ALT.SF4M

  Amusements 10/4/96

   • j********o@***.com
     07/10/1996 00:00:000 UTC

     Gorno goes on reading binge!

     Sundiver: by far the best book in the Earthclan trilogy (and the

     shortest, which is no coincidence). Good solid 1970's SF, with the

     characteristic use of the highly dated and loopy SF phrase "Amerind."

     Much less goofy, and better grounded than its successors. For God sakes,

     Dr. Brin, keep these people in space! I liked the smaller scale of this

     first book: this is a galaxy of two hundred species, not millions. The

     Pila, for example, are from Pila. That's where they live. Brin's

     unwillingness to set any bounds on things makes the later Uplift
     universe

     too ill-defined: everything becomes a continuum that extends to
     infinity.

     The Sundiver universe was one where you could do stuff, make a place for

     yourself. (This is probably all Stefan's fault: email him at ***@***.com

     to complain.)

     Wizard's First Rule: Blowed. Actually, the technical writing is fine:

     it moves through its 800 pages quite briskly, and only costs the
     standard

     $6 (and is relatively light for its bulk). On the other hand, the plot

     progression is poorly balanced, with a compressed ending, and it never

     reaches the epic scope of battling armies appropriate to high fantasy.

     The story is what really blew: many very tired fantasy cliches, done

     badly, plus some new bad ideas. I wonder whether the author is a woman:

     it would explain the weak men and powerful women. And the whole

     dominatrix thing which Glen alluded to really didn't belong. Let's see:

     the overwhelming magic weapon that extracts a terrible cost from the
     user,

     who can only fully use it at the end, after some personality trial?

     Check. Ludicruous hesitation to use other overwhelming power to win in

     hours? Check. The usual trials and betrayals? Check. Sophomoric

     bleating over the subjective nature of opinion, while making the bad
     guys

     first class pervos? Endless dramatic moments about being prepared to

     sacrifice their comrades to the cause, if necessary, while being
     crippled

     by silly quams about using overwhelming power, which is used, slightly,
     at

     the end, but really stupidly? Fat girls in leather? Check, Check, Yeech!

     Gorno

       • s******j@**.com
         09/10/1996 00:00:000 UTC

         In article <53add0$***@n*******.****.***l.com>,

         JohnGorno wrote:

         >Sundiver: by far the best book in the Earthclan trilogy (and the

         >shortest, which is no coincidence). Good solid 1970's SF, with the

         >characteristic use of the highly dated and loopy SF phrase
         "Amerind."

         >Much less goofy, and better grounded than its successors. For God
         sakes,

         >Dr. Brin, keep these people in space! I liked the smaller scale of
         this

         >first book: this is a galaxy of two hundred species, not millions.
         The

         >Pila, for example, are from Pila. That's where they live. Brin's

         >unwillingness to set any bounds on things makes the later Uplift
         universe

         >too ill-defined: everything becomes a continuum that extends to
         infinity.

         _Sundiver_ is the best paced of all of the Uplift books. The later
         ones

         try to cover too much. In fact, _Brightness Reef_ tried to cover so

         much that it fissured into three books!

         Good news is that the pacing is getting better within the books.

         And in any case, even the big sloppy ones are fun to read.

         > The Sundiver universe was one where you could do stuff, make a
         place for

         >yourself. (This is probably all Stefan's fault: email him at
         ***@***.com

         >to complain.)

         Hey! I'm the one who has been bothering the guy about consistency
         and

         going off on weird tangents. And he often listens.

         Three gobbets of Uplift news:

         - _Infinity's Shore_ should be out at the beginning of November.
         It's

         probably a good idea to have read _Brightness Reef_, but there's a
         dandy

         glossary and cast of characters so this is not strictly necessary.
         But

         it's almost a must to have read _Startide Rising._ (And check out
         the

         acknowledgements page.)

         - The next / concluding book in the trilogy set on Jijo is currently

         called _Heaven's Reach_. I can't say more than that. Brin just
         started

         it, but it might be awhile in the writing because Brin & wife have
         baby

         #3 on the way.

         - There will be one more, final Uplift book coming out around 2001.
         It

         will conclusively wrap everything up. Hint at plot: Two ships full
         of

         characters left Kithrup at the end of _Startide_. The fate of one is

         revealed in _Infinity's Shore_. The final book sez what happens to
         the

         other ship.

         SEJ

         --

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