Brightness Reef Audiobook By David Brin cover art

Brightness Reef

The Uplift Trilogy, Book 1

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Brightness Reef

By: David Brin
Narrated by: George Wilson
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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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great story, set in a backwoods planet.. felt incredibly slow on its overall purpose and place in brins larger universe till nearly the end

great story, slow reveal of larger purpose

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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!

Hard Core Sci-Fi at it's best!

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This is book 1 of the Uplift Trilogy and book 4 of the Uplift Saga. I read the first three books of the Uplift Saga when I was in high school uncountable unmentionables ago. It seems time makes memory fuzzy yet I'm going to state that this book has a rocky start for the reader until you are several chapters into the work. Let's lay the basis.
Uplift – a patron species that has already achieved star travel arrives and selects advanced pre-sentient species to genetically advance so that they are capable of traveling the stars. Each patron species ranking in galactic culture is based on how many species they have uplifted and whether or not an interstellar war was the result.
During the time frame of this book there are six master patron species forming the Galactic Council. They have laid down rules on how to treat planets and where species are allowed to colonize. They have stamped their approval on seven standardized Galactic languages and created a draconian entity, The Galactic Library. Any squatter or Sooner colonies on off limits worlds are subject to immediate judgment by the Library Enforcers and the penalty is sterilization...maybe.
See, the colonies established on Jijo by six Sooner species tribes including humans are out of touch. The Humans got there by way of a massive ship called the Tabernacle three hundred years prior to this story. Their methods of keeping knowledge alive is through an order of Sages and printing technology that would make Gutenberg sigh in disgust.

The story.
A human is discovered wandering out of marshland with a gaping hole in his skull. The Sage Arianna embarks on a journey with her assistant Sarah to the cave known as Biblios where they expect to get help figuring out who this guy is. Elsewhere, a research station of “Star Humans” are employing locals to help them illicitly gather wild DNA which they will implant on other worlds and eventually hope to reap Upliftable species. In another broad stroke you have the bunch that always exists who do not like where this is going and have machinations running to subvert being: destroyed, sterilized, outed to the Galactic Council...
There is a lot to this story and I can not even hope to spoil it in the space of this review. Did I like the story? Yes. Was I ticked at the choices the author made in arranging the first several chapters? Yes. Was the narration a good fit? Yes. How was the World building? Really imaginative, diverse and overwhelming at times but then it would revert to the human mindset imposed on non-human species.
This book should be read in close succession with the first three books from the Uplift Saga. I am giving this a three out of five as a stand alone read. Enjoy.

Book Four labeled as Book One.

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Warning, this book and its sequels are my favorite books. I truly adore them. Brilliantly complex, rich characters, mind blowing technology and concepts, weird and wonderful creatures. It has everything. I was afraid the read would not be as good as the books I’ve always loved, but it was perfect too.

My All Time Favorite!

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Not much to say, if you've gotten this far into the series I'm sure you'd probably agree.

Some of the best Sci Fi out there

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