Interview: David Brin

Interview

David Brin answers your questions

avid Brin captured the imaginations of science fiction readers with his series of books set in the Uplift universe. He also captured the top awards of science fiction -- both the Hugo and Nebula for the second book in the series, Startide Rising (1983), and the Hugo for the third book, The Uplift War (1987). Amazingly, Brin had only begun his career in 1980 with the release of the first Uplift book and his first published novel, Sundiver. Last year he published the latest chapter in the Uplift saga, Brightness Reef, and the book has once again put Brin in the running for the Hugo (Brin is one of five nominees in the Best Novel category for this year's Hugo award).

Last week Brin sat down with Science Fiction Weekly to answer questions from our readers. He discussed topics ranging from where the "uplift" idea came from to the status of the movie based on his novel The Postman. Below is what he had to say:

1) How did the original idea of "uplift" occur to you? Was any particular person or event responsible?

I believe it is a very bad practice for a writer to get stuck in a particular "universe" over and over again. So I try not to write two "universe" books in a row. The Brightness Reef Trilogy was an exception.

My Uplift Series came about because most SF universes seem to assume states of disequilibrium, in which exploring humans just happen to emerge just in time to bump into others out there at just the right tech level to be competitors, allies (or) foes. In fact, the normal state will be one of equilibrium...of law or perhaps death. We may be the First Race, as I discuss in my story, the "Crystal Spheres," or very late arrivals (see my story "Lungfish"). I depict the latter possibility in the Uplift books. In any event, we're unlikely to meet aliens as equals.

My second motivation was ecological. What we're doing to Earth makes me fear there may have already been "brush fire" ecological holocausts across the galaxy. The traditional SF "let's go fill the universe" scenario might leave behind eco-wastelands (explaining the apparent emptiness out there) unless something developed to regulate the way colonists treat their planets. This has happened in the Uplift universe. Despite the nastiness of some of my Galactics, their civilization makes it a high priority to preserve planets, habitats and potential sentient life.

Finally, I'm interested in the moral and other implications of uplifting other animals to our level of sapiency, through genetic engineering and conditioning. Cordwainer Smith and others took on this concept from one direction, the old slave-master morality tale you also saw in Planet of the Apes. So I thought I'd try a different tack. What if modern liberal society began modifying higher animals? (And I think we will.) Paradoxes abound. Would we feel so guilty we'd be in danger of killing our clients with kindness?

About the next Uplift book:
"Infinity's Shore will be out (hardcover) when Brightness Reef appears in paperback, this fall sometime. I hope you like 'em!"

2) How developed is the Uplift universe in your head? Do you have a thought-out conception of it, or do you just make up elements as they're necessary?

I have strong notions about the general tenor of the universe, where it's going overall. But no, the books are not pre-mapped in a secret notebook. That's a lousy way to proceed. When I begin a book, I inevitably discover many things along the way, about the characters, their past histories and the political intrigues that surround them. This discovery process is vital, and I would not prejudice it by deciding too much in advance.

About if the human race is directly descended from the Progenitors:
"You actually thought I'd answer that one? More worrisome... you actually wanted me to answer that question here? In this dry setting? Sheesh."

3) You seem to concentrate more and more on your non-human characters in the Uplift series. Is this a conscious decision?

Not necessarily. I find humans tremendously interesting (see Earth and Glory Season). But it is a delightful challenge to try to depict interesting aliens. Fortunately, human beings are remarkably diverse models to work from. We provide our own spectrum of extremely "alien" types! Put some of the weirder human quirks on a page and you've got a great extraterrestrial.

About returning to the Glory Season universe:
"If I can clone myself, or if they do a movie."

4) How do you avoid the trap of anthropomorphizing alien characters to the extent that they just seem to be humans?

A very difficult problem. How do you describe beings who are more alien than your own personal experience with others?

Trick Number One -- Imagination and empathy!

Trick Number Two -- Look to animal behavior on Earth -- carnivores, insects, arthropods -- and extrapolate intelligence into some plausible mix of traits.

Trick Number Three -- Imply more alienness than you show! Recall when two ambassadors (Uthacalthing and Kault) were traipsing across a desert, in Uplift War? Uthacalthing was a clever devil, yet I say that he was chosen as an ambassador because he is what passes for an extremely stodgy and responsible person, for a tymbrimi. This implies that tymbrimi are in general very rascally types. The same trick was pulled, in reverse, for Kault.

