30 Days of Actually Posting

[extrapenguin]

5. What's a fandom that you wish had a bigger following?

Okay... *thinks a bit* Taking the assumed "bigger following (in AO3-type fannish spaces)", I'll say the Uplift series! The basic conceit is that every species has only become sentient after being uplifted by another – except for humans. As humans were already uplifting chimps and dolphins when polite galactic society found them, they were allowed to join, but tensions are high between them and the more established species with their longer lineages and heavier traditions. The setting itself, in addition to the cool biological sci-fi concept, is very much "and even the kitchen sink" space opera, with 5 different modes of faster than light travel, and honestly I just love it so much? Especially the dolphins. The action sequences are also great.

The series itself is 6 books and a novella long. Books 1-3 are more independent things set in the same universe, while books 4-6 are a trilogy that is also a sequel to book 2 in a sense. The novella follows on from the end of the trilogy. My absolute favorite is book 2, Startide Rising, which won a Hugo back in the day.

For people who've read Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time: yes, this is a definite influence. The space ship capsule there, the Brin, is named after the Uplift series's author David Brin.

(list of questions)

Comments

[pauraque]

Sounds interesting! I assume there was another species that developed sentience on its own, besides humans, so they could uplift all the others in galactic society? Are they not around anymore?

[extrapenguin]

There was a group of them – the Progenitors IIRC – but they've long since retired into extinction, as have most of the species they uplifted themselves. Part of the conceit is that civilizations/species have their own life cycles, from birth to youth to middle age to retirement to death. The Progenitors are treated as quite mythic, so in a way humanity's sentience being evolved is also threatening on the galactic civil religion scope.