Startide Rising

My fourth Brin and the best so far.

In Startide Rising, the viewpoint shifts between a fairly large cast of characters. Good guys, bad guys, and many others in between. As a result, it takes a few chapters to get your bearings. Once things start to fall into place however, the story really gets moving.

The scenario: In the future, humanity, after 'uplifting' first chimpanzees and dolphins to sentient status, have joined a galaxy-wide community - but their status is tenuous at best. All other known alien cultures, at some time in their own history, have been 'uplifted' by another race, thereby forcing them into indentured servitude to their 'sponsors' for a minimum of 100,000 years. Humans, because they uplifted other species before being discovered by the galactic community at large, are immediately considered a sponsor race and can therefore not be forced to serve others. As a result, a lot of aliens are angry at and offended by humans.

Now, a Terran starship - crewed mostly by neo-dolphins, a few humans, and a self-centered neo-chimpanzee - has made a momentous discovery. With an armada of ET ships hot on their tail, they barely escape immediate capture and, with a damaged ship, are currently in hiding on a metal-rich oceanic planet somewhere at the edge of the galaxy. As the enemy closes in, things go from bad to worse as disagreeing factions threaten to tear the crew apart. But the planet itself is an enigma that holds secrets that may help - if only the crew can hold it together and unravel the mystery in time.

The many tendrils of this story are slowly and inexorably drawn together. Brin weaves a unique and masterful tale that fully deserves the awards and accolades it received.

Highly recommended.