Spider Robinson

Tracking indicates otherwise, but this is my second time reading this book. I have two separate, both complimentary, ways of looking at this book. One more general, one more personal.
First, the Callahan's stories are some of Robinson's best known and loved works. A great humorist and writer, Robinson is perhaps at his best merging many of his personal loves and thoughts with this fun fictional universe. Scifi, fantasy, comedy, music, slice of life...Callahan's is a great pioneering example show more of what might be called 'slipstream' fiction today. Infallibly positive and heartwarming with thoroughly grounded caricatures, there's really little to dislike here.
Second...Callahan's were among some of my Aunt's favorite genre books. I have some theories as to why, but ultimately these were the only books as a kid she wouldn't just let me have from her collection. I suspect she may have had similar reasons me.
Its a less than closely guarded secret, but I've been to Callahan's. Oh, I never wrote to Robinson and got one of the chit's or a secret message bout the locale. But see, Callahan's used to be in a lot of places. Its become more and more difficult to find over the years as Mike has had to close down...too much influencer culture, too much lack of community, too much gentrification, you get the idea.
I shouldn't do this to myself, but maybe it will help...See, *my* Callahan's was just like described, save it was nestled in a neglected arts district, surrounded by less than ideal neighborhoods in a major city. But those of us, newcomers, old time hippies that never left, oddball immigrants from England to Vietnam, everyone nearby that was inclined, we had a Callahan's. In our bar, Mike went by Craig, and sure, he had gone grey (and pretended to just be a fan of Robinson's books rather than a star) but was otherwise the same guy. Oh, there were superficial differences, you gotta cater to the locals a little, one side of the bar was all cozy nooks, low tables, egyptian influenced hippy decorations, and the other side was a little more what one might expect...lots of wood, brass rails, etc. And yeah, Craig had partners (that brit and vietnamese immigrant I mentioned, we always celebrated Insurrection Day) and some old hippies he had known for decades. It was just like described though...we all helped clean up if we were still around at the end of the night, got people home safely, invited new folks who might need the community and kept an eye on newcomers who came in on their own and took care of trouble if it came up. We all helped each other, and the place, celebrating birthdays, holidays, weddings, and wakes, just like they talk about. Shared pain decreases, shared joy increases. 'Employees' (and realistically, most of the regulars) lived in walking distance or barely outside it and we took turns running the place for them so they could have some nights to enjoy the place themselves for free.
But then...Craig left us, pretty unexpectedly. Our Jake, that brit Tina, tried to keep it together but even with all our help it was tough. Then gentrification started pushing folks further and further out of the area. Once no one who worked there could afford to live there anymore, and a lot of the long timers who didn't rent got squeezed out, it moved in the small business area. We had one last night...regulars and employees stretching back decades packed the place wall to wall as they were let in through the back door instead of the carefully locked and barred front. It was glorious and sad. I carried a lot folks to and from cars, up stairs and to beds that night. As was not entirely unheard of, some of us slept in the bar. We had our final Free Lunches.
About a year later, I risked a drive through the old neighborhood...it had changed so much I had problems even looking at it. I peaked in at the old bar. It looked like a thousand other trendy places you can find on social media. It was cold and sterile. No one working there, none of the customers, knew each other. No one lived within 30 minutes. No more free lunches. no more blessings. no more toasts. no more Mike getting your problems out without prying. No more Callahan's. I think about that every time I read one of these books. show less

Just to be clear - I feel that the first two books in this series warrant a minimum of 4 stars, for their creativity and thought-provoking stories.

What drags the series down to two stars is the third book, Starmind, which basically just erases the message of voluntary Symbiosis that was emphasized in the first two books, especially Starseed.

I really enjoyed Stardance and Starseed. Sure, the author and his wife have certain political inclinations - although they certainly are not the first, show more or only SF authors to let their beliefs bleed into their work - but in the first two books the narrative was more balanced and enjoyable.

