Starmind

Stardance #3

by Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson

It is 2064. Earth is enjoying an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity, all due to the mysterious, benevolent Starmind, which has given humanity the resources to abolish war and exist in space. Art in all its forms flourishes, and Rand Porter finds his talent as a composer in great demand. So much so he is offered the prestigious title of Co-Artistic Director and Resident Shaper/Composer at the Shimizu Hotel - the finest, most luxurious hotel in High Earth Orbit. But prestige can have a price. And the Shimizu Hotel has suddenly become a hive of treachery and terrorism aimed at one purpose: the destruction of the Starmind. Now Rand must find a way to thwart the plot, or Earth will be destroyed. And humanity itself - so close to its final evolutionary stage - will cease to exist...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Audiobook, Romance, Canada

292 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author. He was born in the USA, but chose to live in Canada, and gained citizenship in his adopted country in 2002.

Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.

Reviews

[MissM · Rating 1 out of 5]

(I actually read this version: The Stardance Trilogy but I wanted to review each story separately)

I had so many problems with this story. From the same old rehashing of the villains to the repetitive themes and elements, a lot of this felt like it was weird filler that didn't actually mean anything except passing time until the big ending.

That big ending however, was what I truly despised about this book and what made me give it only 1 star. The entire series tells us - and even the basis of the story for this book and why Rand needed to go to space on such short notice - that some people simply cannot adapt to space. That they are born "perpendicular" and absolutely require a horizon. And yet, the culmination of this book every single human on the planet is forcibly ejected off said planet and forced to become a Stardancer. So....how does that work exactly for people who literally cannot live without "up" and "down?" Who knows.

Not to mention, it makes so much of the book moot. Why get into all these weird random "miracles" like cities being completely repaired and revitalized and weird almost "living" buildings sprouting up all over the planet if everyone's leaving anyway? What was the point? And what did the whole "spontaneous" healing stuff (like the dancer's ankle) have to do with anything?

The Fireflies seems like a bunch of asshole landlords kicking everyone off their planet in the name of "growth." Why is that a good thing? Why is leaving Earth behind supposed to be so awesome that they forced it on the entire human race?

Then you also have to think about the small things like millions of people's pets trapped in houses that are just going to die because the humans float off into space. Why does it make sense to just leave an entire planet and every other species behind like that? Why would this be a grand design? It just makes no sense.

I didn't like it. I thought it was pretentious. I thought it was nonsense and I also thought it was creepy rather than some amazing gift. This whole series as a concept was a lot neater to my 12-year old self obsessed with space than my 36-year old self who can look at it with mature eyes and see it's really just a weirdly preachy, frequently racist, and all-around hooky attempt at superiority in the form of faux-enlightenment drivel.

[Christina K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm with MissM's review above; the ending does not work. The plot doesn't really work. However, a lot of the stuff leading up to the (self-contradictory) ending and ignoring the (really convoluted) plot is quite enjoyable. I still like the characters, for the most part.

On the other hand, even though it's been years since I read this, the image that sticks with me is of a woman and her son being forcibly evicted from Earth. Freaking. Hell. People. This wasn't a "the Earth is dying we gotta move NOW" situation, which at least would have been understandable (as I remember it). This was "WHO TURNED OFF THE GRAVITY AIEEEEE." Also I remember a line from *somewhere* in this series about how, in space, with no gravity, "parent and child would be able to look each other in the eye, and do away with the conflict across generations." Ahahahah. Oh, Spider. The idealism, it burns. Like I said in my review of the first book, Stardance, you can tell this was written by a guy (and his wife, in this case) of a Certain Age and Political Inclination. Read it for the alien world-building, not the plot, and certainly not the politics.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't one of my favorite books, but I still think it's a great finish to the trilogy. It's a much more mature book than the other two in the series; instead of the story being focused on the playground of zero-gee living, it focuses on a real relationship and a nasty decision that an adult couple needs to make, with Robinson's fantastic treatment of life in space as a backdrop. There's also action and adventure and some tragedy to round it out. And the ending of the story is unique.

