#brightness reef

[snazzy-hats-and-adhd]

Snazzy, I am looking for books that aren't manga to add to my to read list (I just have a lot of Manga on it already XD)

Do you recommend Startide Rising by David Brin? I saw you talking about it on another post and I was wondering if you would Actually Recommend It or is it one of those "this piece of media impacted my life irrevocably and I wouldn't be who I am without it but I would never actually RECOMMEND IT to other people" kind of deals...

So, there are two things to know about Startide Rising. The first is that it is part of a series of two trilogies, and while it is technically the second book, the first trilogy are all kinda vaguely standalone books that just happen to be set in the same universe. The second trilogy are a lot more interconnected.

The second thing to know is that some of the "sci" is a little dated, particularly the psychology-flavoured bits. I didn't enjoy Sundiver (technically the first book, but I probably read it last) as much as I might otherwise have because of that, but if you are like me and you enjoy picking apart a piece of media in your head to see how it fits together then this is kind of a negligible complaint.

There are a LOT of aliens, almost all of them can probably be read as problematic if you're into that, and the whole series is built around a model of galactic society that, looking back, kinda reeks of infantilizing paternalism, and the books KNOW this. Half of all the action is politicking and subterfuge, and the other half is politicking and backstabbing. Also, whie it has been a Long Time since I read them, I remember the final book (Heaven's Reach) was kind of a fucking mind bender towards the end and I had to stop and marinate a couple times.

If you want a book to dump a dozen deeply compelling questions directly into your brain, it's great! Just be aware that it was written for people who enjoy giving their brain a workout.

If you want something that is a light, fun read, then these books are probably not it. For that i reccomend pretty much anything in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.

[anime-iac]

[geekynerfherder]

Cover art by Michael Whelan for the novel 'Brightness Reef', Book 1 of the 'Uplift Storm' trilogy by David Brin

[soursavior]

Brightness Reef by David Brin

Brightness Reef bills itself as "book one of a new Uplift Trilogy." This seems accurate so far. It's the story of a planet called Jijo which is going through a fallow cycle between habitations by galactic society. Fortunately for us, it is not the completely boring story of an empty planet doing nothing because seven groups of "sooners" have been cohabitating in one small region of the planet. The locals follow a religion based around the idea that if they can devolve out of sapience before they're found out their races will be adopted and re-uplifted instead of being slaughtered. As such, their society is pre-industrial. Things become more complicated when a ship of galactics arrives at the big annual gathering. 

The book follows several people: Three human siblings who've led very different lives, a teenage Hoon who goes by the name "Alvin," a Traeki stack collectively referred to as Asx, and a mysterious fellow with an extra hole in his head. Each one is interesting and contributes a piece to the story. This is Brin, so everything is more complicated than it appears. The ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger leading into the next book, Infinity's Shore.

Book rating: B

Cumulative series rating (including the original uplift trilogy): B+