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A review by adamgeorgandis
Sundiver by David Brin
3.0
When I finished John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society, I decided to read a number of short novels before re-reading Connie Willis's Doomsday Book for an upcoming book club meeting. My first choice was a classic and a personal favorite, Clifford Simak's Way Station, a book I greatly enjoy every time I read it. When I finished Way Station, I browsed my Kobo library, looking for another relatively short novel. I found David Brin's Sundiver, the first of six novels set in the author's Uplift Universe.
I had some previous familiarity with Brin's work. Several years ago, his The Postman was the second book I read as part of my primary book club. I enjoyed The Postman quite a bit, and I looked forward to sampling Brin's Uplift novels at some point in the future.
I am sorry to say I did not enjoy Sundiver very much at all. I found the book cumbersome, at best - and often much worse. The concept of Uplift is fascinating to me, and I suspect Brin uses it to greater effect in later novels. In Sundiver, though, the concept is hampered by an uninteresting cast of characters, and by a plot cluttered with too many moving parts. To me, Sundiver seemed like just what it is: a first novel. I will keep the Uplift Universe in mind - I purchased a copies of Startide Rising and The Uplift War as recent Kobo Daily Deals - but I suspect it will be a while before I give Brin's work another try.
One additional note: the Kobo edition of Sundiver is riddled with typographical errors - in spite of the fact that the edition is described as "a freshly revised re-issue." As I have written in other reviews, I find this kind of sloppiness unacceptable.
I had some previous familiarity with Brin's work. Several years ago, his The Postman was the second book I read as part of my primary book club. I enjoyed The Postman quite a bit, and I looked forward to sampling Brin's Uplift novels at some point in the future.
I am sorry to say I did not enjoy Sundiver very much at all. I found the book cumbersome, at best - and often much worse. The concept of Uplift is fascinating to me, and I suspect Brin uses it to greater effect in later novels. In Sundiver, though, the concept is hampered by an uninteresting cast of characters, and by a plot cluttered with too many moving parts. To me, Sundiver seemed like just what it is: a first novel. I will keep the Uplift Universe in mind - I purchased a copies of Startide Rising and The Uplift War as recent Kobo Daily Deals - but I suspect it will be a while before I give Brin's work another try.
One additional note: the Kobo edition of Sundiver is riddled with typographical errors - in spite of the fact that the edition is described as "a freshly revised re-issue." As I have written in other reviews, I find this kind of sloppiness unacceptable.