Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Brightness Reef
    Brightness Reef
    Brightness Reef
    Audiobook25 hours

    Brightness Reef

    Written by David Brin

    Narrated by George Wilson

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    David Brin, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Sundiver, crafts Brightness Reef, a luminous gem of SF literature. Persecuted refugees from six separate alien races have migrated to the idyllic planet Jijo. And despite their incredible diversity, the inhabitants live together in blissful harmony. However, settlement on Jijo is illegal-and it's only a matter of time before the residents of this forbidden paradise are discovered by the galactic powers-that-be.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 17, 2009
    ISBN9781440718885
    Author

    David Brin

    David Brin is an astrophysicist whose international-bestselling novels include Earth, Existence, Startide Rising, and The Postman, which was adapted into a film in 1998. Brin serves on several advisory boards, including NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, or NIAC, and speaks or consults on topics ranging from AI, SETI, privacy, and invention to national security. His nonfiction book about the information age, The Transparent Society, won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. Brin’s latest nonfiction work is Polemical Judo. Visit him at www.davidbrin.com.

    Related to Brightness Reef

    Titles in the series (6)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Inhibitor Phase

      Aug 11, 2021

      Inhibitor Phase
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Book of Hours

      Nov 25, 2022

      A Book of Hours
      12 min read

    • Article

      AUSTRALOPITHECA1 & STARMAN2

      Sep 1, 2019

      The countdown to you begyns with me, deere Starman, when I wander, dumbly, deep into a space hospittable to Hunger. Now, all’s desert. No milk in syte. Just pitifull sand, what shushes as it slydes through your hande to rejoin itself. I’d join myself

      7 min read

    • Article

      from BLACK PASTORAL

      Nov 1, 2023

      somewheres, some lifetimes ago I have run so far, so long.There is nowhere I haven’t beenBut here, in this field, a bodyLength from the ragged brinkThat gives way to forest.I collapsed here, the thin, hard slipOf me whittled at both ends.I want badly

      4 min read

    • Article

      Thirteen Ways of Looking at FIRE

      Apr 7, 2020

      Thirteen Ways of Looking at FIRE
      10 min read

    • Article

      Any Given Day

      Mar 29, 2021

      Any Given Day
      11 min read

    • Article

      Evaporative Losses

      Sep 15, 2020

      Breath travels. Our mouths are broken-open places—a house where only wind lives, searching the cupboards and closets. I replace your missing mouths with those of jars, mines, graves. What is gathered and dissipated by mouth? Once alternately filled a

      4 min read

    • Article

      Six Bestiary Poems

      Nov 1, 2020

      The world, is it finite? Pliny the Elderon what he saw and heard, 37 “books” toround that up, early C.E. as heproceeded to be infinite. His Naturalis. His Historia.First bestiary ever in Book 8. Land lifeand sea life and through-the-air and undergrou

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Whale Who Will Come Soon

      Sep 8, 2021

      The beachfront narrows to an ocherous ribbon, belted by blue, above and below. After a while, a handful of shearwaters appear in the air above the Cat Balou. The birds flash around us; like knife-thrower tricks at a circus. Diving through the water,

      8 min read

    • Article

      Spell

      Apr 25, 2018

      Spell
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Storytellers

      Apr 28, 2023

      The Storytellers
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tracie Morris

      Mar 9, 2021

      1. There’s a sign near the waterfrontI think it’s advertising cheer:says 400 YEARS, VIRGINIA SPIRITS. A swig. A year ago last night, my dead crowd mean even ceremonyof Jamestown, at the schooner that brought those first here.They think: long tripdid

      2 min read

    • Article

      TEN POEMS Translations of Rafael Alberti

      May 1, 2024

      Throughout the centuries,through the nothingness of the world,I, without sleep, search for you. Behind me, imperceptible,without touching my shoulders,my dead angel keeps watch. Where is Paradise,Shadow, you who have been there?I ask silently. Cities

