Uplift War by David Brin

Uplift War is the third volume in the Uplift Series by David Brin.

The Uplift War is not exactly a follow up to Startide Rising, but it does take place in the same universe as Startide Rising and it takes place chronologically right after it. There are a few small spoilers in The Uplift War for SR, so if you plan on reading both, read Startide Rising first (isn't much, but they are there).

This story takes place on the planet Garth (now there's a stupid name for a planet), which is colonised by humans and neo-chimpanzees (luckily the seas are toxic for dolphins – so there isn't a single dolphin to be found in this book). An elder galactic clan, The Gubru, decide to occupy Garth and try to use it as a hostage towards information about The Streaker (from Startide Rising). Taking over the poorly defended planet isn't a problem, but keeping it turns out to be a bit harder then the Gubru had expected.

Most of the book is taken up with the rebels and their fight against the Gubru – this is fairly entertaining. The really interesting parts are about uplift, galactic politics and the other clans that inhabit Brin's universe. I would have loved this book a lot more if the weight had been more towards these topics, but... Well, I guess that Brin want to save some of the really juicy parts for other books.

Anyway, it's still a good book, the characters are likeable, interesting and has a lot more depth than the characters in Startide Rising. Actually the neo-chimps and the aliens are a lot more interesting and believable than the humans, which is a good thing as they have very important roles in the story.