Stardance is a science fiction novel by Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...

 and Jeanne Robinson

Jeanne Robinson

Jeanne Robinson was an American-born Canadian dancer, choreographer, teacher and co-author of three award-winning science fiction novels, The Stardance Saga...

, published by Dial Press

Dial Press

The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh.Dial Press shared a building with The Dial and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W.R...

 in 1979 as part of its Quantum science fiction line. The novel's opening segment originally appeared in Analog in 1977 as the novella "Stardance," followed by the serialized conclusion, "Stardance II", in Analog in 1978.

After the Dial hardcover appeared in 1979, Stardance was reprinted in paperback by Dell Books in 1980, followed by reissues from Tor Books

Tor Books

Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...

 and Baen Books

Baen Books

Baen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...

 over the next decade. Baen compiled the novel, together with its sequel, Starseed

Starseed (novel)

Starseed is a science fiction novel by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson....

, in a mass market paperback omnibus, The Star Dancers, in 1997; in 2006, Baen published a hardcover omnibus, The Stardance Trilogy, adding a third novel, Starmind

Starmind

Starmind is a science fiction novel by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson....

.

Reception

Algis Budrys

Algis Budrys

Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...

 declared Stardance to be "a reading experience which genuinely evokes a basic human feeling . . . that within each of us dwells something glorious that is beyond mortal error, is the seed of an angel," concluding that "Stardance sweeps over the reader with the uncommon power attainable only by the social extrapolations of SF, and then rarely."

Awards

The novella "Stardance" won both the Hugo

Hugo Award

The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...

 and Nebula

Nebula Award

The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...

 awards as well as the annual Locus

Locus (magazine)

Locus, subtitled "The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field", is published monthly in Oakland, California. It reports on the science fiction and fantasy publishing field, including comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genre. It is considered the news organ and trade...

Poll. The novel Stardance placed fourth in the Locus Poll two years later.