However, in Starmind, everything just goes out the window, in some cases literally. It is hammered into the reader, especially with Starseed, that some people simply can not handle zero-gee. That was the point of Top Step, and its intensive program where many people failed out and returned to Earth and it was emphasized that there was no shame in that - some people are simply born/evolved to need gravity and that becoming a Stardancer was supposed to be entirely voluntary, a joyful experience for those who go through it.

Hell, even in this final step, there's a handful that can't make it through Symbiosis, as is explained to Morgan at Top Step while she is learning about Symbiosis and what it does to the human mind. but at the very least those unfortunate few people had volunteered to go through the experience, so no one could really be blamed for their 'deaths' - it was just bad luck. Some of those people were able to be 'revived' after a while but some of them remained dead. However, the total number was incredibly low because as I said, the whole preparation process already filters out/eliminates a lot of people before Symbiosis.

Point is, in Stardance and Starseed, willingness/openness is the vital element to Symbiosis, above everything else.

Apparently the authors decided 'fuck it' with the conclusion to this series and everyone has to become a Stardancer whether they like it or not. Not only that, but we have pretty much the same exact type of villains here that was present in the first two books -terrorists who are afraid/resentful of the Fireflies and want to kill them and the Stardancers (or weaponize them)

Why is it that so many third books in trilogies suck? Mockingjay, Allegiant, and now this. It would have been better if Stardance/Starseed had remained a duology, since the ending of Starseed was pretty satisfactory. show less

"If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait."
Robert A. Heinlein



"Finishing" a book left by a dead author almost never works out. While Variable Star was written by Spider Robinson from notes left by the science-fiction superstar, it comes across as more of an homage than a bastard novel.

Joel Johnston is a college student on Earth, hailing show more from the farms of Ganeymede. He finds himself running from the solar system, leaving behind a failed romance and everything he ever knew, aboard the starship Sheffield. Joel meets many new people, and has many lows and friends. The ship has crises aplenty, and I won't ruin any of the surprises. The Sheffield, and its destination Brasil Novo, are world-building at its grandest.

The stock Heinlein situations and societies have been deftly updated to reflect current technologies and cosmologies as we now understand them. The science fails to overwhelm, but is present in abundance when needed, with pleasant, helpful air. The reader almost doesn't notice that the author is more lost in the science than the page-turner.

Joel, the farmer Zog, Dr. Amy, Evelyn Conrad, Solomon Short, -- the folks inhabiting the world or Variable Star feel like they're a few years out of a concise Heinlein Juvie novel. Joel is a sympathetic man who makes mistakes. I was rooting for him and the 500 folks on the Sheffield all the way through.

Variable Star is great fun, a thoughtful novel, and while it doesn't feel like Mr. Heinlein was at the author's elbow, his influence is in the broad strokes. (Even the ending, maybe a touch predictable, wasn't on the original outline, but to Mr. Robinson's credit, feels like something from a Future History novel.)

A very good, page-turnin' stand-alone novel, drawing from a rich tapestry. Highly recommended. show less

This is the second book in the Stardance trilogy. I had read Stardance years (decades) ago so I listened to the audiobook recently to be sure I had the details correct. I'm not sure how long after the events in Stardance took place that this outing is set but it must be a fairly long time.

Rain McLeod has always danced. One of her earliest memories is going down to the government wharf on Gambier Island, BC, where she lived, and dancing all by herself with an audience of sea lions. When she show more grew up, she became a professional dancer and was well known. Then her body gave out on her at the age of 46. What does a dancer do when she can no longer dance? Fortunately, she can go into space where there is no pesky gravity to weigh her down. The Top Step asteroid was designed to allow humans to attempt to merge with the aliens discovered in the first book. If a human is successful they are immortal and linked telepathically to every other person that has successfully merged. Rain is part of a new cohort that hope to pass into the Swarm. But someone (probably more than one) doesn't want the Stardance collective to succeed. Rain and her cohort want to stop the terrorism acts that are targeting Top Step but it might be an inside job. In fact, Rain is pretty sure it was her lover but to prove it she has to follow him back to earth.

I see I bought this book from the late, lamented Aqua Books. There is even one of their Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall bookmarks in it. I sure miss that place. show less