THE UPLIFT WAR

by DAVID BRIN

"Where subtlety fails us we must simply make do with cream pies." — The Uplift War


"An exhilarating read that encompasses everything from breathless action to finely drawn moments of quiet intimacy. There is no way we can avoid coming back as many times as Brin wants us to, until his story is done." — LOCUS review

DAVID BRIN's The Uplift War

revised, and with a new introduction

Open Road Media, 2021; Bantam, 1987

Read the first 7 chapters online, or scroll down to purchase THE UPLIFT WAR.


film & media queries

Vince Gerardis
Created-By Agency
email: rightsqueries@gmail.com (with cc: to DAVID BRIN at books@davidbrin.com)

a war of many worlds

"But there is one more reason to protect other species. One seldom if ever mentioned. Perhaps we are the first to talk and think and build and aspire, but we may not be the last. Others may follow us in this adventure. Some day we may be judged by just how well we served, when alone we were Earth's caretakers." — The Uplift War

Drawing on the startling events of Startide Rising, The Uplift War tells a tale of courage, survival and discovery.

As galactic armadas clash in quest of the ancient fleet of the Progenitors, a brutal alien race seizes the dying planet of Garth, an Earth colony. Humans and their Uplifted allies must battle their conquerors or face ultimate extinction. At stake is the existence of Terran society and Earth, and the fate of the entire Five Galaxies.

The third book of the Uplift series, The Uplift War (The Uplift Saga, Book 3), became a NY Times Bestseller; and was WINNER: Hugo and LOCUS Awards for Best Novel, 1988, and NOMINEE: 1988 Nebula award for best novel.

about the uplift series

The uplift series of novels and short stories is set in a future universe in which no species can reach sentience without being "uplifted" (genetically brought to sapience) by a patron race, which then "owns" the uplifted species for 100,000 years. But the greatest mystery of all remains unsolved: who uplifted humankind? Earth has no known link to the Progenitors — and that terrifies client and patron species alike. Should its inhabitants be allowed to exist?


book sales

purchase The Uplift War

Amazon.com

Amazon.com US: paperback and Kindle ebook and audiobook

Amazon.ca Canada: paperback and Kindle ebook and audiobook

Amazon.co.uk UK: paperback and Kindle ebook and audiobook

#AmazonCommissionsEarned

Apple iBooks

Apple iBooks US: iBook


Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble US: paperback and Nook ebook


Bookshop.org

Bookshop.org US: paperback


indie bound

indiebound.org US: paperback


Kobo.com

Kobo.com US: ebook


Mysterious Galaxy

Mysterious Galaxy San Diego: paperback


more about the series

other uplifting novels

The stirring saga that begins with Sundiver continues in Startide Rising, and climaxes in The Uplift War.

A second uplift series begins with Brightness Reef, continues with Infinity's Shore, and concludes with Heaven's Reach.

Is Existence: an uplift "prequel"? In many ways, yes. David Brin's bold newest novel explores the ultimate question: Billions of planets may be ripe for life, even intelligence. So where is Everybody?

An illustrated companion to the series, Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide To David Brin's Uplift Universe, is a fun tour of the many alien races in the Uplift Universe.

Learn more about all of Brin's novels and books here.

uplifted short stories

These three stories are set in the uplift universe. Learn more about all of Brin's shorter fiction here.

  • In "Aficionado" (an excerpt from Existence), Hacker Sander is spoiled, temperamental and a champion rock-jock ... till a crash lands him in lethal peril. His sole hope? A tribe of strangely savvy sea creatures, with a secret need of their own.
  • In "Temptation" (included in the newest story collection, Insistence of Vision), a female dolphin on Jijo — on the run from two predatory males — stumbles into a deeply dangerous ancient secret.
  • In "Gorilla, My Dreams," chimpanzees and dolphins are helping humans choose the next species for uplift when powerful alien starships arrive to wipe out all life on Earth. (This story is sold on Apple's iBook, Amazon's kindle (#AmazonCommissionsEarned), and Smashwords.)

  • foreign-language editions

    The Uplift War has been translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish. Here are some of the covers of the foreign and foreign-language publications.

    The Uplift War's foreign editions

    a brief intro to science fiction author DAVID BRIN

    To learn more, visit his books page, or see his "about me" page or detailed biography.

    DAVID BRIN author

    novels

    David Brin's science fiction novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages. They range from bold and prophetic explorations of our near-future to Brin's Uplift series, envisioning galactic issues of sapience and destiny (and star-faring dolphins!). Learn More


    shorter fiction

    Short stories and novellas have different rhythms and artistic flavor, and Brin's short stories and novellas, several of which earned Hugo and other awards, exploit that difference to explore a wider range of real and vividly speculative ideas. Many have been selected for anthologies and reprints, and most have been published in anthology form. Learn More


    Contrary Brin blog

    Since 2004, David Brin has maintained a blog about science, technology, science fiction, books, and the future — themes his science fiction and nonfiction writings continue to explore. Learn More


    social media influencer

    Who could've predicted that social media — indeed, all of our online society — would play such an important role in the 21st Century — restoring the voices of advisors and influencers! Lively and intelligent comments spill over onto Brin's social media pages. Learn More

    DAVID BRIN scientist

    scientist

    David Brin's Ph.D in Physics from the University of California at San Diego (the lab of nobelist Hannes Alfven) followed a masters in optics and an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Caltech. Every science show that depicts a comet now portrays the model developed in Brin's PhD research. Learn More


    transparency expert

    Brin's non-fiction book, The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy?, continues to receive acclaim for its accuracy in predicting 21st Century concerns about online security, secrecy, accountability and privacy. Learn More


    speaker & consultant

    Brin speaks plausibly and entertainingly about trends in technology and society to audiences willing to confront the challenges that our rambunctious civilization will face in the decades ahead. He also talks about the field of science fiction, especially in relation to his own novels and stories. To date he has presented at more than 200 meetings, conferences, corporate retreats and other gatherings.Learn More


    future/tech advisor

    Brin advises corporations and governmental and private defense- and security-related agencies about information-age issues, scientific trends, future social and political trends, and education. Urban Developer Magazine named him one of four World's Best Futurists, and he was appraised as "#1 influencer" in Onalytica's Top 100 report of Artificial Intelligence influencers, brands & publications. Past consultations include Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and many others. Learn More

    Contacting BRIN

    All the Ways in the World to Reach David Brin

    an ornery, contrary BLOG, and other insightful wormholes!

    Do not enter if you want a standard "Party" line! Contrary Brin's incendiary posts on science, sci-fi and politics and its engaged, opinionated community poke at too-rigid orthodoxies, proposing ideas and topics that fascinate — and infuriate. See for yourself, and if you like — subscribe for more.

    Questions? Concerns? Email DAVID BRIN at mail@davidbrin.com


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    other points of contact

    visit other pages on this website

    pages about BRIN's science fiction

  • Brin's novels and books
  • Brin's short stories and novellas
  • all about Brin's uplift universe
  • a selection of book reviews
  • Brin's special-order books for sale
  • Brin's advice for new writers
  • Brin reviews sci fi films — including The Postman
  • a compilation of great sf books to read
  • recommended sf films
  • science fiction that teaches
  • BRIN's nonfiction explorations

  • THE TRANSPARENT SOCIETY
  • privacy, security, accountability and transparency
  • designing and crafting our amazing 21st Century
  • predicting and projecting our near and far future
  • leading and following our politics and economy
  • keeping track of changes in science and technology
  • scanning our sky for habitable (inhabited?) worlds