David Brin writes about a lot of the stuff I see on websites lately. I’m surprised it took so long to connect one with another. If I were trying to illustrate a metaphysical concept in a “contemporary” or more familiar setting this is how I would do it. And some of this stuff is just fascinating for it novelty.
For example, his first book Sundiver (1980) takes place in the Sun, exploring the creatures that live there. The creatures are blames for killing a scientist, when it’s really another person.
Then the Uplift War books introduce a fantastic future where the closest 5 galaxies are full of intelligent lift which genetically modifies species to give them sentience. For this the new race servers their progenitors for many thousands of years. The idea that a race could Uplift itself into sentience is laughed at and they all wonder who worked on the humans and then left half way. Humans avoid “adoption” (i.e. servitude), because they have already passed a right of passage and begun to uplift chimps and dolphins. All the aliens are fanatically environmentalist.
Startide Rising is the best of the books. It tells the story of the first dolphin crewed ship discovering ancient ships the size of moons on their first flight. Almost every race listens to the first few moments of discovery sent by the dolphin ship and races to take the knowledge. The ship flees to a water planet for repairs as the races, aligned along religious and racial boundaries, fight over who will go down and claim the tiny ship.
Earth was written in 1990, but predicts many of the advances brought by the Internet. There are massive overpopulation and environmental issues. Species are dying out quickly even as some people work to revive lost ones like the wholly mammoths. In the very climactic ending the Internet goes into the planet along the lines of damage caused by 2 sides fighting and provides as voice to a planetary consciousness.
The Kiln People is recent and describes a future where it is possible to duplicate oneself in clay beings that have a 1 day life-span. So, in the morning you make a copy to clean the house, another to run errands, and you go to work. Or you might make a copy to do something very hazardous. Then you can choose to inload the memories from the copy or discard them.