Sundiver is the first novel in David Brin’s well-regarded Uplift Saga, though not in itself considered the strongest in this series. I picked this book up some years ago after hearing many good things about the Uplift books and, being the way I am, I wanted to start at the beginning rather than jump in with oft-recommended Startide Rising. While I was eager to get going with this series when I initially read Sundiver, for some reason I didn’t proceed with the other books. Looking back at my reading at the end of 2015 I noticed this very fact and decided that now would be a good time to catch up with Brin’s saga, and I did this by promptly re-reading Sundiver.
From the publisher:
Circling the Sun, under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage in our history. A journey into the boiling inferno of the sun, to seek our destiny in the cosmic order of life.
For in a universe in which no species can reach sentience without being ‘uplifted’ by a patron race, it seems that only mankind has reached for the stars unaided. And now, the greatest mystery of all may be explained…
The central concept in Sundiver is an interesting and clever one: intelligent races in the galaxy are uplifted to sentience by a parent race, which in turn were uplifted, dating back a billion years to the Progenitors. However, humanity is the exception to this by appearing to have evolved, much to the anger of many old alien species. What humanity has also done is uplift two of Earth’s other animals to sentience, the Dolphin and Chimpanzee, and in doing so have become a parent race themselves. With this done before they were discovered by the other races of the galaxy, humanity have a status that some within the galactic society believe they are not worthy of, or actually entitled to, and these races are very keen to find humanity’s lost parent race.
This is the backdrop to Sundiver and introduces the universe well, but it also shows that not everyone lives there in total harmony. The setting throws up some interesting concepts and ideas – the galactic library that has details of all technologies and discoveries that all races share; the arrangement given to races regarding the planets they live on; the relationship between parent and client races after they have been uplifted. I could go on and on, but suffice to say that Brin has done an excellent job of world building and bringing a sense of wonder and history to the novel.
Sundiver is, essentially, a mystery to find out what exactly is living in the Sun and whether or not it has any relation to humanity’s sentience. The strange creatures that are observed within the chromosphere lead to a further investigatory flight, one that hopes to discover more about the creatures that do not seem to appear in the galactic library. Bringing this story to life are the characters, and an interesting bunch they are. From Jacob Demwa, our main protagonist who is fighting an internal battle after the loss of loved ones, to the many alien representatives on the flight, there truly is a varied cast. While not all characters are as deep as they could be, they all contribute to the story, though the alien characters, while unique in their own right, often feel paint-by-numbers in their depiction. The same could be said of Peter LaRoque, an irritating journalist who does nothing to endear himself to the reader, and Helene deSilva, the station commander that feels relegated as the love interest of Jacob.
I really did enjoy Sundiver, both the first time I read it and this time on the re-read. I actually went on to read Startide Rising as soon as I put Sundiver down, but it just didn’t work for me, neither did the few chapters I read of The Uplift War. The self-contained structure and premise of Sundiver works in its favour, and it’s just detailed enough to satisfy as a stand-alone read too. While I may be in the minority in my preference for this over its sequels, I’ll happily recommend Sundiver, both as a starting point and simply as a good read.
© 2016 Mark Chitty
“Sundiver is the first novel in David Brin’s well-regarded Uplift Saga, though not in itself considered the strongest in this series…”
True, but perhaps a little harsh with out the qualifier that this was his debut novel (and that it was shortlisted for the Locus Award for best debut).
I loved Sundiver as well as The Uplift War……… but Startide Rising less so. I feel Sundiver would go over well as an action/mystery movie and would be a “great” CGI opportunity for some studio.