Starmind

By: Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson

Narrated by: Spider Robinson

This concluding novel in the Stardance Trilogy takes readers to the year 2064. Earth is enjoying an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity due to the Starmind, a universal overmind engineered by benevolent aliens.

Art in all its forms flourishes, and composer Rand Porter has been offered the job of a lifetime as a shaper of visual effects and music in High Orbit for the world's most famous zero-gravity dance company. But his beloved novelist wife, Rhea Paixao, has her roots sunk deep in the Earth and her beloved Cape Cod.

As they wrestle with their private dilemma, bizarre things - small miracles, really - are beginning to occur everywhere on Earth and throughout the entire Solar System. The human race and its evolutionary successors, the space-dwelling Stardancers, find themselves approaching the terrifying cusp of their shared destiny, an appointment made for them a million years ago - a make-or-break point beyond which nothing, anywhere, can ever be the same again.

Dancing with the stars: listen to the rest of the Stardance trilogy.©1994 Spider and Jeanne Robinson (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Not surprisingly, the novel features the authors' usual well-drawn characters." (Publishers Weekly)
"The Robinsons' novels are a wonderful antidote to cynicism and despair...they are permeated with a sense of tolerance, compassion, and joyfulness." (The Georgia Straight)

Wonderful Conclusion

Any additional comments?

Listening to Spider Robinson tell his stories is such a treat. He ended this series beautifully and left me content instead of feeling like something wasn't finished. I do enjoy the way he ties up all the loose ends. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys any of Spider's books. It's definitely classic "him."

Great story, until the ending.

Gotta say, the last 45 minutes through to the ending almost undid all enjoyment I've experienced through the first two books, and this third up to that point.

I'd managed to ignore the increasingly less-subtle foreshadowing and references to "humans are killing the planet OMG!!!" throughout books two and three. As well, the more and more tortured use of the analogy that "babies who don't leave the womb, either by choice or by force, kill both themselves and their mother".

So the answer is the forced removal of all humans from planet Earth, against their will(s), and turning them into a new human species variant that can never again exist in a gravity well? So much for free will I guess.

Like I said, had me right up until that stupid ending. So sad. What a waste.

One of my go to books

I've read the Stardancer trilogy roughly once a year for years, since back when it was in worn out paperbacks. When Spider finally released the audio versions, I was thrilled because he does such an awesome job of reading his books and others.

The trilogy, like his Lifehouse trilogy, gives me hope. I want them to be true. If they can't be, I want to live as if they are. Spider and Jeanne first introduced me to meditation and that will have to do for now.

this author is really good

it's so refreshing to have a new type of subject where it isn't some sappy romance novel but a story with an actual plot. I love the way he describes human emotions and the narration is excellent.

Great Story

Wonderful conclusion to the series. As with the other recordings, listening to Spider Robinson's voice really brings the characters to life. Only (small) issue with the recording is the overall volume has too wide a range. The loudest parts are clearly being used for effective storytelling, but it makes it had to find a consistent, relative-ambient volume to listen to. It was better in headphones, but listening via bluetooth speaker while working led, to a lot of manually adjusting the volume as Spider's boomed in spots and was a mere whisper in others.

Closure on the Stardance trilogy

Starmind is the third and final installment in Spider & Jeanne Robinson's Stardance trilogy. The stardancers have been around for a while, but the main focus is with a choreographer, his spouse, and his brother. The choreographer accepts a prestigious position at an exclusive resort in space. This creates issues with his spouse. At the same time, assassination attempts on the lives of wealthy people take place at the resort. Almost at the end, a secret conspiracy to destroy the stardancers is hatched but foiled again by Buddhist practices. This leads to Childhood's End finale.

The Robinson duo spend an inordinate amount of time in melodrama with interludes of dancing and philosophical digressions with a rushed action sequence that incredibly for how complicated the plot turns out to be has actually developed with no one the wiser. There's also the notion introduced that first alien contact occurs once an intelligent species takes up the practice of creating art which sort of says cave paintings and classical music are not really art.

The narration is pretty good with excellent timing for the comedic elements.

Great Listen

Any additional comments?

I loved the narration by Spider Robinson. He is a lively good reader. The fact that he is reading his own story is even better as you get the inflection that the author intends for the story. Interesting story that will keep you absorbed.

One of the Novels that Heralded the Second Renaissance of Science Fiction

Hugo and Nebula award winning Stardance is greatly under appreciated in its unique depiction of inclusion and core concepts of the science fiction genre. It’s sequels indelibly complement the original publication with satisfying plot progressions, underscoring the transition of humanity to space. The authors’ writing is well structured and does not suffer from digression. The Buddhist themes underpin each part of the trilogy and each character. The Stardance is a true classic and in some ways prophetic in its treatment of opposing elements of humanity vying for the conflicting themes of survival and dominance. My all-time favorite read; a copy of it follows me wherever I go….

End of the trilogy

While entertaining, a bit "deus ex machina" for my taste.

Good story, excellent character development.

Great performance by Spyder! I recommend it. I liked the story, and the characters, especially if you re a dancer.