The Uplift War
by David Brin · first published 1987
67% recommend22% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
Science fiction in the Uplift series, enjoyable and full of new ideas about augmenting animal intelligence. It is paired with Startide Rising as one of the series' best entries.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
David Brin's Uplift novels are among the most thrilling and extraordinary science fiction ever written. Sundiver, Startide Rising, and The Uplift War--a New York Times bestseller--together make up one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Brin's tales are set in a future universe in which no species can reach sentience without being "uplifted" by a patron race. But the greatest mystery of all remains unsolved: who uplifted humankind?As galactic armadas clash in quest of the ancient fleet of the Progenitors, a brutal alien race seizes the dying planet of Garth. The various uplifted inhabit
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…Deepness in the Sky and (prequel) A Fire Upon the Deep. For Brin, the second and third books of his Uplift Trilogy, adding also the first for context. The second and third are Startide Rising and The Uplift War. Also, his book Earth, which stands alone. P.S. Gibson and Stephenson. Gibson's Neuromancer and the two subsequent; after that, I couldn't continue (so, another "Card-esque" experience?). Also Gibson's…
on “R.I.P. Ray Bradbury, Author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles ” ↗I'd like to recommend "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War", by David Brin. Aside from being very enjoyable books, they're a big source of new ideas -- these books singlehandedly made me appreciate the goals of the Internet Archive. Also, I've never understood…
on “Grok This: Forget The Business Books, Go Sci-Fi To Stoke Your Imagination” ↗…people who colonized the American west.) Okay, that long parenthetical note aside, perhaps you would like David Brin's Uplift Saga series. I didn't like Sundiver that much, but "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" have elements which feel like Dune and the Foundation series. For more modern SF, you may be interested in Ian M. Banks' Culture series. That isn't much like Dune or Foundation, but it is well-written,…
on “How Isaac Asimov shaped robotics and space exploration and predicted the Internet” ↗It's a great series of books by David Brin The Uplift War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uplift_War
on “Apple Completes Migration of Key Service to Swift, Gains 40% Performance Uplift” ↗…explore the idea of "uplift", where humans learn how to augment intelligence in certain animals (dolphins, chimps, and gorillas) and then get busy doing so. In my opinion, "Startide Rising" and "the Uplift War" are the best books in the series.
on “NASA Confirms Its First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star” ↗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 Uplift War" (1987!) I found what looks like a reference to cryptocurrencies: "The money inside…
on “What are some things that only someone who has been programming 20 years knows?” ↗David Brin's series the "Uplift War" had a backdrop to human's raising the intelligence of a number of Earth origin animals. How I wish he had the human society uplift the Octopus instead of the expected mammals.
on “Dolphins' elaborate octopus-hunting strategy” ↗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…
on “Ask HN: What books are you currently reading?” ↗David Brin's "Uplift War" series about dolphins in spaceships would be cool, but perhaps hard to film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uplift_War Did you know that the Enterprise-D in ST:TNG canonically has dolphin crew on…
on “Four book adaptations we want instead of more Lord of the Rings movies” ↗