Spider Robinson (born Paul Robinson November 24, 1948 in New York City) is a Canadian science fiction writer.

His pen name may be attributed to his slender build as a youth as well as his public admiration of Minneapolis-based musician Spider John Koerner . Robinson has lived in Canada for the past 30 years (primarily in the provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia) and as an author, he is a Hugo and Nebula award winner. He also worked as a book reviewer for the Galaxy science fiction magazine during the mid- to late 1970s and later contributed book reviews to the original anthology series Destinies . In 1996-97, he served as a columnist in the technology section of the Globe and Mail. Currently (late 2004), he is overjoyed to be working on and with a 1955 lengthy outline of the late Robert A. Heinlein in order to expand it into a novel, thus making it a collaborative effort. The book will be titled Robert A. Heinlein's Variable Star

Robinson is also an admirer of mystery writer John D. MacDonald. Lady Sally McGee from the Callahan's series is apparently named in honor of Travis McGee. The lead character in Lady Slings The Booze frequently refers to Travis McGee as a role model. In Callahan's Key the patrons make a visit to the marina near Fort Lauderdale where the Busted Flush was usually moored in the McGee series. Similarly important to Robinson is writer Donald Westlake .

Robinson's style may be described as humanistic and humorous. He has frequently encouraged a positive attitude towards world issues, claiming that a pessimistic world view will help pessimistic results. Frequently in his writing, the conflicts center around a science fiction issue with a human solution, following Theodore Sturgeon's definition of a good science fiction story.

Science fiction novels

Telempath (1983)

Night of Power (1985)

The Free Lunch (2001)

Very Bad Deaths (2004)

The Deathkiller Trilogy

Mindkiller (1982)

Time Pressure (1987)

Lifehouse (1997)

The Stardance Trilogy

written in collaboration with his wife, Jeanne Robinson

Stardance (1979)

Starseed (1991)

The Star Dancers (1997) (omnibus edition of Stardance and Starseed)

Starmind (1995)

The Callahan's Series

Callahan's Place

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977)

Time Travelers Strictly Cash (1981) (contains several non-Callahan's stories as well)

Callahan's Secret (1986)

Callahan and Company (1988) - (omnibus edition of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Time Travelers Strictly Cash, and Callahan's Secret)

The Callahan Chronicals (1997) - (retitled republication of Callahan and Company)

Lady Sally's

Callahan's Lady (1989)

Lady Slings the Booze (1992)

Kill the Editor (1991) - (an excerpt from Lady Slings the Booze, published in a special edition)

Mary's Place

The Callahan Touch (1993)

Callahan's Legacy (1996)

The Place

Callahan's Key (2000)

Callahan's Con (2003)

Off the Wall at Callahan's (1994) - (a collection of quotes from other books in the series)

Short story collections

Antinomy (1980)

The Best of All Possible Worlds (1980) - (collection of works by other authors edited and introduced by Robinson)

Melancholy Elephants (1984 - Canada; 1985 - United States)

True Minds (1990)

User Friendly (1998)

By Any Other Name (2001)

God Is an Iron and Other Stories (2002)

The Crazy Years (2004) - (a collection of his articles for the Globe and Mail)

Awards

• Campbell award (best new writer) (1974)
• Hugo award for best novella (1977) By Any Other Name (later expanded into Telempath) and best short story (1983) Melancholy Elephants
• Nebula award for best novella (1977) Stardance (with Jeanne Robinson)

External links

• Official Web Site
• Bibliography on SciFan