Sundiver
Encyclopedia
Sundiver is a 1980 science fiction
novel
by David Brin
. It is the first book of his Uplift trilogy
, and was followed by the Hugo
and Nebula
award winning novel Startide Rising
in 1983.
where he saved the space elevator from destruction but lost his love in the process. An alien
friend of Demwa's, Fagin (a Kanten), contacts Demwa and offers him a job. Initially reluctant to return to his previous life as a scientific investigator, Demwa agrees to attend a secret meeting, At which he learns that there are “ghosts” appearing in the Sun
's chromosphere
. The ghosts are without precedent in the galactic library.
Demwa agrees to come and investigate the origin and purpose of the sun-ghosts, and travels to Mercury
where the sundiver project is based. With him on Mercury are: Helene deSilva, the attractive station commander with whom Jacob develops a relationship over the course of the book; Fagin; Pila Bubbacub, the library representative; his assistant Culla (a Pring); Dr. Dwayne Kepler (the head of the Sundiver expedition); Dr. Mildred Martine (a psychiatrist
); and the exuberant journalist
Peter LaRoque.
Demwa goes to the sun, and observes the sun-ghosts. There are apparently three forms: the “toroids” which appear to be similar to cattle and live off of the magnetic fields in the chromosphere, a relatively fluid, apparently intelligent variety, and a threatening, anthropomorphic figure that avoids the side of the sunship where the instruments are located. When a neo-chimpanzee scientist, Dr. Jeffrey, is killed on a solo mission to the sun, it seems to confirm the sun-ghosts' hostile intent. An investigation seems to implicate the reporter, LaRoque. LaRoque is then tested to determine if he is capable of murder. The test results indicate LaRoque has violent tendencies, and LaRouque is incarcerated.
A third trip to the sun is undertaken, in hopes that Pil Bubbacub will be able to contact the sun-ghosts. He fails to do so, but claims to have succeeded, saying that the sun-ghosts are offended and have used psi
to control LaRoque’s actions. He uses a powder that blocks the ships sensors to pretend he has dispelled the sun-ghosts because he is embarrassed by the Library's lack of data on the ghosts. Back on Mercury, Jacob discovers his trick, and reveals it, resulting in disgrace to Bubbacub and embarrassment for the Pila.
The characters go on yet another mission into the sun, this time with a laser to communicate with the sun-ghosts. They make brief contact with one of the ghosts before an anthropomorphic ghost appears and warns them against further exploration of the sun. While they are leaving the anthropomorphic ghost, they discover that one of Culla’s dietary supplements is a dye used in tunable lasers, and combining this with an earlier conversation about Culla's eyesight, Demwa concludes that Culla can project laser light from his eyes, and has been faking the anthropomorphic ghosts. When Culla realizes he has been discovered he retreats to the instrument side of the ship and begins disabling the equipment that propels the sunship so that it will fall into the photosphere, taking all evidence of his deception with it. The sun-ghosts use toroids to arrest the ship’s fall, but eventually they give out, and the ship plummets. While Demwa and one of the crew attempt to disable Culla, Helene discovers that only the galactic technology has been sabotaged, and uses the refrigerator laser as a thruster to move the ship out of the sun. Culla is killed, and the ship eventually escapes the sun, though all but Fagin temporarily “die” of hypothermia
and frostbite
from the refrigerator laser. The ship’s records are recovered, showing that Culla used his laser sight to discredit Bubbacub, as part of a campaign to free his species from its client status, and then to sabotage the ship when he was discovered to prevent the Pila from finding out.
Although set in the same universe as the rest of the other Uplift books, it is set a considerable amount of time before the other books, and shares none of the same characters, apart from Jacob Demwa, who is mentioned as the mentor of Tom Orley and Gillian Baskin, and Helene Alvarez (née deSilva), who is mentioned in Startide Rising
as Credeiki's former captain aboard the James Cook and who appears in The Uplift War
to sign a treaty with the Thennanin.
from the ship, is used again in Heaven's Reach
.
in the First Novel category.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by David Brin
David Brin
Glen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...
. It is the first book of his Uplift trilogy
Uplift Universe
The Uplift Universe is a fictional universe created by science fiction writer David Brin. A central feature in this universe is the process of biological uplift.His books which take place in this universe:* Sundiver...
, and was followed by the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and Nebula
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
award winning novel Startide Rising
Startide Rising
Startide Rising is a 1983 science fiction novel by David Brin and the second book of six set in his Uplift Universe . It earned both Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel...
in 1983.
Plot summary
The novel begins with the main character, Jacob Demwa, working at the center for uplift on Earth, while he recovers from a tragedy at the Vanilla Space NeedleSpace elevator
A space elevator, also known as a geostationary orbital tether or a beanstalk, is a proposed non-rocket spacelaunch structure...
where he saved the space elevator from destruction but lost his love in the process. An alien
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
friend of Demwa's, Fagin (a Kanten), contacts Demwa and offers him a job. Initially reluctant to return to his previous life as a scientific investigator, Demwa agrees to attend a secret meeting, At which he learns that there are “ghosts” appearing in the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
's chromosphere
Chromosphere
The chromosphere is a thin layer of the Sun's atmosphere just above the photosphere, roughly 2,000 kilometers deep....
. The ghosts are without precedent in the galactic library.
