David Brin - Definition and Overview

Glen David Brin (born October 6 1950) is a well known American author of science fiction. He is the winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He lives in Southern California and has been both a NASA consultant and a physics professor.

Biographical timeline

• 6 October 1950 - born in Glendale, California
• 1973 - received Bachelor of Science in astronomy from California Institute of Technology
• 1978 - received Master of Science in applied physics from University of California, San Diego
• 1981 - received Doctor of Philosophy in space science from University of California, San Diego

Work

His Uplift series (two trilogies) are well recognised and deal with the concept of a huge galactic civilization responsible for "uplifting" all known intelligent forms of oxygen breathing life. Humanity within the context of these novels represents an anomaly since there is no known "patron" species responsible for their uplift and hence they lack a basic understanding and appreciation of the subtleties of galactic culture.

The Uplift Series

• Sundiver (1980)
• Startide Rising (1983)
• The Uplift War (1987)
• The Uplift Storm Trilogy:
  • Brightness Reef (1995)
  • Infinity's Shore (1996)
  • Heaven's Reach (1998) ISBN 0553574736
• There is also an Uplift supplement for the roleplaying game GURPS allowing players to play out adventures in the universe detailed in these novels. This supplement was not written by David Brin, but was based solely on his works and he contributed information to it.

Other well known works by David Brin include his books set in Asimov's Foundation Universe:

• Foundation's Triumph (1999)
• Secret Foundations (1999)

and his stand alone novels:

• The Practice Effect (1984)
• The Postman (1985) (also a major motion picture)
• Heart of the Comet (1986) (with Gregory Benford)
• Earth (1990)
• Glory Season (1993)
• Kiln People (2002)
  • Kiln People (published in the UK as Kil'n People) had the dubious distinction of finishing second in four different awards for best SF/fantasy novel of 2002--the Hugo, the Locus, the John W. Campbell Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award--each time finishing behind a different book.

His short fiction has been collected in:

• The River of Time (1986)
• Otherness (1994)

Brin wrote the storyline for Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future.

Non-fiction:

• The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (1998) ISBN 0738201448

External links

• David Brin's web site (http://www.davidbrin.com/)
• ISFDB Bibliography: David Brin (http://isfdb.tamu.edu/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?David_Brin)
• Critical Resources :: David Brin (http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/brin.htm)