Sundiver
A journey into the fires of the sun... in search of those who made us human
by David Brin · first published 1980
39% recommend52% neutral9% critical
Why HN recommends it
Hard science fiction built on a sweeping, idea-driven premise about solar science and uplifted species. It is the opener of the Uplift series and serves as an entry point for readers of big ideas.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
No species has ever reached for the stars without the guidance of a patron - except perhaps mankind. Did some mysterious race begin the uplift of humanity aeons ago? Circling the sun, under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage in history - a journey into the boiling inferno of the sun.
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FYI David Brin explored this idea in the novel 'Sundiver' (1980)[1]. In the novel a laser is used to radiate heat out into space. This is the first book of the Uplift Trilogy. Incidentally, the second book, 'Startide Rising' is really great imo, and won…
on “Secretive fusion company claims reactor breakthrough” ↗Aye, actually Sundiver is my favorite of David's books. I think his writing is better in later books, but I enjoy the audacious technical ideas and the classic 'closed room mystery' plot. I met David earlier this year at the…
on “Secretive fusion company claims reactor breakthrough” ↗…life" was explored more in sci-fi. It's something that shows up every now and then, but rarely in any detail, or significant to the plot. For another example along these lines, there's David Brin's "Sundiver": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96472.Sundiver
on “The Truth, by Stanisław Lem (1964)” ↗…stories, esp. The Last Question, Nightfall. A.C. Clarke - 2001 - series, Childhood's End, The Fountains of Paradise The Little Prince, The Count of Monte Cristo, Catch-22, Siddhartha, Ender's Game, Sundiver, Wodehouse.
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗all of the anger over instagram seems to come from zero-sum thinking. I liked one of the touches of David Brin's novel Sundiver, where people who think in terms of zero or negative sum games are deemed insane.
on “Instagram” ↗The Uplift War - David Brin I had enjoyed Sundiver and Startide Rising from the same series quite a bit, but I have to be honest, this one is trying my patience. I like the whole uplift concept, but I'm finding the writing in this one a bit clumsy.
on “Ask HN: What books are you currently reading?” ↗Then let me drop a reference to Sundiver by David Brin, which is the start of the uplift cycle. The elevator is by far the least interesting idea of these novels which center about a future where we have uplifted (given sapience) monkeys and…
on “Japan starts space elevator experiments” ↗I binged "Sundiver" and "Startide Rising" over the last two weeks, and currently I'm well into "The Uplift War", and planning to continue on with the remaining three books. I love the universe so far. Fun fact, in "The…
on “What are some things that only someone who has been programming 20 years knows?” ↗Sundiver is a recommended read in that regard ;)
on “What If Life Did Not Originate on Earth?” ↗Sundiver! Holy shit David Brin was right?
on “LED's Efficiency Exceeds 100% (2012)” ↗The SciFi novel "Sundiver" by David Brin is based around using a laser to dissipate heat from a manned spacecraft. Sadly thermodynamics mean it wouldn't work in reality. http://www.davidbrin.com/sundiver.html
on “AWS Ground Station – Ingest and Process Data from Orbiting Satellites” ↗…transports or projects it so that the heat ends up somewhere not-Earth. It'd still be heating the universe in general, of course, even in the form of sprays of neutrinos. That reminds me of a sci-fi book, Sundiver by David Brin, where a ship is exploring the sun by firing a "refrigerator laser" to somehow pump-away excess heat and balance on the thrust.
on “Satellites reveal heat leaking from largest US cryptocurrency mining center” ↗…potential for hostility. Also, our record with regards to polluting our own environment doesn't recommend us highly as "good citizens of the galaxy." (This was brought up as a possibility in David Brin's Sundiver series.) And this isn't even considering the vast differences in culture and even basic mental models there will likely be. It's far from a sure bet that this openness will extend to us. Also, one can…
on “Where are they? Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing.” ↗Can you recall any of Brin's ideas on the subject? (It's funny since I just started reading Sundiver the other day!)
on “The Internet is a public commons erected on private property” ↗David Brin's Uplift series had mechanised lifeforms "floating" on the sun to collect matter, and IIRC Sundiver has life forms floating in the chromosphere.
on “Electronics robust enough for Venus” ↗