Brightness Reef

The Uplift Trilogy, Book 1

By: David Brin

Narrated by: George Wilson

David Brin, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Sundiver, crafts Brightness Reef, a luminous gem of science-fiction literature.

Persecuted refugees from six separate alien races have migrated to the idyllic planet Jijo. And despite their incredible diversity, the inhabitants live together in blissful harmony. However, settlement on Jijo is illegal - and it's only a matter of time before the residents of this forbidden paradise are discovered by the galactic powers-that-be.

©1995 David Brin (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Immensely appealing, leaving readers hungry for more." ( Publishers Weekly)

ruined by voices

this is mediocre science fiction. competent but unspectacular writing combined with a compelling world. Unfortunately, the bulk of the worldbuilding was done in the previous trilogy, so if you try and read this one without having read that one, you will be lost. all in all...it's ok.

except for one thing. the narration- while fantastic when played straight, is cringe inducing torture for 40-60% of the book when the reader attempts alien voices. the voices are, at best, overdone, silly, annoying accents and, at worst, slobbering mushmouth that literally leave me nauseous. I hate it. I hate it so much. I don't know if I can finish because it's SO bad and the level of writing is just not good enough to compel me to put myself through it

I am sorry to say I did not give this book a fair chance.

I am sorry to say that I did not give this book a fair chance. I could not continue to listen to it, it was driving me insane and I couldn't take that chance!

Worthy Voice Acting

This story is a masterpiece, plain and simple. It is epic in scope and deeply entertaining in its combined storylines. But best of all is the voices used for the various characters involved, and I cannot give enough credit to George Wilson for his work here. Excellently done!

Director/Sound Engineer is a real job

Most people like certain NARRATORS and certain AUTHORS but they never think about the Directors or Sound Engineers. This audiobook is an example of a GREAT AUTHOR with fantastic characters, a TERRIFIC NARRATOR who can distinquish alien creature voices and make them so believable and a crappy Director and/or Sound Engineer. Apparently she thought her job was just to press the record button and go home. I have a recording studio and I was saddened by the lack of professionalism. You can hear Mr. Wilson gulping after readng difficult passages as an alien voice and even getting some words incorrect "Revered Mother" and "windy road". This is not his fault but should have been caught by the Director, Abigal McCue and the sound engineer. Despite that, it is a WONDERFUL story and amazingly told. GEORGE K. WILSON NEEDS AN OSCAR for these cast of characters he is able to bring to life. It definately left me with a desire to read the rest of the trilogy and to read some of the prequel books.

Not for the novice sci-fi reader

This is a great story that takes time to develop. The patient reader is rewarded.

great story, slow reveal of larger purpose

great story, set in a backwoods planet.. felt incredibly slow on its overall purpose and place in brins larger universe till nearly the end

Slow can be good...

TL;DR: don't read this book before Startide Rising.

There's nothing wrong with slow fiction; the issue comes when there is very little to pull the reader through the slowness.

I think the primary sin of this book is that it doesn't generate a sense of anticipation. A slow story is tolerable (welcome, even) when it takes its time to increase anticipation and delicately unravel each moment in a journey.

Having read Startide Rising and The Uplift War, I was able to generate my own expectations and predictions about *why* any of the goings-on in Brightness Reef were remotely dramatic. The book sure didn't do it for me.

The lack of intense climax at the end is forgiven since it is the first in a trilogy.

The narration is ok, the alien accents are consistent but come at the expense of emotive intonation.

Not really a fan of the narration

Non-terran voices = slow, slurred, singsong and surprisingly similar to one another. I'm being nitpicky, but the characters just don't sound right. They all sound like Goofy on quaaludes.

Brightness Reef

Sifi at it's best. Love Brin's treatment of the human condition. Aliens are are humanity from a different perspective. This is a review of Brin's whole Earth Clan series. Start with "Sun Tide" and go to the end of this universe. Well worth the ride.

Hard Core Sci-Fi at it's best!

I've seen a lot of bad reviews for this book, and frankly I don't understand why. Perhaps some readers are not used to hard-core, traditional sci-fi writing. So much of today's contemporary sci-fi writers are more into action and less into the classic philosophical aspects that began with epic writers like Herbert and Asimov.

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel it is a masterpiece in classic sci-fi form. David Brin knows how to sink the hook in and keep you guessing until the very end. He is a master at storybuilding from various alien perspectives, which may throw some people off because of the change in thought process/focus from one alien race to another, but I found it captivating and ingenious.

I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys Frank Herbert, Peter F. Hamilton, Larry Niven, Orson Scott Card and other masters.

However, one caution to casual sci-fi readers that prefer straight forward stories full of action and special effects: you will get action, you will be thrilled, you will be surprised, but you will not be satisfied unless you are a fan of classic sci-fi writing techniques. This is not a shallow, no-brainer entertainment for the masses. This is a thought provoking work with complex plots/sub-plots that provide surprising twists and turns that are hard to predict compared to a lot of other literature in the genre these days.

I hope you enjoy!