David Brin
Sundiver (1980)
Author: David Brin
Genre: Science Fiction (Phiosophical)/ Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
Humankind has recently made first contact with alien races. In the few decades that follow, the humans of Earth and its colonies must adjust to a universe in which all races are "uplifted" to sentience through genetic modification by a patron race. Humankind is viewed as a remarkable aberration for achieving uplift without a patron, and uplifting several terrestrial races (chimpanzees and dolphins) itself. Jacob Demwas, a scientist who works with dolphins, is drawn into a mission to explore the Sun's chromosphere upon the discovery of sentient life there. When an astronaut is murdered through an act of sabotage, Demwas must use his experience in intrigue and combat to find the killer before humankind's status is damaged by the mission's failure. To do so, Demwas must navigate barely understandable galactic politics and utilize the very parts of his psyche that he has been suppressing the last five years following the tragic death of his wife. SPOILER: As the mission det
eriorates following another act of sabotage, Demwas manages to fall in love, heal his shattered personality, deduce the saboteur, and defeat him in a decisive battle with the fate to the mission's crew on the line. The book ends with the realization that humanity's triumph comes with the price of enmity from the races involved in the sabotage and makes its position in the galactic pecking order even more uncertain.
Geographical Setting: Earth, Mercury, the Sun.
Time Period: 2250
Series: The Uplift Saga (#1)
Appeal Characteristics:
One of the main appeal characteristics of this book is the idea of humankind as a "Third World" race struggling to adapt to incredibly advanced alien politics and technology while not losing qualities such as individual freedom and uniqueness that make it human. This is not to say that ideas are explored at the expense of a tense whodunnit mystery or a multi-faceted characterization of the main character. Demwas produces a strong emotional pull in his struggle to overcome his grief and damaged mind, and exhibits a quirky sense of humor in his dealings with his human and alien crewmates. Due to a detailed account of the political and cultural history of Earth and the galaxy in the years between now and the time period of this book, the pace of the narrative starts slowly, but picks up rapidly after the the astronaut Jeffrey is murdered, becoming almost breakneck by the final battle. By setting much of the book in the Sun, Brin manages to evoke an otherworldliness that has its
roots in a common aspect of life on Earth often taken for granted by humanity, making the mundane wonderous.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoyed this book should continue the Uplift Saga with the second and third books in the series, Startide Rising (1983), which details a mission by a crew of dolphins to return an important scientific dicovery to Earth, and The Uplift War (1987), which finds humankind and its client races making contact with their mysterious Patron race. Both books won Hugo awards, and the former won a Nebula. Those who were interested in humankind's relationship to other sentient races and their technology should try Perdido Street Station (2000), the first book in China Mieville's New Crobuzon series, wherein a scientist must team up with members of various species to defeat the horrific result of an experiment gone wrong. Isaac Asimov's The Naked Sun (1957), part of his The Robot Series, should appeal to readers who enjoy the mystery element of Brin's book, as well as the solar setting. Those unafraid of reading a fantasy m
ight enjoy the complex characterization and deep intrigue of science fiction and fantasy writer George R.R. Martin's Nebula-nominee A Game of Thrones (1996). Finally, readers who enjoyed the adventurer aspect of Demwas' character, as well as the idea of "first contact" with an alien race, might want to try Arthur C. Clarke's Hugo- and Nebula-winning Rendezvous With Rama (1973), in which an astronaut and his crew explore a strange spaceship appearing in Earth's atmosphere, making contact with an ancient civilization whose motives are unknown.
Red Flags: Violence, mild profanity, sexual situations (not explicit), heated debates on evolution.
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