# New David Brin novel (finally) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674 "2012-05-12T07:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/1 "2012-05-12T07:09:00Z")
David Brin used to publish a new novel about once a year. But for some reason, he stopped in 2002 and hasn’t released a new novel in ten years. But happy days. His new book, _Existence_, is set for a June release. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/2 "2012-05-12T21:58:01Z")
He wrote kiln people didn’t he? I think that’s the only Brin book I’ve read. It was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Heller\_Highwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@Heller\_Highwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heller_Highwater)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/3 "2012-05-12T23:25:23Z")
Yes, he did. He also wrote the Uplift series, which is how I was introduced to him. I’d not heard about this, **Little Nemo** , but Brin is one of my favorite authors, so I quite appreciate the heads-up! I’m certainly glad to hear he’s publishing again. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/4 "2012-05-13T00:02:13Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > He wrote kiln people didn’t he? I think that’s the only Brin book I’ve read. It was pretty good. That was his most recent book (the one in 2002). There apparently had been plans for a sequel, _Kiln Time_, but it never happened. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/5 "2012-06-25T23:18:21Z")
I just bought **Existence** and it’s the “origin story” of the Uplift universe, focusing on the _Seeker_ and what they found. If it’s anything like the previous books, Brin will have his characters hiding somewhere, avoiding the rest of his fascinating universe. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/6 "2012-06-25T23:44:11Z")
There’s a review [here.](http://io9.com/5918983/existene-david-brin-tackles-near-future-sci+fi-with-amazing-results) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/7 "2012-06-26T01:09:57Z")
Actually, I don’t think this is an _Uplift_ novel at all… I saw “sentient dolphins” on the jacket, opened the book and saw what I thought was the name of the ship that carried the dolphins, therefore assumed. But upon further review I think I’m wrong… ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/8 "2012-06-26T12:06:36Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > He wrote kiln people didn’t he? I think that’s the only Brin book I’ve read. It was pretty good. I really liked _Kiln People_ too, although I thought the ending was way too…cosmic? esoteric? for the story he was telling. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/9 "2012-06-26T13:00:07Z")
About 40 pages in, this one reminds me most of _Earth_. Which I liked a lot, so that’s a good thing. The pisser is that I bought this book and Pratchett/Baxter’s _The Long Earth_ as my vacation reading. Just finished TLE yesterday, started Existence today… and my vacation starts Saturday. :rolleyes: Oh well, back to the bookstore! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/10 "2012-06-26T13:11:32Z")
I enjoyed _The Postman._ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/11 "2012-06-26T13:28:23Z")
Here’s the [page on Brin’s website](http://www.davidbrin.com/existence.html) about the book. It’s set in 2050, and apparently Jen Wolling didn’t save the world in this timeline, because our world is apparently a good bit more fucked up than it is now when we get a missive from ETs. But people in this version of 2050 are working on Uplifting chimps and dolphins, so that part of the Briniverse carries over. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/12 "2012-06-27T14:04:42Z")
So he’s abandoned the Uplift universe? Boo! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/13 "2012-06-27T15:25:13Z")
Actually, in the afterword Brin says he’ll return to the Uplift universe in the future… but this isn’t that novel. 200 pages in: Definitely a book along the lines of _Earth_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/14 "2012-06-27T15:26:31Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Here’s the [page on Brin’s website](http://www.davidbrin.com/existence.html) about the book. > > It’s set in 2050, and apparently Jen Wolling didn’t save the world in this timeline, because our world is apparently a good bit more fucked up than it is now when we get a missive from ETs. But people in this version of 2050 are working on Uplifting chimps and dolphins, so that part of the Briniverse carries over. Yeah, it’s a completely different Briniverse than the one in _Earth_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/15 "2012-07-25T06:32:56Z")
Finished it a couple of weeks ago, and pretty much every post I had on this book is wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s not an _Uplift_ book. It’s not the same universe, nothing. Uplift, as a concept, exists (there’s even an “Uplift Institute”), but the concept (as well as the storyline) is dropped after about 300 pages. I liked the book, but because I’m nit-picky, here are the two things that drove me batty: 1. The main story that we follow ends about 70 pages before the book does. The story shifts 20-odd years in the future so we can see what the outcome was of the actions in the first 5/6ths of the book. 2. Too many references to world-changing events between now and the novel (takes place in 2060 or so), too few references to the world prior to 2010. You’d think somebody would mention Mozart. Or Hitler. Or Alexander the Great. Or, well, _something_ that happened in the real world. 3. Storylines are just dropped. Like the above-mentioned Uplift Institute. One of the characters finds the institute, sees uplifted dolphins, finally figures out what’s going on, and… nothing. You don’t hear from him again (in any meaningful way, that is.) Go ahead, read it Brin fans. But wait until it comes out in paperback, or check it out from the library. Speaking of Brin… On the same trip, I read the first three books in the _Uplift_ series (_Sundiver, Startide Rising, Uplift War_). I remember when the second trilogy was released I was all excited because I enjoyed the uplift books, but I never got past the first book in the trilogy when I found out: a. The main protagonists were children. I can’t stand children in science fiction. Love them in real life, but don’t want to read about them in my fiction. b. Brin set _yet another_ Uplift book on a “outlaw/out-of-the-way/forgotten” planet where the humans were hiding from the Galactics (again). While I liked the first three Uplift books, the mechanism of having this vast, interesting, and exciting universe being largely ignored because the author prefers to tell tales of people hiding secrets on rarely-trodded planets freakin’ pissed me off. It’s the equivalent of having a story placed in Manhattan, but the only part that you’re allowed to see is through a keyhole because the protagonist spends the entire novel hiding in a closet. WTF? If that’s your story, why set it in one of the most exciting cities on the planet? Why create the Uplift universe only to have your characters _hide_ from it constantly? BORING! Anyway, enough bitching. My question is this: Are the final 3 Uplift books worth reading, or will they just be more cause for frustration? Do they even answer the questions about what the _Streaker_ found, mankinds missing patrons, etc, that were raised in _Startide Rising_? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-david-brin-novel-finally/621674/16 "2012-07-25T08:59:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Finished it a couple of weeks ago, and pretty much every post I had on this book is wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s not an _Uplift_ book. It’s not the same universe, nothing. Uplift, as a concept, exists (there’s even an “Uplift Institute”), but the concept (as well as the storyline) is dropped after about 300 pages. > > I liked the book, but because I’m nit-picky, here are the two things that drove me batty: > > 1. The main story that we follow ends about 70 pages before the book does. The story shifts 20-odd years in the future so we can see what the outcome was of the actions in the first 5/6ths of the book. > > 2. Too many references to world-changing events between now and the novel (takes place in 2060 or so), too few references to the world prior to 2010. You’d think somebody would mention Mozart. Or Hitler. Or Alexander the Great. Or, well, _something_ that happened in the real world. > > 3. Storylines are just dropped. Like the above-mentioned Uplift Institute. One of the characters finds the institute, sees uplifted dolphins, finally figures out what’s going on, and… nothing. You don’t hear from him again (in any meaningful way, that is.) > > Go ahead, read it Brin fans. But wait until it comes out in paperback, or check it out from the library. Too many great starts, just not enough good finishes. The last 1/6 or so was exposition, and did not have enough momentum to carry through to the end. And the book ended with a hanging question. Some of the concepts were exceptional, some were not so much. Si