credentials wouldn't seem to merit the carte blanche he receives when unexpectedly invited on an expedition to study life inhabiting the sun. Good thing he is actually a super-sleuth with split personalities that can give him access to superhuman strength--it was a bit much. I also had trouble following the plotline of the second conspiracy, as the author spent more time on action than exposition. Despite this, the book was enjoyable enough, and I look forward to Brin's other works in the same universe.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1980

Physical description

352 p.; 4.15 inches

ISBN

0553269828 / 9780553269826

Barcode

1600910
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