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Starseed  By  cover art

Starseed

By: Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson
Narrated by: Spider Robinson
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Publisher's summary

This sequel to Stardance returns to the rarified world of Top Step, an asteroid in orbit above 21st-century Earth. There, for the price of all one's worldly possessions, humans are able to live in a vaccum indefinitely by joining with a symbiotic lifeform that provides all needed nourishment.

For Rain McLeod, a 46-year-old dancer whose failing body is about to end her career, the Starseed program is the only way to continue living her dream. But for others, including several religious groups and power hungry countries back on earth, the existence of Stardancers represents a threat to all humanity. When a missle attack threatens Top Step and Rain's lover, Robert, is implicated as a prime suspect, Rain must choose between her private dream and the greater good in a world poised on the verge of an evolutionary leap.

Dancing with the stars: listen to the first book, Stardance.
©1991 Spider and Jeanne Robinson (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The Robinsons' message - that love and communication are what being human are really about - is delivered with plenty of action, high tech and character development in a story that moves along briskly." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Starseed

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Character confusion

It took me quite awhile to figure out that the main character was female. First it was a male narrator and second the Starseed books "sounds" very male. I'm not sure how Jeannie Robinson contributes but I don't think it is point of view.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A worthy follow-up

The first novel in this series (Stardance) was absolutely excellent, and this followed suit.

I was surprised at how little the notion of Spider reading the part of the (female) main character interfered... that can kill a book, in my opinion, but it worked here.

Once again, the description provided is a little off of the actual book... but it doesn't matter. Read it.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Female perspective with a male narrator

Pretty tough to struggle through. It was easier to imagine her as a him. Maybe worth a renarrative with multiple voices.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Over the hill dancer shooting for the stars

Starseed, by Spider and Jeanne Robinson is the second installment of the Stardance trilogy. The star dancers have produced a system for taking in new prospective star dancers. After selection, there is a 3-month space process before symbiosis. The bulk of the tale is the experience of a woman, Rain, whose dancing career on Earth is at an end. Most of the tale is a combination of learning to live in zero-g as well as a variant of Buddhism. There are 'accidents' that culminate in a plan to destroy the star dancers. Rain is in the middle of the conspiracy and returns to Earth to unearth the plot. New age spiritualism saves the day.

The Robinson duo sprinkle in zero-g effects, along with plenty of Eastern mysticism and a bit of Australian aboriginal walkabout with the mastermind plot that comes in at the end. There's a bit of humor with a mind reading maître d. All throughout dancing (and singing) is central to the story. Meanwhile, the star dancers keep offering Earth nanotech.

The narration is out of sync as the main character is female and the story is told entirely from her perspective, but the narrator is clearly male. Timing is fine for the comedic moments and pacing is brisk.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

worth the time and the cleaning of belief windows.

At first I struggled with a male narrator and fe.ale character, but then the telepathic magic happened and I realized how little that mattered to share the story. the books are a great way to clean the mind and laugh while running jumping standing still.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

must read!

the whole series is amazing. I can't believe how well the author captured what it's like to film in a spherical environment back before there were 360° cameras.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Open your mind to a new way of thinking

in order to like this book you have to be willing to look at life through a different angle. there are wonderful things to learn if you're willing to change your view.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it!!!]

Its Spider and Jeanne at their best. What more needs to be said?
Listen to it and rejoice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Spider & Jeanne

Spider reads as well as he and Jeanne write!!!! I'm very impressed and will continue to read Spider as long as I can ☺️.

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