Uplift Storm trilogy

The Uplift Storm trilogy, also simply called The Uplift Trilogy is a series of novels set in David Brin's Uplift Universe. The entire trilogy is one long tale, with no gaps in the timeline between volumes. The three novels are:

• • Brightness Reef (1995)
  • Infinity's Shore (1996)
  • Heaven's Reach (1998)

Brightness Reef

Brightness Reef

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	David Brin
Language	English
Series	Uplift Universe
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Bantam Books
Publication date	October 1995
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	518
ISBN	0-553-10034-3
OCLC	32429193
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Class	PS3552.R4825 B75 1995

Brightness Reef introduces the reader to the planet Jijo, a world that had been declared fallow, but which is partially inhabited by eight different galactic races, each supposedly seeking the "Path of Redemption", the goal of which is to devolve into a non-sapient life form, to be re-uplifted by a new patron race in the future. The peaceful, primitive society of Jijo is severely disrupted by the arrival of of offworlders, first a mysterious mute human, followed by a starship belonging to the Rothen, a race of galactic criminals, and their human devotees, the Daniks. The Commons of Jijo establishes an uneasy, distrustful relationshipwith the Daniks for a short time, but events accelerate rapidly and it becomes clear that the Rothen are amoral, attempting to cause friction between the races of the Commons, and possibly genocidal. Jijoan religious fanatics also cause friction and in some cases commit acts of destruction and violence, further complicating matters.

At the same time, elsewhere on Jijo, a young Hoon named Alvin and his friends from several races receive unexpected help in their quest to make a bathysphere for underwater exploring. They are assisted by Uriel, a sage of the urrish race, who asks their help in locating a hidden underwater cache of galactic technology. The bathysphere fails while deep underwater, and the young crew is rescued by mysterious metal-clad beings. On the other end of "the Slope" a small group of humans attempts to quietly form a new settlement that may escape the murderous intent of the Rothen, but they find their Danik servants already there. A fight ensues and the group is scattered.

Back at the glade of gathering where the Commons of Jijo was in conflict with the Daniks, their differences suddenly become moot when a much larger starship lands directly atop the Rothen craft, imprisoning it in a quantum time-shifted substance. The huge battleship is revealed to be operated by the terrifying Jophur, the supremely egotistical and violent form of the peaceful and kind Trakei that live on Jijo.

Infinity's Shore

Infinity's Shore

Author	David Brin
Cover artist	Jim Burns
Language	English
Series	Uplift Storm
Genre	Science fiction
Published	1996 (Spectra)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	644
ISBN	0-553-57777-8
OCLC	38045623

Alvin's group find themselves on a mysterious ship hidden deep in Jijo's seas. They are treated kindly but remain ignorant of who captured/rescued them from the depths. The reader, however, becomes aware they are aboard Streaker, the dolphin-crewed EarthClan ship not seen since the events of Startide Rising, some two years earlier in the series internal timeline. The crew is astonished to find all the different races living on Jijo, and the human commander, Gillian Baskin, is unsure what to do with the youngsters. She sends a dolphin raiding party to the mainland where both a Jophur and Danik support craft have crashed after fighting one another, and they return with Rety, a human child from a band of even more primitive humans leading a wretched existence outside the society of the Slope, and Dwer, chief scout of the Commons, who has a strained but friendship with the young girl. They are accompanied by Mudfoot, knwn to Dwer as annoying "noor beast" but recognized by the Streaker crew as a Tytlal, a client race of the Tymbrini, Earthclan's closest and most loyal allies.

Back on the Slope, the Jophur commit terrible acts of war, they are especially enraged to find the G'kekrace on Jijo, as they had engaged in a war of extermination against them and they were believed to be extinct. The Commons are secretly communicating with the Daniks aboard their now-submerged spacecraft, and are also constructing numerous new weapons and primitive technologies to improve their communication and defense capabilities. The Jophur remain ignorant of most of these efforts as they are simply unable to recognize them for what they are, but they do capture Lark Koolhan and Ling, the Danik biologist who has seen the Rothen for what they truly are and is now allied with Lark. The two of them manage to escape captivity and hide on the Jophur ship, which they learn is named Polkihjy.

