David Brin’s Uplift series is now standard fare. Sundiver was a spotty beginning, but two Hugos, two Locuses, a Nebula and a NY Times Bestseller latter, the series has become a mainstay of contemporary science fiction. The slight inconsistencies of Sundiver are forgivable. It was, after all, Brin’s first published novel. It shows some telltale signs. But to his great credit, he has taken the techniques and content that worked in Sundiver, or at least had potential, and narrowed his focus in the succeeding novels in order to take full advantage of these strengths.
The change is clearly reflected in the structure of the first Uplift trilogy. Sundiver is in reality a standalone novel. Startide Rising and The Uplift War share its basic setting and amplify some of its themes, but do not continue its plot or follow its characters. But despite its failings, Sundiver is still a good novel, and a remarkable first publication.
Premise
Uplift is the term used to refer to the process whereby one spacefaring species encourages the evolution of another to bring them to a similar state of development. Typically, the ‘client’ species then serves a long period of indenture to its ‘patron’. This is the basic fact of galactic culture. But humanity is an anomaly. As far as anyone can tell this upstart species has no patron. And if reaching for the stars unaided wasn’t remarkable enough, they’ve already created two client species of their own: dolphins and chimpanzees.
This gives humanity a unique place in the hierarchy of races. Some species are willing to welcome them and revel in their novelty. But most are distrustful of this perceived threat to the social order and prove eager to discountenance humanity. Humans themselves are divided on their place in the universe. ‘Skins’ take pride in their uniqueness, and argue that Earth should eschew galactic support and continue on its own path. ‘Shirts’ believe humanity’s patron species will one day be discovered. They argue that Earth should take its place in the hierarchy of the galaxy, and learn from the elder races.
The Sundiver project becomes a symbolic football amongst these factions. In defiance of the elder races who’ve “been there, done that”, and whose Library contains all the knowledge humanity could want, Earth has decided to explore its sun from the inside. But already the project has been forced to compromise, using galactic technology to make its mission possible.
But what mankind finds within its star is something unexpected: life. Perhaps even sentient life. The Skins exult in humanity’s discovering something the Library had no record of. The Shirts speculate that the lifeforms are humanity’s lost patrons. And the elder races are quite chagrinned. Tensions converge on the project. One of the explorers, an uplifted chimp, dies during a dive. Circumstances are suspicious. Just what secrets does the sun hold? Who’s trying to hide them? And what will humanity’s place be in the galaxy?
Characters
Jacob Demwa is a member of the Alvarez clan, which has been influential in recent Earth history, helping to topple the Bureaucracy and establish the Confederacy. Jacob is something of an enigma. He lost his wife two years ago and has since taken refuge by assisting in the work of uplifting dolphins. His past is more interesting than it seems and his friend, Fagin, believes his involvement is necessary in the Sundiver project.
Jacob is Brin’s protagonist, and most of the story is told from his perspective, though in third person. The psychological turmoil Jacob exhibits, the partitioning of his mind into Jekyll and Hyde aspects, is interesting but not entirely credible in my opinion. I’m also unsatisfied with the heroic aspect of Jacob in general. We never know his past exactly, but he’s a bit of a James Bond. He can do everything: science, unarmed combat, romance, and mystery-solving. This is too much for me to buy into in a serious SF novel without ample support.
Fagin is a Kant, a species resembling giant broccoli. A longtime friend of Jacob’s, he gets the hero into trouble once again by inviting his participation in Sundiver. Fagin represents those extraterrestrials who are supportive of humanity. He’s stiff with protocol by Earth standards, but a delicate irony suffuses his character.
Bubbacub is a Pil and the Library’s representative on Earth. He looks like a teddy bear but his stodgy personality is decidedly not cuddly. Culla, a Pring (one of the Pil’s client species), is Bubbacub’s assistant. Embarrassed at the Library’s lack of information regarding the lifeforms in the sun, they join the project to investigate.
Pierre LaRoque is a journalist, and has a habit of adopting a fashionable faux-French accent. Like all journalists he’s annoying and meddlesome. But as with Jacob, there’s more to him than meets the eye.
Helene deSilva is second-in-command of the Sundiver project. She’s smart, tough, and sexy. Just the type of Bondgirl Jacob could fall for. If his psychology will let him.
Cherokee Nation
The themes aroused by the premise behind the Uplift universe are reminiscent of the imperial age when superpowers colonized primitive peoples and either extinguished them or recreated them to serve their own purposes. The indenture of client species reminds one of slavery, though it sometimes seems voluntary. And the strict hierarchy and social protocol among galactic species is definitely foreign to ‘American’ sensibilities. It is telling that humans have opted not to uplift dolphins and chimpanzees into indenture.
Jacob sums it up nicely when telling his companions the story of the Cherokee. Faced with a technologically and militarily superior culture, the Cherokee, like all Amerinds, could either adopt the white man’s ways or hold to their own and be brushed aside. In the face of the galactics’ superiority, humanity now faces a similar decision.
Brin does well to paint this issue in full color. Either option is seen to be problematic. The question is nevertheless pressing, as events surrounding Sundiver show.
Style, Structure and Recommendation
Brin’s writing is fast-paced, but not rushed. Equipped with his PhD in astrophysics and years of experience as a physics professor and NASA consultant he manages to turn out some truly beautiful descriptions of the sun’s innards, though at times he pushes too far into the flowery for my tastes. He also shows his inexperience when falling into passages of description when introducing new characters. These sometimes read like a checklist. Eyes: brown. Hair: blonde. Height, weight, comeliness, etc. Still, he doesn’t do it as poorly as others have.
Other than questionable characterization, the main problem with Sundiver is that it wavers in its direction. At first it seems the focus will be on the thematic implications of galactic culture and humanity’s place in it. But these issues are soon made secondary by the mystery elements (there’s even a parlor scene). In the end, the mystery’s solution climaxes the novel, and the implications for the novel’s themes feel tacked on.
Nevertheless the mystery is exciting, and the ideas behind the Uplift universe are intriguing. Though flawed, the novel is enjoyable and well-worth the read. I don’t hesitate to recommend it, but I’ve started Startide Rising and it’s shaping up to be much better. Keep an eye out for my coming review. You may be just as well served bypassing Sundiver and starting there.
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