Stardance [Import] [Hardcover]

Spider and Jeanne Robinson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: The Dial Press; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0283985259
• ISBN-13: 978-0283985256
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,691,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dance is a Verb, October 5, 2002

By 

Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stardance (Hardcover)

Come prepared for this book with a large box of tissues; those who find they don't need them while reading this book aren't really human. Spider and his wife Jeanne have created something here that is quite rare in the realms of science fiction, a true mating of music and dance with a story that could only be told within the non-confines of this field.

Charlie Armstead, former premier dancer who now makes his living as an audio-visual man for dance companies, meets Sharon Drummond, a young lady who has dedicated her life to being the best dancer possible. But Sharon, though incredibly excellent at her craft, can't get accepted by any dance company because she is physically too big. Charlie, seeing her dance, and knowing the problem she faces, tries to help by going independent with her, helping her define her own type of dance and properly filming it, but nothing works.

Here in this early section of the book, however, we are treated to the impossible: a description in words of music and dance that actually makes you see and hear the dance. This may be one of the most difficult feats of writing that I have ever read, to translate art forms from the totally different realm of the audio-visual into such a readable, coherent, mental painting that puts you right in the dance studio. And along the way, the Robinson's characters come to life, to where you can feel the triumphs and disappointments, the sweat and exhaustion, the exhilaration and despair of this pair.

Up to here, the story could have been told as normal fiction, but now comes the first of the elements that transform this from the world of everyday to the world of the future, as Sharon conceives the idea of doing her unique form of dance in free-fall at an orbiting space station. We watch as she adapts to the new environment, and modifies her dance to take advantage of its properties, and slowly we begin to see her creations as message, as a unique channel of communication.

This channel of communication forms one of the lynch-pins of the plot, and the Robinsons do an excellent job of melding their characters with both this item and the very plausible impediments that Sharon and Charlie must overcome. The conclusion to the first section of this book will shatter you; most of your tissue box will be depleted here. But there's much more, a logical yet surprising continuation that allows for a good exposition of the book's theme of the community of not just man, but a community of mind.

Excellent in almost every aspect, the first section of this book deservedly won both the 1977 Nebula and 1978 Hugo Novella awards. In this expansion to full book length it lost none of its power, and allowed for both greater character development and a vision of the future of mankind that speaks to the reader in an impossible to ignore voice. Keep your last tissue for the last line; you'll need it.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who can read, should read this book!, November 14, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stardance (Hardcover)

I was fortunate enough to find a copy of this book when I was
recently in Stuttgart, Germany. I had read all of Mr Robinson's
"Callahan" books and wanted more, even though I did
not hold out much hope for what I thought would be a poor
substitute for another "Callahan" novel, which is what I
actually wanted. Three hours and 2 hankies later, I was thrilled
to admit that I was wrong! This book, the story of several people
who overcome great handicaps in order to live out their dreams and fulfill their destinies, to become STARDANCERS, will make you laugh,
it will make you cry, and it will make you...
DANCE!

5.0 out of 5 stars Stardance, a truly uplifting view of humanity at its best, October 5, 1997

By 

Ryan Bedell ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stardance (Mass Market Paperback)

Spider Robinson is perhaps one of the best writers working in Science Fiction, period. In my estimation he compares favorably with the true masters and in Stardance he truly shines. A masterwork in the most real sense, this book shows us characters that are handed the worst life has to offer and consistently give it back their best. And that is what drives this peice. It's not the setting (a future Toronto and an orbital dance studio), it's not the ideas (free fall dance) and it's not the plot (Struggling and succeding to make art in the face of a world that refuses to listen) it's the characters. Charlie, Shara, Nora, all of them are truly real people that you expect to drop by someday for lunch. That you WISH would stop by for lunch. People you can love and a few people you can hate, but no one that you'll soon forget.

It's rare for writing to leave you feeling really good about humanity, especially in today's morass of pessimstic views of the past, present and future. This is what mak