Another Trick -- In Brightness Reef I show a gang of alien kids, each with different species-specific personality traits, but also with lots in common with humans. Why? Because they all grew up reading books by Mark Twain and Arthur Clarke!

About Renna in Glory Season:
"Obviously, I meant the question of Renna's death to be somewhat ambiguous... because it does not really matter overall. The snow ships are coming. And Stratos is going to change, no matter whether he faked his death or was there when the ship blew up."

5) Will the current Uplift trilogy answer everything you want to say about the Uplift universe?

No way! Expect to have the mysteries pile even deeper, before the fog finally begins to clear. Hey, this is a complex story. Bear with me.

About writing the screenplay for The Postman:
"I'd love to. Are you offering? Are you the chief of Warner Bros.?"

6) Will the story in the Brightness Reef sequence deal with the investigation of the ships that the Streaker discovered in the first series?

Actually, Infinity's Shore begins the process of elucidating that issue. But it will be a long process. Seriously though, I cannot understand why some people have (almost literally) screamed at me to JUST TELL THE ANSWER! This is bizarre, and I refuse to comply. The delicious aspect of epic drama is the suspension and tension you find in some tales as ancient as the Odyssey. Tension that builds gradually as layer after layer is unpeeled. Anyone who wants simple, pat stories should buy another author's product. The real universe ain't that way, and neither are my fictive ones.

We are in this together for the long haul, people.

Consider it a sapiency test!

About his connection to Willamette Valley:
You always hurt the ones you love. (wink) Actually, I adore the area. But I've only visited.

7) How has your background in astrophysics influenced your fiction?

My education and background thoroughly inform my writing. But honestly, if you do a rigorous survey of my work, I'll bet you'll find that biology is a theme far more often than physical science (See Otherness). This is because the coming generation will face far more serious questions of a bio-organic-social nature than physical. Gregory Benford agrees with me about that, though he's a physics professor.

There's no doubt that scientific training helps many authors to write better science fiction. And yet, several of the very best were English majors who could not parse a differential equation to save their lives. Greg Bear and Kim Stanley Robinson have lively, vigorous minds. And they know the secret trick. If you buy pizza and beer for a bunch of physicists, they'll talk their heads off for hours. It's the cheapest consultancy available!

About a sequel to The Practice Effect:
"That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

8) Unlike many authors with a technical background, you don't saturate your writing with technical details. Has this been a conscious decision on your part?

My first duty to write a gripping yarn. Second is to convey credible characters who make you feel what they feel. Only third comes the idea. Some distance after those priorities comes the urge to show off my technical erudition. And when I do get technical, it's vital to do it efficiently, carefully, as part of the story.

About setting Earth in New Zealand:
"I've been there twice. New Zealand was always the place westerners thought "safe" from the end of the world. Putting all those reasons aside, wasn't it interesting? Either it was (and the question answers itself) or else I failed."

9) Which areas of science do you see as encompassing our most unrealized, advantageous explorations as well as holding the greatest likelihood for our own naive ruin?

Physics still holds plenty of opportunities for danger and opportunity (eg. nuclear war, or developing cheap power sources.) But biology will be the main arena of the next century. Also, I believe we may actually be on the verge (150 years late) of beginning to develop a primitive science of the mind.

Whether Earth is a fantasy novel:
"Say what? It's the hardest science fiction I've ever done!"

10) Many of our readers have inquired about the film version of The Postman. Can you tell us where the project stands and what your involvement with it will be?

On the front page of the June 6, 1996 Variety:
Costner Signs to Film The Postman!

Filming said to start 1/97.
They're trying to get him to direct, too. I'm hoping for the Costner of Dances with Wolves, not you-know-what.
The seventh version of the screenplay is vastly improved. It actually bears some vague resemblance to the book in a few spots, and the hero is no longer an evil madman.
I do hope Costner understands that, unlike in Dances and Waterworld, this is a character who is deeply in love with civilization, and misses it terribly.
No, I don't have any power whatsoever. I do hope they'll send me passes to the opening.
They may change the title (because of last year's Italian movie The Postman), but I'll still retain all book rights.

At what age he caught the writing bug:
"Maybe eight years old. But I always figured it'd be part-time, while I pursued an "honest" career in science, or engineering, or teaching. Strange. Society for some reason decided to pay me much more to be an artist (in other words, a skilled liar) than to be an honest man!"