stiricide's review against another edition
5.0
I just got to reread this for bookclub and I'm so pleased by how well it's held up. Even more pleased by how well received it was by my bookclub. We spend nearly two and a half hours talking about the actual book!
stiricide's review against another edition
5.0
I still think this is really lovely, but the last thirty pages of completely unhinged deus ex machinas are a LOT.
nwhyte's review
3.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3493524.html
“Stardance” is a story about a dancer who risks her health by staying too long in orbit where she is performing a new and revolutionary dance sequence; then aliens turn up who as it turns out communicate only through dance, and she makes the breakthrough on behalf of humanity before dying romantically. The narrator is the ex-dancer turned cameraman who loves her from (mostly) afar.
I'm not a huge fan of dance, though I thoroughly enjoyed Giselle in Bratslava last year, and much longer ago a royal command performance in the Hague in 2004. On the other hand, one of the silliest things I've ever seen was a solo interpretative dance about the love of God, performed in lieu of a sermon at a church I was visiting in Munich in 1992. On the other hand again, the choreograhy is an important part of what makes the Hamilton stage show so memorable. Anyway, it's not especially my fandom, but the Robinsons drew me into it.
But I do wonder how one could actually dance in zero gravity? The whole mechanics of dance are about balancing movement against weight; I can't imagine that you could do the same without anything to dance on, as it were. And the protagonist does her last dance wearing a spacesuit, which seems even more improbable.
“Stardance” is a story about a dancer who risks her health by staying too long in orbit where she is performing a new and revolutionary dance sequence; then aliens turn up who as it turns out communicate only through dance, and she makes the breakthrough on behalf of humanity before dying romantically. The narrator is the ex-dancer turned cameraman who loves her from (mostly) afar.
I'm not a huge fan of dance, though I thoroughly enjoyed Giselle in Bratslava last year, and much longer ago a royal command performance in the Hague in 2004. On the other hand, one of the silliest things I've ever seen was a solo interpretative dance about the love of God, performed in lieu of a sermon at a church I was visiting in Munich in 1992. On the other hand again, the choreograhy is an important part of what makes the Hamilton stage show so memorable. Anyway, it's not especially my fandom, but the Robinsons drew me into it.
But I do wonder how one could actually dance in zero gravity? The whole mechanics of dance are about balancing movement against weight; I can't imagine that you could do the same without anything to dance on, as it were. And the protagonist does her last dance wearing a spacesuit, which seems even more improbable.
jovvijo's review against another edition
4.0
Rain McLeod IS A DOPE!!!
Let's just get that out the way because once this is accepted you can forgive most of her behavior in the book. Also Robert's personality was a tad bit in question.
It has a few flaws okay, but honestly and truly I really enjoyed reading this little book!
Especially as it all takes place in space and lets you remember how utterly fragile life would be out there in the cold & black!
I also adored Kira and Ben, they are one of the best couples I've read about in...well pretty much any book or genre, the mixed race thing was a super cherry on the chocolate cake!
Recommended for folk who like light Sci-fi/Fantasy and those who like having their hearts ripped out coldly & clinically.
Let's just get that out the way because once this is accepted you can forgive most of her behavior in the book. Also Robert's personality was a tad bit in question.
Spoiler
One minute a highly trained, competent, stoic spacer, the next minute a cold blooded, cowardly, killer who hates space things cos they're evil bad-bad, and then finally as a pathetic person seeming to renounce all that cos, "I was wrong, changed my mind, love you, okay I'm going to be killed now, bye byeIt has a few flaws okay, but honestly and truly I really enjoyed reading this little book!
Especially as it all takes place in space and lets you remember how utterly fragile life would be out there in the cold & black!
I also adored Kira and Ben, they are one of the best couples I've read about in...well pretty much any book or genre, the mixed race thing was a super cherry on the chocolate cake!
Spoiler
Which is why their death is so utterly brutal!! And deaths that felt like they weren't even necessary but used more for shock value & to make Rain go on her wee quest of righteousness...Gack! Spider! Anyone else!!! But then I suppose we'd not have felt it as much, and a good book really does stir up those EMOTIONS!Recommended for folk who like light Sci-fi/Fantasy and those who like having their hearts ripped out coldly & clinically.
dreams_of_attolia's review against another edition
2.0
I highly recommend that everyone read old school sci fi from time to time, if only to giggle at how people in the 70s envisioned what society would be like and what technology would be available to us today.
There are moments when this book is fascinating. I especially enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the dance choreography and the elaborate "sets" that could be envisioned in the zero-g environment. In fact, I pretty much enjoyed all the descriptions of life in zero-g. But towards the end it got a little too touchy-feely, transcend-to-a-higher-plane, communal-love squishiness for my taste.
There are moments when this book is fascinating. I especially enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the dance choreography and the elaborate "sets" that could be envisioned in the zero-g environment. In fact, I pretty much enjoyed all the descriptions of life in zero-g. But towards the end it got a little too touchy-feely, transcend-to-a-higher-plane, communal-love squishiness for my taste.
dotsonapage's review against another edition
4.0
Not as raucously hilarious as some of Robinson's other books, but still a beautiful story of love, art and exploration.
satyridae's review
5.0
I was thrilled to find this, one of my all-time favorites, available on CD, and what's more, read by Spider Robinson himself.
This one, for me, is a touchstone, a talisman and a promise. It's one of my favorite pie-in-the-sky utopias, and I've read it countless times. Listening to Robinson read it brought a whole new perspective. His timing is impeccable, his jokes are funnier spoken, and I could really hear Charlie speaking through him. Even his goofy accents are endearing.
Highly recommended.
This one, for me, is a touchstone, a talisman and a promise. It's one of my favorite pie-in-the-sky utopias, and I've read it countless times. Listening to Robinson read it brought a whole new perspective. His timing is impeccable, his jokes are funnier spoken, and I could really hear Charlie speaking through him. Even his goofy accents are endearing.
Highly recommended.