The Uplift War parallels Startide Rising with a slightly bigger story, this time starring uplifted chimps instead of dolphins, and focuses on a smaller group of aliens with the bird-like Gubru as the enemy, and a few friendly Tymbrimi diplomats. The plot is fairly similar to the previous book. In the wake of discovery of an ancient fleet, aliens hold human hostage in hopes of concessions, and humans fight back using cunning guerrilla tactics. Young people come into their own against a backdrop of war. Brin doesn't reveal any big secrets here, but some parts of the setting are fleshed out further.

The story takes place on Garth, a planet devastated when an older uplifted predatory race reverted and killed everything larger than a mouse. Terrans got the colony in the hopes that'd they'd repair the collapsing ecosystem. The outpost is overwhelmed by an aggressive galactic race who use a delayed-action gas to hold the humans hostage, and it's up to kids to fight the good fight. Robert Oneagle is the son of the colony administrator and the last free human, who becomes a Tarzan-like warrior. Athlaclena is the daughter of the Tymbrimi ambassador, and must navigate her own feelings of isolation while being the only 'neutral' adult active in the resistance. Fiben is a young chimpanzee who doesn't know when to give up on the resistance.

There are lots of moments that are really neat: Garth's trees exchange molecules at jungle cenotes, forming a continental molecular web that the resistance uses as a secure comms network; The chimps have developed their own rave-like Thunder Dance party culture; The whole mystery of how the Gubru can unerringly track down all human technology; the triune Gubru command structure; Rumors of surviving native Garthlings, and how it leads to the ultimate practical joke. After reading this book, I finally get why Galactic culture looks the way it does, how the elaborate rituals and rules protect the galaxy from holocaust, and why the Terrans are so threatening to the established order.

There are a lot of fun moments, cool bits of science and culture, and some decent characters, but this story still feels peripheral. All the parts are better developed, but the plot and character beats still feel a lot like Startide Rising. Less dolphin haiku, but also less gonzo. I can't quite put my finger on it, but some indefinable thing is missing, and that prevents this book from being truly great.