I do have to wonder what Robinson has against the Chinese. I wouldn't have approved any more if the main antagonists had been Muslim, but at least that would have been a bit more understandable. This focus on the Chinese is just weird.

[Jeff Yoak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robinson did an excellent job of rounding out the series. It had everything there was to love to in the earlier books, but eliminated their problems by actually almost never mentioning the Starmind and thus avoid the strange mysticism that surrounds them. There were normal humans with normal human problems that ultimately worked better.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ascend and rapture. Somewhat interesting, but I got bored halfway through this story.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story for the ending to the series, even if the end is a bit lovey. I think I prefer the first book as standalone, though the whole concept is a nice departure from most space stories.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a stand-alone rather than as the capstone to the series, so I didn't go into it with any expectations or preconceived notions. For that reason, I think I probably enjoyed it more than others more familiar with the backstory. I loved the beginning, kind of lost interest in the middle, and went into full "meh" with the ending. SF seems to have an obsession with evolution forced on humanity by aliens. *yawn* What started as an intimate family story quickly devolved into something with intergalactic scale, and I found it hard to find anything of interest to latch onto from then on. Blah, blah, forced evolution, blah. Why go through all the trouble of "fixing" the earth and it's current residents if you're going to expel all nine billion of them a few months later? Maybe this was all telegraphed in the previous two books, but based on this one by itself, the set-up didn't match the conclusion.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spider Robinson is the hero of the last book of this trilogy, again. In fact, Spider is the hero of all his books as others have suggested. Found this in the Audible Plus catalog (along with books 1 &2). The story was much the same as with the first and second books which was enjoyable until it degenerated into a sad and pathetic Pinky and the Brain world/universe domination 💩 fest.

As Spider is a Heinlein fan, he is unable to resist borrowing heavily from RAH. For example, the bit at the end of Starmind is a heavy borrow from Methuselah's Children, when LL and the Family are expelled from the first planet they encounter.

One final thought, why does the author insist on reading his books? He has a pleasant voice to be sure. However his knowledge of the book becomes a hindrance to this listener as he tends to slur words and passages he doesn’t seem to like.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spider still hasn’t convinced me that telepathy is the solution for every human problem. However, I am considering it more seriously....
Rhea and her husband live in a community on the Atlantic Ocean that het family has lived in for four generations. They have a daughter. Rand, the husband, has promised Rhea that he will NEVER ask her to leave Earth—-and then is offered the ideal job off-planet.
Spider and Jeanne do claw at your heart. I am SO not a dancer, so I am sure I miss several aspects of their stories. They do create characters that grab my heart, and plots that intrigue me. I do wonder why the Chinese are not protesting their books....

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhea Paixao is a writer who loves her home--Provincetown--too much to leave, even when her husband, composer-shaper Rand Porter, is offered an exclusive contract at the orbiting Shimizu Hotel. Rhea tries space, more for their daughter, Colly, but will not stay. Rand will not leave.

Eventually, the choice is taken out of her hands. The Stardancers and their Starmind have been moving toward the day when everyone will join them in space. After 65 years, and many sacrifices, they're ready. Another sabotage attempt almost causes a catastrophe, but mass symbiosis is achieved in the end. Rhea then realizes that she can have the best of both worlds.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

The culmination of the series. I love the way the authors' passions and philosophies play out in this book. I was a little thrown at first by the third person narration. It eventually was explained.

[Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rapturous end to the series

[Elis Griner · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
There's some stuff in the epilogue I could have skipped, but it was a fun book and a relaxing story.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 01.15.06

[Lynn Calvin]

baen ebook

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After three books, the notion that people vaguely related to Chen Ten Li want to kill all the Stardancers on account of HUMANZ FOREVER feels overplayed.

[Howard]

1

[Dragondreamsjen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning conclusion to a great series...

[Jeff Youngstrom]

My review from July 21, 1995
My review from January 30, 2002

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hokey ending to a book otherwise fairly interesting about, as I think another reviewer said, "real people in space."

[Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally found a copy!!, *SQUEEEE!*