[Rob B]

Anybody here read him?

He's won nebulas and/or Hugos for some of his work.

His Uplift books seem pretty interesting, so does his book Earth. I've only read The Postman by him and wasn't all that impressed. Not a bad book, but there was potential for more. (and no I didn't see the film).

[SusF]

DON'T see the film!

I read most of his stuff except for his most recent three.

Sundiver
The Uplift War
Startide Rising

I loved these three. They are in order, but they are not really related except that they are set in the same 'universe'.

"Uplift" means to use genetic engineering to increase intelligence to sentient level those animals on your home world that have that potential. So far Chimpanzes and Dolphins have been uplifted, and they were working on dogs and cats.

Susan

[Vitriol]

He's my favorite author, and I've read everything by him except The Practise Effect, which I've never got around to buying.

He writes very hard SF, take the ship in Sundiver, fully functional and explained apart from one small violation of the law of thermodynamics to make it possible using current technology.

The Uplift series, of which there are now six, are his best (and most famous) work; a potrayal of a universe swarming with lifeforms, all of which snub earth as totally immature. They are a wonderful read, get any of the ones which SusF mentioned (I reccomend Startide Rising, which won all sorts of awards, and chronologically comes before the uplift war).

He also writes some excellent short stories, from adventures like Thor meets Captain America (don't be put off by the title, it's really excellent) to illustrations of some of the more extravagent scientific theories that have just appeared (including an incredible one about the evolution of multiple universes by black holes, an amazing explanation of why all of the cosmological constants are 'just right' for life)

His big problem is a tendancy, in early writings at least, to go for 'big answers' to solve all of the problems (Earth, especially). He's got a little better, but all of his books tend to be quite upbeat.

If you like Brunner, and near-future histories of the world, read Earth

If you like post-apocalyptic stories or moral stories, check out The Postman (a total of 2 minutes of the book made it into the film)

If you like broad-ranging space opera and believable aliens, get any of the first three of the Uplift series.

If you enjoy deep character development go for The Heart Of The Comet, co-written with Gregory Benford (and my personal favorite).

He's also written the finale of the Foundation series, and a bunch of factual essays on the technology of the future, quite easy to find with Google.

And if anyone can point me at somewhere that has a copy of GURPS: Uplift (preferably in the UK) I'd be much obliged.

Enjoy!

[nicba]

I've read the Uplift books and they are all worth reading, although Sundiver isn't quite as good as the rest, IMHO.

As far as I know, Sundiver was actually his first book. I thought it read almost as a "whodunit" set in space. It's the first book in the uplift series, but I had difficulty getting it, so therefore I read it last. I didn't think it tied in that much with the rest of the books.

The lat three books in the series forms a "triology" within the series and should be read together and in the correct order. Despite a rather heavy start in the first chapters of the first book, I thought they were brilliant. I'm still hoping he will write more in the uplift universe.

Oh, and Vitriol: How do you get to read his short stories? I never heard of them. Is there a book collecting them or are they all spread out in different magazines or some sort of thing?

[Hobbit]

There are books of his short stories - Don't know if they're abvailable outside the UK though. Try The River of Time, Otherness as short story lists.

Love the Uplift series. Couldn't finish the Brightness Reef series.

Thought provoking writer - tendency to hard SF, very similar to Greg Bear IMO.

Above posts say it so much better than I can at the mo, so I'll keep it short (for a change).

Hobbit

[Erebus]

Earth was a great read, IMO, though certainly a little drawn-out and slowish in parts. The subject matter though is quite interesting. An epic that certainly needs to be read if you like that style of SF.

I could never get in the the Uplift series, but I did enjoy The Postman when I read it some years back. Pity that the movie made such a hash of a great tale!

[Valeyard]

Sundiver really wasn't very good. I enjoyed the background idea of "uplift", but the actual description of the aliens in this book was pretty ordinary. The whole writing was amateurish. However, considering this was his first book I suppose I shouldn't be too harsh.

I've been thinking about reading the next one in the series since it won some big awards, but I've already got a stack of books sitting on my desk waiting to be read.

[Rob B]

Thanks for the feedback folks!

I've enjoyed what I've read of Greg Bear, if that's a good indication Hobbit.

And Vitriol, thanks!

[fluffy bunny]

I liked sundiver a lot- the world brin creates throws a lot of ideas at you, and the story's pretty good, if a little by the numbers mystery adventure. The worlds brin creates are a good idea of what life may be lke in a few hundred years (even though the book was written 20 years ago)- not just weapons and technology, but society.

I've started on startide rising (well I've read the 1st 100 pages today)- seems good so far, and u don't need to have read sundiver to enjoy startide rising- set a few hundred years after sundiver, and not set anywhere near earth- the author explains the main concept of uplift again in this book anyway.

The author's definitely worth checking out IMHO.

[An8el]

The Practise Effect was my fave book of his so far, and I've read the Uplift series.
It's a charming premise - that entropy happens when something isn't used. What he does with it is really fun to read, mainly fantasy. I read it in a night and found myself remembering it's ideas for years afterward.