Book Review: The Uplift War - David Brin (Uplift Trilogy Book 3)

SUPERCHIMPS! IN! SPAAAAAAACE!

The previous book was about neo-Dolphins, this one is about chimps. And it is very good.

Ultimately, it is a book about slavery and ecology. What do we owe to our planet? Can we take "lesser" races and bring them sentience and sapience? Should they be allowed to develop their own culture? What can we do to prevent "alien" cultures from influencing us? Despite its slightly preposterous setting - it presents a plausible view of how humans might attempt to colonise new worlds and new minds.

There are a few clichés - "what is this human emotion you call… 'love'?" being the most egregious - but it is all barnstorming fun. Brin has an amazing ability to construct alien Aliens. They aren't mere ciphers for humans, but well crafted cultures which behave very differently to us.

It is somewhat long and meandering. But it's lovely to spend time in a universe which has such a rich seam of stories.

Brin is also slightly wordy. You'll need your e-Reader's dictionary to decipher some of the archaic language on display.

A worthy end to the trilogy.