Jeanne Robinson (1948–2010)

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

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

Um... what?

I really enjoyed Stardance and Starseed. Sure, the author and his wife have certain political inclinations - although they certainly are not the first, 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.

Here, 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 show more 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.

Apparently the authors decided 'fuck it' with this book and everyone has to become a Stardancer whether they like it or not. 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

As I love to dance, I found this a fun book that makes us think about how art can transform us, the people in our lives, and the world(s) around us. When Robinson soars, he allows us to fly really "high" too.