theupliftwar

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The Uplift War

David Brin

Brin, David. The Uplift War. Bantam Spectra Books. New York, New York. 1987.

The Uplift War is an action-adventure type story, written by the creative author, David Brin. In this tale, the characters almost seem to have a mind of their own. There are a lot of unresolved problems though, which takes away from the good plot.

The Uplift War starts off with a child of no more than seven years, Jessica, an innocent little alien girl. She was born on the planet Indrayam, where an immensely powerful and vicious alien named Zordog lives, who plots the destruction of the people of the planet. Zordog has enslaved the people of Indrayam, including Jessica and her parents. What Jessica doesn’t know is that her parents are scientists. They have secretly been building a spaceship to fly her off to another world in their spare time. When “doomsday” approaches, her parents rocket her off to another planet to save her life.

Jessica lands on an uncharted planet in an uncharted galaxy. There are many things that are new, and different, and scary. She soon realizes she needs to fend for herself and stay alert to her surroundings if she wants to survive. A few days after her arrival, she begins to see things: black shapes, moving from tree to tree, faster than her eyes can follow. She becomes frightened for her safety, for she doesn’t know what beast lurks in the depths of the jungle.

Weeks after her sightings, she finds a letter pinned to her makeshift camp. Surprisingly, it is written in Indrayaman. It reads: I live with apes in a cave. They often see you gathering fruit and berries. I am from Indrayam, and I know you are too. We want you to help us. Meet at the large fig tree in the middle of the jungle. - David. Jessica became suspicious. Who was this so called “David?” Could she really trust him? On the other hand, she needed some help adjusting to her new life.

The Uplift War’s cover looks cool, but don’t be fooled. Though the story kicks off as an imaginative piece, filled with adventure, as you approach the middle it starts going downhill. The story drags on and on, and there is no real conclusion. Anyone who reads The Uplift War will most certainly not pray for a sequel.

3 out of 5 stars.

Contributed by J. Rodriguez

Nov. 17th 2011