"The Uplift War" by David Brin (Science Fiction, minor spoilers)

This is a far-future hard science fiction novel, and a sequel to "Startide Rising." However, although it takes place in the same futuristic setting as "Startide Rising" and has some connection to the events of that novel, it follows a different set of characters and events.

Just about everything about this book is big - lots of plot, lots of characters, including many from alien races, lots of exotic settings, and lots of detail about the events described.

It's hard to know just where to start to discuss this book - but I'll try.

Okay, the main plot involves a planet called Garth, which is currently being colonized by people of Earth. Also present on Garth are uplifted chimpanzees - intelligent, and made so by humans uplifting them.

Enter the Gubru - a birdlike race that decides it wants Garth for its own purposes, and launches an all-out invasion and occupation of Garth.

Some of the humans and chimpanzees resist the Gubru, but it's not easy, the Gubru are quite powerful.

Some of the story is told from the point of view of Fiben, a very likeable intelligent chimpanzee who becomes involved in the resistance. But, what's interesting about some of the things we see from his point of view are some of the more subtle ways the Gubru try to be manipulative. It turns out that the Gubru want to intervene in the chimpanzees' uplift process, and push out humans. They try to convince the chimpanzees that they will be better off under the Gubru. So this part of the story is not always portrayed as an outright forced invasion and occupation, but a more subtle attempt to use the chimpanzees and win them over.

Now, I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but near the end of the story, Brin does a pretty nifty job of connecting the events of this novel to those of "The Uplift War." You do have to be patient and wait, though, to the end of the book.

The book explores a huge amount of material, and just about any plot line could be the subject of a full-blown novel of its own. The whole subject of uplift, how it affects relatinships between species, how rules have developed to govern its operation, and what happens when a species tries to sidestep those rules is a topic that could give rise to a massive amount of debate over whether it's even possible, or ethical.

And, just in case you think this is purely fiction, I'm not so sure. Consider the idea of uplifting another species to a state of sentience and intelligence. Isn't it true that some experiments have been done in which primates other than humans have been taught to communicate with sign language? Granted it's a far cry from the kind of uplift Brin describes, but who knows, it might be a first step in such a direction.

Brin also describes relationships between different species. There's a subplot that describes a relationship between a human man, Robert, and a Tymbrimi girl, Athaclena, which turns into an unusual love story. And there are stories of friendships between humans and chimpanzees, in which the chimps make exceptionally loyal, faithful friends.

Anyway, it's a fascinating story. I wouldn't call it light, easy reading, though - the sheer size of the cast of characters and the number of turns the plot takes require close attention and concentration to get through and follow everything. It's actually the kind of novel I feel I should probably read a second time someday, just to make sure I picked up on everything in it.

Very good as hard science fiction, though, Brin knows his science so well it shows, but never in an 'inf0-dump' kind of way, the scientific information is always sprinkled around in small doses when needed while the plot keeps moving and the characterization develops.