Earthclan

I picked up the Book Club version of Earthclan in my foray into half price books. All told I think I now have 2-3 copies of these books floating around my parents and my house. I picked this one up specifically so I can hand it off to people without the trauma of having to chase down a stack of paperback books.

Brin is a wonderful author, but I think that Earthclan and it's prequel Sundiver are his best works of fiction. They aptly blend 'real' physics with futuristic space travel, and take a good look at what contact with aliens could be like. Products of the mid 1980's, they offer an interesting view of what life on Earth would be like as it evolves, and how life in the galaxy would view us. The best part is how the universe feels the same, even when alien science alters things, because Brin shows humanity's flaws and triumphs reflected in each of the races that he creates. And by the combination of all of these, he shows us ourselves.