Gillian Baskin decides to send the young friends into exile on a small island, for their own protection, but Alvin realizes at the last moment who's ship they have been on and demands to be allowed to stay. Contact is established between Streaker and Uriel the smith, and there is an exchange of personnel and equipment at Wuphon Port. Gillian is astounded to find her old crew mate Emerson, is the mysterious mute stranger who has been traveling with Sara Koolhan, they both join Streaker while much of her crew is left on Jijo. Streaker makes a bold escape attempt from Jijo using dozens of ancient derelict craft from the ocean bottom as decoys, as well as decoy balloons overseen by Dwer Koolhan. Polkihjy leaves Jijo to pursue Streaker, and Jijo's part in the tale ends with Nelo, father of Lark, Dwer, and Sara, planning to rebuild his paper mill that was destroyed by religious fanatics.

As Streaker desperately flees towards the nearest hyperspace transfer point, Jijo's "Holy Egg" emits a powerful psychic blast that is felt by nearly everyone, and temporarily stuns the entire crew of the Jophur battleship.

Heaven's Reach

Heaven's Reach

Author	David Brin
Language	English
Series	Uplift Storm
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Spectra
Publication date	1998
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	464
ISBN	0-553-10174-9
OCLC	38239177
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 21
LC Class	PS3552.R4825 H43 1998

The final installment introduces a new character, Harry Harms, the first neochimp to be selected to serve as a scout for the Navigation Institute, and new setting, the bizzare realm of "E-level hyperspace" populated by "memetic lifeforms", were thoughts influence the makeup of one's surroundings and normally understood rules of physics do not apply. Harry detects unusual activity and eventually encounters Rety and Dwer, who had an imporbaby reunion aboard one of the decoy ships and wandered into E-level hyperspace due to their total lack of knowledge of space technology. Harry brings them to Kazzkark, his home base, normally a sleepy outpost for galactic institutes but now teeming with refugees and the home of a strange new religion.

Streaker has received assistance and guidance from an unlikely ally, hydrogen-breathing life forms and machine lifeforms in their employ. The crew is dismayed to find that they have arrived back at the massive fractal world where they had been betrayed before by supposedly neutral members of the Retired Order. Old resentments seemingly rekindle and the fractal world erupts into fighting and chaos, resulting in millions of deaths and the collapse of the delicate structure of the world. Streaker narrowly evades another ambush and manages to escape in the chaos, still pursued by Polkihjy, which is barely under Jophur control as it has been invaded by hydrogen-breathing life forms. Lark, Ling, and the former Trakei sage Asx have all merged with one single gigantic life form now occupying much of the ship, which they simply call "Mother".

On Kazzkark, the youths from Wuphon Port arrive along with Kaa, the dolphin hotshot pilot. Alvin befriends local Hoons and he and Huck depart with them as they flee Kazzkark, which is becoming unstable. Rety has become enamored of the new religious cult on Kazzkark and believes she is being held up as a leader of the movement, when in fact the cult plans to sacrifice her as a symbol of what they believe will be ultimately necessary, the sacrifice of Earth itself and all of EarthClan. Dwer and Harry, now joined by a Synthian trader, rescue Rety from the cult and barely escape Kazzkark as space tremors tear it apart. It is clear that a foretold "Time of Changes" is upn the civilization of the five galaxies, and momentous and often catastrophic events are occurring out on the space lanes. The group travel through E-Space, on what proves to be Harry's final mission for the Navigation Institute. Kaa, pushing his skills to the absolute limit, manages to get them back to Jijo's system just as all transfer threads in that entire galaxy collapse, meaning that galaxy is now cut off from the civilization of the five galaxies. They spot several other ships similarly stranded or destroyed, as well as a small rocket traveling from Jijo to a neighboring moon.

Streaker is forced to negotiate with members of the Transcendent Order, who wish to send them as emissaries to a distant galaxy. They convince the Transcendents, who send Polkihjy instead. Lark manages to briefly communicate with Streaker before they are cast into deep space, giving them several pieces of crucial information. Streaker finally arrives at the Earth system, which is heavily besieged by a massive space armada. They attempt to break through the lines by distracting the fleet with a strange, taunting holographic message, The tactic works better than imagined, frightening the fanatics into believing that they may have offended the Progenitors, and they give up the siege. Earth is free, for now.

External links

• Brightness Reef title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Brightness Reef at Worlds Without End