      3 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Jan 1, 2021

      I learned the world through the bottoms of my feet, barein the creeks of summer, stepping on pebbles, the squidgeof moss between my toes. On hot asphalt, the hop and skipover cracks, feet already toughened by bramble, dirt, the pricklyground of pine

      4 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Nov 1, 2021

      That the semi-circular canal is part of my ear,not a style of Venetian waterway arch,I learned mid-air on a Huffy.That bicycles left long out in the rain split.That prepositions are tricky.That I was made part industrious,part lazy-assed. That descri

      3 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Jul 1, 2020

      I look to the tree line & already the leavesare ripping themselves away from their mothers. It is only August but I am already rising earlyfor a crisp moon, smoking in the rare chill of a shaded patio. My breasts have begun pickling,the fat rounds pr

      2 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Mar 1, 2020

      All the animals you knowwill die. You set foodout for them anyway,let the oily seeds fallamong the fiddleheadsto be ground downpermanent as bone.The forest fills and unfills,drops itself down roottubes and turns to dark lace.One undoing: leafto sparr

      1 min read

    • Article

      All This Blood and Love

      Nov 22, 2017

      All This Blood and Love
      6 min read

    • Article

      As the Worm Turns

      Nov 15, 2021

      As the Worm Turns
      3 min read

    • Article

      Why look at Beth Cavener's Animals?

      Nov 1, 2017

      Why look at Beth Cavener's Animals?
      12 min read

    • Article

      How the Cicada Screams

      Dec 1, 2020

      How the Cicada Screams
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Brightness Reef

