Water, Metal, and Religion

I finished Startide Rising by David Brin. This is the third book I’ve read from Brin and the second in the Uplift Series. After reading the first one, this book was a little more like the normal SF books I’m used to. Read my initial review for some background on this universe and its history.

This book follows the first spaceship crewed by advanced dolphins. Of course there are also some neo-chimps and humans on board as well. This historic test mission has hit a snag though. One thing that Humans have started doing is testing the veracity of the Galactic Library. They have been doing random spot checks and have found it lacking in accuracy of detail. That simple mapping mission led the crew of the Streaker to an enormous find. They found a derelict fleet of ships the size of moons that appeared to be billions of years old and the mummified body of one of the aliens. By eavesdropping on a transmission to Earth, Galactic religious zealots have come to the conclusion that this is the fabled return of The Progenitors. These super powerful races have now chased Streaker to the water covered world of Kithrup. Now Streaker’s crew has to survive Galactics, an ocean poisoned with heavy metals, dissention among the crew, and a secret the planet itself holds.

This was pretty sweet. The book revs up pretty good so that about halfway through you don’t want to put it down. The intrigues, plots, and plans are well executed and smart. I can easily see why so many people call this an excellent series. I can’t wait to start the next one.