The Uplift War – David Brin (1987)
I’ve only gotten a few comments on this blog, and most of them were from readers very unhappy with my reviews of their beloved books or TV shows. To them all I can say is I’m sorry. My policy on screening comments is that if you spew obscenities and insults at me, you’re not making a valuable contribution to the discussion. That said, I have my own perhaps not valuable addition to the discussion to make. That is to say, I very much dislike The Uplift War. In fact, I couldn’t finish it. Don’t get me wrong – Brin’s premise (that sentient races were all brought into being by the process of uplift, a gift bestowed upon them by other sentient races) is unique and compelling. I read Startide Rising and liked it. But I find that The Uplift War suffers the pitfalls of much contemporary fiction – an acute focus on action with very little interest in exploring the philosophical underpinning of the world the author has created. Further, there is a fixation on character development that, curiously, still leaves the characters undeveloped. Few writers, like Vernor Vinger and Dan Simmons, have managed to do this kind of novel successfully. Here, David Brin fails.
The Uplift War shifts perspectives between multiple different narrators, two of which are alien species and one of which is chimpanzees, the first species which human beings uplifted. Of course, we cannot introduce an exotic female into the narrative, the Tymbrimi Athaclena, without immediately eroticizing her and setting her up as a love match for the human Robert Oneagle. Similarly we are treated to erotic scenes of chimpanzees in a strip club. I’m not surprised by Brin’s penchant toward bestiality – in Startide Rising one of the dolphins entertains sexual feelings for one of his human crewmates. I’ve gotten used to the objectification of women in science fiction – it’s inevitable, and tracing the phenomenon over time proves that we have a long way to go toward cultural equality if this kind of thing is still present in what is supposed to be our most forward thinking genres of fiction. But when animals are eroticized I become disturbed for the reader and the author. I’m plain not interested in that subject matter. This, of course, is a personal preference, but it’s appearance in The Uplift War made me far less likely to finish the novel.
Besides its sexism, what the novel really suffers from is a minute focus on action that barely moves the plot forward at all and does not explore the philosophical underpinnings of the novel’s premise that most appeal to a certain type of reader. For those of you that love action for the sake of action in your science fiction novels, this one is for you. For those of you interested in learning about uplift or what the humans discovered in deep space that triggered this war, you’ll find nothing of interest here. Yes, the uplifted species the chimpanzees are featured prominently, and yes, the uplifted nemesis Gubru also play an important role, but the mystery of the Streaker’s discovery is left, perhaps, for other books.
Anyone who wants to chime in and voice their opinion on the book is welcome too, as long as they’re constructive. I simply found it, above all, to be insufferably boring and painfully disappointing.
