Stardance

By: Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson

Narrated by: Spider Robinson

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Nebula Award Winner, Novella, 1977

Shara Drummond was a gifted dancer and a brilliant choreographer, but she could not pursue her dream of dancing on Earth. So she went to space, creating a new art form in three dimensions. And when the aliens arrived, there was only one way to prove that the human race deserved not just to survive, but to reach the stars. The only hope was Shara, with her stardance.

This novel is an expanded version of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Stardance novella, which pioneered the concept of zero gravity dance - and even sparked the interest of NASA.

Dancing with the stars: listen to the sequel, Starseed.

©1979 Spider and Jeanne Robinson (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A major work, not only as entertainment, but as a literary milestone." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Spider's masterpiece

It was incredible to hear the man himself read his work. An utter joy. Loved it.

fantastic story

great story and well told. sorry enough to listen to in one day but the concept introduced will probably stay with you for life...

great read

I wasn't sure where the story was going. It was worth sticking with it.

Superb Spider Robinson!

For metaphysical instruction and sheer joy, read this treasure Terry Brussel-Rogers Hypnotherapist/ Spiritual Teacher

Still a classic

Spider and Jeanne Robinson's classic Stardance is a novel of discovery. It isn't "space opera", and isn't even "alien contact", though certainly it involves contact with aliens. It's much more about dance and zero-G, than about aliens. I first read this book in the 70's, and I wasn't sure how well it would have stood the test of time, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes it's a bit dated, but still a compelling story, well told and well narrated by Spider Robinson. Usually, authors should not pretend to be narrators, but stick to their writing, but Mr.Robinson does a superb job of narration. All in all, well worth the credit.

AWESOME

My 5th time reading or listening to this trilogy and I Love it more everytime

Brilliant

This was a wonderful story. Really top notch science fiction.

I must say this however, Spider Robinson is not Robert Heinlein. Spider Robinson is Spider Robinson, and he is akin to the light rock motif within Sci-Fi. He is the Bryan Adams or Celine Dion of this Genre whereas RAH was the Beatles or Rolling Stones or Credence Clearwater Revival or Jimmi Hendrix of the genre. Never the twain shall meet.

With all of that being said this was a really great book. Spider Robinson comes up with a great concept and uses it to the fullest extent in order to put together a brilliantly written novel. Read it and read the sequel. The funny part is that this book was written back in 1979. I was two. But in an alternate future Beta max, which was developed by Sony, beat out the VHS that all us kids in the 80's and 90's grew up watching. But don't worry Spider Sony got its revenge 29 years later because Blu-Ray won the Hi-Def battle. This Anachronism was really humorous to me because it dated the book, but I looked at it like it was an alternate history. Dangit if only Beta max had won we could all be space angels now.

Wonderful!

This story was wonderful. It makes the rarely achieved mark of Science Fiction that qualifies as literature. "Stardance" delivers deep spiritual and philosophical view points that inspire self reflection on the state of man without beating you over the head and keeps the story light with humor and cynicism from believable 80's era archetypes that don't hesitate laugh at themselves.

I was skeptical about purchasing a "dance" story. The way Spider Robinson describes the dance sequences, though, is truly breathtaking, and he ties in the political and combative flavors of Sci-Fi that make this a very dynamic listen.

Interesting story of dance in zero gravity

My granddaughter is a dancer/gymnast.
This book has a fascinating plot and I wish she would read it.

I enjoyed the premise of the book and hope the further books in the series are equally interesting.

I didn’t enjoy the author’s reading though apparently most others have.

It’s my first listen to a novel by the author who seems to have been heavily influenced by Robert Heinlein.

a long-lost fav. I read this a loonnggg time ago.

finally, the paperback crumbled and got tossed. I'm so delighted to meet back up with this story and with this author. he tells the most improbable tales with such compassion. and I always love his characters.