    3.5/5

    518 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A confusing mess, but despite this Brin takes us into new worlds and acquaints us with all sorts of new species and so it slips into a 3-star.
    • 3/5
      I admit I had some difficulty getting into this. I was fascinated by the characters and the world, but that's not quite the same thing as being engaged and understanding it all. Despite this being the first book in a new Uplift series--and perhaps my problem is that I hadn't read Brin's earlier Uplift books, though I'd been told I could enter into this one instead--it really felt like I was entering into the middle of a series. The learning curve was a big one, and although I could get wrapped up in scenes and characters' stories easily enough, the larger picture was never easy to grasp. And, truth be told, I'm sure I missed quite a bit. I'd like to say that I'll go and read the earlier Uplift books and then re-read this one, but that's a big ask for a 700 page book which left me wishing that there'd been a bit more clarity and story included, vs. all of the incredible world-building (because world-building and character-building alone don't make books).I am going to try to move into the next book in the series at some point, though I need a break before then. I'd recommend readers not enter into the Uplift universe through this book, though--I was told I could, but I suspect that wasn't an ideal choice.
    • 4/5
      Brightness Reef is the fourth entry in Brin's Uplift series, but it is quite a departure from the other books in the series. Instead of being about humanity's integration into the wider (and far more advanced) galactic civilization, this is about life on a backwater planet where galactic politics is only a distant memory. A number of races, including humans, have made a tenuous peace on this planet, and humans even seem to have a bit of technological superiority. The main action occurs as foreign humans with possibly-nefarious plans (and much better technology) land and upset the peace. While this wildly-different setting does take some getting used to (especially as parts of the story are told by aliens), the story itself is interesting, though not nearly as compelling as in his previous works. My main complaint is that practically none of the major plot points is resolved by the end of the book, including how this story fits in with the larger galactic picture (and there are plenty of hints that it does). The story ends very suddenly, and with a bit of a cliffhanger. I suspect things will make a lot more sense after the next book, but I do with that some things got wrapped up here.
    • 3/5
      This review covers all three books in the 2nd Uplift Trilogy, (Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach).At the end of the day, this rather long story, (nearly 2,000 pages over three volumes), is a good book that leaves some big openings for more adventures in the Uplift Universe. With that said, I really enjoyed the first three Uplift books, (Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War), more than I did this second trilogy. I think that is due to the stand-alone nature of the initial three volumes. I liked that each of those books told a relatively complete story that was set against a larger backdrop that stayed mostly in the background. Further, this fourth installment, (again, I'm talking about three books here), could have stood some editing. There is quite a bit of repetition of information - and not all of that can be attributed to getting the reader up to speed with what happened in the preceding volume. Rather, it sometimes felt as though Brin had lost some threads and was reminding himself, (and the reader), of where things stood. At times, he was (validly) revisiting a situation from the perspective of a different character - but often it felt like redundant info-dumping. Yes, we know most of the Galactics are against the upstart human 'wolflings' and their client species, the neo-chimps and neo-dolphins - please stop hitting us with that particular truncheon!On to the good things: The overall story is really pretty great. As an unabashed and unapologetic Space Opera tale, this 2nd Uplift Trilogy does not disappoint. Throughout these Uplift books, Brin has taken a 'kitchen-sink' approach to the science, (he even says so in the afterword). He throws one big idea on top of another on top of third and a fourth. And then keeps doing it! His position as consultant for NASA is showing here in a big way - and that's a good thing because the ideas are grand and he does a good job of laying it out for us lay-people. Among all that science and big ideas, there are also a wide variety of characters to track - and there is a fair amount of head-hopping as a result - but Brin is a talented enough writer that he pulls off that aspect quite well. Helping to ease the transitions, most perspective shifts happen at logical chapter breaks. Now, with such a large cast of players, some are bound to be more interesting than others and a handful of characters do seemingly get short shrift - but I can see where Brin might re-visit some of them in order to explore their stories in greater depth. There are also other characters from the first three books that don't show up here at all, (most notably the ones left behind on Kithrup at the end of Startide Rising - which was, for me, the standout book of the entire Uplift series). I hope Brin's future plans include coming back to tie up some of those loose ends.Having finally finished this trilogy, I feel like I have completed a marathon. Not that I've ever run a real marathon! LOL! Still, with the unrelenting onslaught of difficulties that every character seemed to be going through, always battling uphill against incredible odds. Facing implacable enemies. Managing one hair-breadth escape after another... it's nice to call this one done - at least for now.Next up, I might have to try a nice post-apocalyptic story - just to lighten the mood! ;)
    • 4/5
      This book takes place on an abandoned world intended to be natural and develop its own races, who would hopefully be available for uplift. A small population of each of six races, in turn, have landed small colonies on the world. Their intent is to devolve and be re-uplifted, and hopefully to avoid attention and possible punishment from the stellar community. Humans are one of the six. These races have ancient antipathy for each other. And each brings unique skills and histories. They have overcome their differences, and their are pieces of culture of each that has worked its way into the others, yet they do maintain separate communities. The story revolves around the arrival of a spaceship or renegade humans. Their intent is unknown, and seems sinister. They aren't an official envoy, so they shouldn't be here, either. This story shows us a different side of each of the races, including the humans. It maintains its suspense on the invaders, and latent tension among the six races. Unfortunately, this book mostly sets up the series and doesn't resolve much of anything. The story is interesting, and a must read if you're interested in the Uplift series.
    • 4/5
      Brin is an excellent writer, no matter that his cosmology and worldview is upwhacked. In particular, the Uplift series of books are especially inventive and entertaining.
    • 2/5
      It was a book that was really hard to get into.
    • 4/5
      Unlike the previous book which focused solely on human civilization, this book deals with how mutliple races can co-exist on an isolated planet - or not. Mixed in is the misfit human/chimp/dolphin civilization that always seems to find trouble, somehow. Really excellent.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this series, but the first book is realy slow as the author sets the stage for the later books. I kept having this feeling that I should be able to predict the ending and wasn't overly suprised by it. Unfortunately, it had been a while since I had read Startide Rising and could not remeber the character so I was always a little annoyed.
    • 3/5
      The first of Brin's second Uplift trilogy has a slow start, but the complex array of characters do become quite gripping and the five or so parallel plot lines are handled well.Set on Jijo, a reserved fallow planet, humans and other sapient species have established an understanding until a spaceship lands on the planet.
    • 4/5
      The Uplift Trilogy, Book 1/3. This one is only about the group of sonner races who've settled on a forbidden world. Excellent.