Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe

by David Brin, Kevyn Lenagh (Illustrator), Stefan Dziemianowicz (Editor)

Overview

The essential companion to one of the most celebrated science fiction series of all time.

Beginning with the novel Sundiver, David Brin introduced one of the most inventive, thought-provoking, and richly-imagined universes in all of science fiction. Now, Brin collaborates with acclaimed artist Kevyn Lenagh to present the definitive guide to the societies, technology, and species of his epic, award-winning series.

Written as a handbook for Terran field agents, Contacting Aliens offers a detailed and comprehensive look at Uplift’s many alien races—from the friendly Tymbrimi to the warlike Tandu, the wise Kanten to the reptilian Soro, and the bureaucratic Hoon to the manipulative Thennanin. Readers will discover fascinating information about their physiology, psychology, and history; their clans and alliances; and their shifting attitudes toward Earth and its representatives.

The volume also includes a history of Earth’s contact with the Civilization of Five Galaxies, a look at its institutions, languages, and customs, plus a timeline of momentous events going back three billion years. Contacting Aliens is an essential reference work for Uplift fans, filled with never-before-seen illustrations that reveal the keys to the ambitious vision and bold speculation of the Uplift universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798337201917
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	07/08/2025
Series:	Uplift Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	222
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

David Brin is an astrophysicist whose international-best­selling novels include Earth, Existence, Startide Rising, and The Postman, which was adapted into a film in 1998. Brin serves on several advisory boards, including NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, or NIAC, and speaks or consults on topics ranging from AI, SETI, privacy, and invention to national security. His nonfiction book about the information age, The Transparent Society, won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. Brin’s latest nonfiction work is Polemical Judo. Visit him at www.davidbrin.com.
David Brin is an astrophysicist whose international-bestselling novels include Earth, Existence, Startide Rising, and The Postman, which was adapted into a film in 1998. Brin serves on several advisory boards, including NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, or NIAC, and speaks or consults on topics ranging from AI, SETI, privacy, and invention to national security. His nonfiction book about the information age, The Transparent Society, won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. Brin’s latest nonfiction work is Polemical Judo. Visit him at www.davidbrin.com.

Read an Excerpt

The award-winning Uplift novels comprise one of the greatest achievements in science fiction history. Dramatic, thought-provoking, and inventive, these books describe a fully realized world rich in character, detail, and ideas. Now Uplift author David Brin collaborates with acclaimed artist Kevin Lenagh to compile the definitive guide to the species, societies, and technology of one of the greatest feats of literary world-building
ever accomplished.

CONTACTING ALIENS

Here in the form of a handbook for Terran field agents is a detailed look at Uplift’s many alien races—from the friendly Tymbrimi to the warlike Tandu, from the wise and enigmatic Kanten to the fiercely reptilian Soro, from the bureaucratic Hoon to the manipulative Thennanin—their physiology, psychology, history; their clans and alliances; and their shifting attitudes toward Earth and its representatives.

Here, too, is a history of Earth’s contact and challenging interactions with the mysterious and powerful Civilization of Five Galaxies, a look at its institutions, languages, and customs, plus a time line of momentous events going back 3 billion years. For the millions of fans of the Uplift novels, this long-awaited guide will be an essential reference work, filled with vital information and never-before-seen illustrations that reveal, for the first time in one volume, the keys to the ambitious vision and bold speculation of the Uplift universe.

Editorial Reviews

David Brin's Uplift novels form one of the most thrilling cycles in science fiction history. These imaginative treasures also present an incomparably rich and intricate cosmology. To provide a road map to this 3 billion-year epic, Brin and celebrated artist Kevin Lenagh have created an illustrated guide to the Uplift Universe. If you have ever attempted to visualize a Kanten or to picture a lowly Soro, Contacting Aliens can assist you.

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