David Brin

Biography

David Brin is a scientist, public speaker and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages. Novels include bold and prophetic explorations of our near future, including The Postman, Earth and Existence.

His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. David's novel Kiln People has been called a book of ideas disguised as a fast-moving and fun noir detective story, set in a future when new technology enables people to physically be in more than two places at once. A hardcover graphic novel The Life Eaters explored alternate outcomes to World War II, winning nominations and high praise.

David's science fictional Uplift Universe explores a future when humans genetically engineer animals to join our civilization.

Where to find David Brin online

Where to buy in print

Books

Existence
Price: $8.99 USD. Words: 240,680. Language: English. Published: January 23, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » General, Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi
Gerald Livingston is an orbital garbage collector. High over the Earth, he spots something unusual and pulls it in, sparking rumors across the globe about an alien artifact. Is the artifact a message in a bottle? An alien capsule that wants to communicate… or deliver a dire warning? Might this push our troubled planet over the brink of chaos? Brin delivers a vivid novel of the near future.
Kiln People
Price: $7.99 USD. Words: 164,310. Language: English. Published: January 21, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » General, Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure
Albert Morris is a private investigator. Actually, he’s lots of PIs. For in his world each person can be in many places at once, by making cheap disposable, kiln-baked clay copies! Handling several cases at once, it's crucial Albert doesn’t lose track of his ditto-selves. But that happens when he's is pulled into a plot that could throw his life and the whole world - into chaos.
Sundiver
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 100,450. Language: English. Published: July 10, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi, Fiction » Science fiction » Space opera
In all the universe, no species reached for the stars without “uplift” guidance, except possibly humankind. Did some cryptic patron race begin the job long ago, then abandon us? Or did we leap all by ourselves? That question burns, yet a greater mystery looms ahead, in the furnace of a star. Under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage of our history.
The Ancient Ones
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 51,860. Language: English. Published: July 8, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure, Fiction » Humor & comedy » Satire
We never expected that inventing Star-Drive would lead to this. It seemed the galaxy would be ours to lead and to share! Till we met demmies - brilliant and impulsive, but exasperating. And lucky. Gradually, it dawned on humanity -- it's how we pictured ourselves. As the impulsive-lucky ones. Only now… they reverently call us 'The Ancient Ones'. A new science fiction comedy from David Brin.
The Escape: A Confrontation in Four Scenes
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 9,590. Language: English. Published: July 7, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Literature » Plays & Screenplays, Plays » Religious & Liturgical
One of the oldest notions in fantasy is a hero’s confrontation with the supernatural. Humans are forever pondering some way to change the hand they’re dealt. From Gilgamesh and Odysseus to Faust and Daniel Webster, fascinating characters have tried arguing with fate or divine will… or the Devil. A hyper-modernist, science fictional take on this classic theme.
The Postman
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 94,300. Language: English. Published: July 2, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure, Fiction » Adventure » Action
He was a survivor—a wanderer who traded tales for food and shelter in the dark and savage aftermath of a devastating war. Fate touches him one chill winter’s day when he borrows the jacket of a long-dead postal worker to protect himself from the cold. The old, worn uniform still has power as a symbol of hope, and with it he begins to weave his greatest tale, of a nation on the road to recovery.
The Practice Effect
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 94,470. Language: English. Published: June 17, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure, Fiction » Adventure » General
Physicist Dennis Nuel was the first human to probe the strange realms called anomaly worlds — alternate universes where the laws of science were unpredictably changed. But the world Dennis discovered seemed almost like our own — with one perplexing difference. To his astonishment, things don't work as they do on earth...
Polemical Judo: Memes for Our Political Knife-Fight
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 93,780. Language: English. Published: February 18, 2020 . Categories: Nonfiction » Politics & Current Affairs » Government, Nonfiction » Politics & Current Affairs » Democracy
A brazen guide for sane Americans to bypass trench warfare and win our life or death struggle for civilization. Are we in phase 8 of America’s 250 year civil war? This book explores the possibility of using agility — winning political battles with the shifting dexterity of jiu jitsu — that never occurs to many politicians or strategists.
Otherness
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 99,110. Language: English. Published: October 26, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author
An extraordinary collection of tales and essays about the near and distant future, as humans encounter the secrets of the cosmos – and their own existence. What if education were extended into the womb? What happens when an archaeologist discovers a terrible secret under the landfills of Los Angeles? Will ‘natural’ humans still have a role when cybernetic humans surpass them in nearly all ways?
Piecework
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 10,150. Language: English. Published: October 8, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Cyberpunk, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
In this chilling, award-nominated tale, a master of modern science fiction lets us glimpse an all-too possible near future when science, economics and individual dignity clash across the most intimate battlefield of all -- pregnancy. Might poor women earn a living by renting out their wombs for industrial "piecework" production of high-end organic machinery?
