Brightness Reef Audiobook By David Brin cover art

Brightness Reef

The Uplift Trilogy, Book 1

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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 Adventure Fantasy First Contact Science Fiction Space Opera

Critic reviews

"Immensely appealing, leaving readers hungry for more." ( Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
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

ruined by voices

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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!

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

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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!

Worthy Voice Acting

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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.

Director/Sound Engineer is a real job

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

Not for the novice sci-fi reader

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