Demwa agrees to come and investigate the origin and purpose of the sun-ghosts, and travels to Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
where the sundiver project is based. With him on Mercury are: Helene deSilva, the attractive station commander with whom Jacob develops a relationship over the course of the book; Fagin; Pila Bubbacub, the library representative; his assistant Culla (a Pring); Dr. Dwayne Kepler (the head of the Sundiver expedition); Dr. Mildred Martine (a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
); and the exuberant journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Peter LaRoque.
Demwa goes to the sun, and observes the sun-ghosts. There are apparently three forms: the “toroids” which appear to be similar to cattle and live off of the magnetic fields in the chromosphere, a relatively fluid, apparently intelligent variety, and a threatening, anthropomorphic figure that avoids the side of the sunship where the instruments are located. When a neo-chimpanzee scientist, Dr. Jeffrey, is killed on a solo mission to the sun, it seems to confirm the sun-ghosts' hostile intent. An investigation seems to implicate the reporter, LaRoque. LaRoque is then tested to determine if he is capable of murder. The test results indicate LaRoque has violent tendencies, and LaRouque is incarcerated.
A third trip to the sun is undertaken, in hopes that Pil Bubbacub will be able to contact the sun-ghosts. He fails to do so, but claims to have succeeded, saying that the sun-ghosts are offended and have used psi
Psi (parapsychology)
Psi is a term from parapsychology derived from the Greek, ψ psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek ψυχή psyche, "mind, soul".-Etymology:...
to control LaRoque’s actions. He uses a powder that blocks the ships sensors to pretend he has dispelled the sun-ghosts because he is embarrassed by the Library's lack of data on the ghosts. Back on Mercury, Jacob discovers his trick, and reveals it, resulting in disgrace to Bubbacub and embarrassment for the Pila.
The characters go on yet another mission into the sun, this time with a laser to communicate with the sun-ghosts. They make brief contact with one of the ghosts before an anthropomorphic ghost appears and warns them against further exploration of the sun. While they are leaving the anthropomorphic ghost, they discover that one of Culla’s dietary supplements is a dye used in tunable lasers, and combining this with an earlier conversation about Culla's eyesight, Demwa concludes that Culla can project laser light from his eyes, and has been faking the anthropomorphic ghosts. When Culla realizes he has been discovered he retreats to the instrument side of the ship and begins disabling the equipment that propels the sunship so that it will fall into the photosphere, taking all evidence of his deception with it. The sun-ghosts use toroids to arrest the ship’s fall, but eventually they give out, and the ship plummets. While Demwa and one of the crew attempt to disable Culla, Helene discovers that only the galactic technology has been sabotaged, and uses the refrigerator laser as a thruster to move the ship out of the sun. Culla is killed, and the ship eventually escapes the sun, though all but Fagin temporarily “die” of hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
and frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
from the refrigerator laser. The ship’s records are recovered, showing that Culla used his laser sight to discredit Bubbacub, as part of a campaign to free his species from its client status, and then to sabotage the ship when he was discovered to prevent the Pila from finding out.
Although set in the same universe as the rest of the other Uplift books, it is set a considerable amount of time before the other books, and shares none of the same characters, apart from Jacob Demwa, who is mentioned as the mentor of Tom Orley and Gillian Baskin, and Helene Alvarez (née deSilva), who is mentioned in Startide Rising
Startide Rising
Startide Rising is a 1983 science fiction novel by David Brin and the second book of six set in his Uplift Universe . It earned both Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel...
as Credeiki's former captain aboard the James Cook and who appears in The Uplift War
The Uplift War
The Uplift War is a 1987 science fiction novel by David Brin and the third book of six set in his Uplift Universe. It was nominated as the best novel for the 1987 Nebula Award and won the 1988 Hugo and Locus Awards...
to sign a treaty with the Thennanin.
Technology
The technique used to escape the sun alive when the Galactics' technology is sabotaged, using a refrigeration laser to dump the solar heatHeat pump
A heat pump is a machine or device that effectively "moves" thermal energy from one location called the "source," which is at a lower temperature, to another location called the "sink" or "heat sink", which is at a higher temperature. An air conditioner is a particular type of heat pump, but the...
from the ship, is used again in Heaven's Reach
Heaven's Reach
Heaven's Reach is the third novel in the Uplift Storm series by David Brin. Like the first two, it follows the adventures of the Terran scout ship, Streaker...
.
Awards and nominations
Sundiver was a nominee for the 1981 Locus AwardLocus Award
The Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
in the First Novel category.
Publication history
- 1980, USA, Bantam Book ISBN 978-0553133127, Pub date 1980, Paperback
- 1985, USA, Spectra ISBN 978-0553269826, Pub date 1 January 1985, Paperback
- 2001, USA, Recorded Books ISBN 978-0788753305, Pub Date 2001, Cassette
Translations
- ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 太阳潜入者, 2011 - BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
: Потапяне в Слънцето, 2001 - FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Jusqu'au coeur du soleil ("To the heart of the sun"), 1980 - GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Sonnentaucher ("Sun diver"), 2001 - ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: Spedizione Sundiver ("Sundiver expedition"), 1980 - PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: Słoneczny nurek ("Sun diver"), 1995 - RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: ("The Jump into the Sun"), 1995, 2002 - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Navegante solar ("Solar navigator"), 1993, 1994