Sundiver (The Uplift Saga, #1)

This is one of those "famous trilogies" people kept referring me to. David Brin is also the author of The Postman. Overall I enjoyed reading these books, they're fun and undemanding and vaguely interesting. But also a bit, well, childish. Especially Sundiver, which suffers from some difficult plot problems. The general theme is humanity's role in a universe populated by galactic civilizations with billions of years of history. We're newcomers and outsiders; our kooky ways of doing things make us interesting and save the world. Some interesting moments, and generally an entertaining read.