Dr. Pak's Preschool
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 10,430. Language: English. Published: September 26, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Utopias & dystopias
(5.00 from 1 review)
What if education could be extended into the womb? Will we get brilliant, well-balanced babies? Monsters? Or a frightening/hopeful combination of both? Chilling and plausible and under option to be made a feature film, "Dr. Pak's Preschool" explores the bright and very dark possibilities when science meddles in the most intimate human act - bearing and delivering a child.
Heart of the Comet
Price: $6.99 USD. Words: 173,260. Language: English. Published: June 5, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi, Fiction » Science fiction » Space opera
By DAVID BRIN and GREGORY BENFORD -- David Brin and Gregory Benford come together again to issue a new edition of their bold collaboration about our near human future in space, planting our boots . . . and staking our destiny . . . on becoming the People of the Comet. Prescient and scientifically accurate, Heart of the Comet is known as one of the great "hard sf" novels of the 1980s.
The Giving Plague
Price: Free! Words: 7,280. Language: English. Published: May 26, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
(4.17 from 6 reviews)
Not all villains succeed at being evil. Not all diseases deserve the word plague. Fate can be ironic indeed. The chilling short story, The Giving Plague, follows microbiologist Forry, a self-proclaimed cynic, as he encounters a virus transmitted by blood donations that could alter humanity for good, forcing him to wrestle with his own inner demons.
The River of Time
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 90,290. Language: English. Published: February 25, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
The River of Time brings together twelve of David Brin’s stories , including The Crystal Spheres, which won the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story of the year. Here are powerful tales of heroism and humanity, playful excursions into realms of fancy, and profound meditations on time, memory, and our place in the universe.
Gorilla, My Dreams
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 9,250. Language: English. Published: October 4, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Humor & comedy, Fiction » Science fiction » Space opera
(4.00 from 1 review)
A comedy set in David Brin’s Uplift Universe. In the distant future, chimpanzees and dolphins have been uplifted to starfaring status -- and are helping humans choose the next species for uplift, when powerful alien starships arrive to wipe out all life on Earth.
Tank Farm Dynamo
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,180. Language: English. Published: July 14, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
Can a sci fi story alter the course of something ponderous, like the space program? Perhaps. "Tank Farm Dynamo" sure tried! What if we found the nerve, the spirit and daring to use every resource - including those that NASA simply threw away? An unabashedly old-fashioned hard SF story with science and technology as central, problem-solving players... plus a real twist.
Disputation Arenas: Harnessing Conflict and Competitiveness
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,300. Language: English. Published: July 14, 2011 . Categories: Essay » Legal, Nonfiction » Law » Alternative Dispute Resolution
How can we harness the vast potential of the internet to actively solve problems? A venue where adversaries must actively answer each others' accusations, criticisms and complaints. A place where one group's vision -- or model of the world -- can be tested, dented, appraised... and possibly improved.
Reality Check
Price: Free! Words: 1,370. Language: English. Published: June 25, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Utopias & dystopias
(3.00 from 1 review)
Do you ever get that sense of deja vu...a feeling that you've experienced something before? As computers get more and more complex, they are able to replicate the nature of reality in ever finer detail. How would we recognize if we were living in a computer simulation – a highly accurate world of virtual reality? Perhaps this isn't your first time...
Thor Meets Captain America
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 10,100. Language: English. Published: June 24, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Apocalyptic, Fiction » Visionary & metaphysical
Thor Meets Captain America offers an alternate history exploring a chilling scenario behind the Holocaust. In this parallel world, the Nazis narrowly avoid defeat in World War II when they are championed by the gods of the Norse Pantheon. At a dramatic turn, Loki joins the Allies and they prepare a last-ditch raid to blow up Valhalla. With an afterword by the author.
Stones of Significance
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 9,630. Language: English. Published: June 24, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Utopias & dystopias
The Singularity -- when our skill & knowledge & immense computing power transform us into... well... godlike beings. From a writer's perspective, it presents a problem. One can write stories leading up to the Singularity, about problems like rebellious AI. But how do you write a tale set after the singularity has happened? That's the topic of Stones of Significance.
The Crystal Spheres
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,200. Language: English. Published: June 24, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Space opera, Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi
In a universe filled with habitable worlds why have we had no contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? David Brin's short story, "The Crystal Spheres," offers a fantastic explanation for the Great Silence. Instead of being late-comers - might humanity have come upon the scene too early? This haunting tale was voted one of the "most beautiful" of the eighties. Winner of the 1985 Hugo Award .
The Loom of Thessaly
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 16,680. Language: English. Published: June 23, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
(4.00 from 1 review)
Who guides our fate? And can we ever hope to wrest control for ourselves? In this novella, David Brin merges classical mythology with impudent modern spirit in a science fiction legend that speculates upon the nature of reality. With an afterword by the author.

David Brin's tag cloud

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