The Dark Beyond the Stars is a 1991 science fiction novel by American writer Frank M. Robinson. It is a Lambda Literary Award winner, published by Orb Books. It tells the story of a generation ship and its crew on a long mission to search for extraterrestrial life in the galaxy and the complex conflict between the Captain and the protagonist, a 17-year-old technician named Sparrow. The Captain is obsessed with continuing to search for alien life in the 2,000-year-old ship, even though it is falling apart and Sparrow is leading a mutiny which aims to return the ship to Earth.