Helpful Score: 3
I found the premise for this book to be very interesting. Really, it's a mystery. One night, on a night very much like tonight, the stars go out. The moon is gone, too. The sky is just black. What happened? Why did it happen? And can it be undone? I can't say much more about the plot without giving away spoilers, but mostly this is the story of society's reaction to this event and in particular, one very intelligent man's quest to try to figure it out. I enjoyed the way the story was told by jumping back and forth between the present and the future until the two converged. I never knew what was coming next and I certainly never guessed how it would end. My biggest complaint about the novel is that I never understood why they called it the Spin. This book won the Hugo Award in 2006. It is the first of a planned trilogy, but this book could easily stand alone, leaving something to the imagination.
Helpful Score: 2
Wow! This Hugo-winner is a compelling read that kept me up nights -- I felt the need to order several more Robert Charles Wilson books, and that is the highest compliment I can pay. The prose strikes just the right note and I cared about the characters. You'll enjoy this book!
Helpful Score: 2
One of the most original and well-written books science fiction books I've ever read.
Helpful Score: 1
Not a big science fiction fan, especially when they get technical and over my head, and this book doesn't. I really enjoyed this story, could hardly put it down.
Helpful Score: 1
Read it if you like Science Fiction. It was slow getting started, but it is worth getting through the boring human emotion stuff, to get to the science fiction. This story had some very interesting ideas, but I felt like it didn't explore some things as much as it should have. I would really like him to write a sequal, because I think that there is a good story in what happened next.
Helpful Score: 1
This is easily the best science fiction book I've read all year. It is a bit slow to start out, but the characters are amazing, and the slow, progressive unfolding of the stunning concepts involved makes them hit you all the harder. I'm normally irritated by books that occur largely in flashback, but it's used to good effect here, coordinating all of the emotional plots to prepare you for the ending. The human science is plausible, the alien science is otherworldly. I loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
Now, one of my favorite SF books. Great characters, in fact after the beginning and until near the end it's a lot about the lives of the three main characters. The great thing was that the simple premise at the beginning grew over time and creates an ending with some truly amazing and thought provoking ideas.
Helpful Score: 1
now here is a book where i couldn't tell where it was going to go, for the WHOLE thing! It is surprising, and deep -- reminds me of a less dense Stephen Baxter book, with the same sort of universe altering ideas. The author never loses sight of his characters though, which can sometimes happen to Baxter. I liked it a lot, and cannot wait to read the sequel.
Helpful Score: 1
This is high-brow not too far in the future science fiction. I found the global and political themes and speculative science to be plausible, complex and engaging. The characters are similarly complex and ring true. Not as much action or humor as I would have liked--it's a dark, bleak future Wilson envisions--but it kept me going with unexpected plot turns, and interesting scifi. Fans of Orson Scott Card should enjoy this book as well.
Helpful Score: 1
In this terrific scfi the stars one night "go out"! The mystery surrounding the event and the characters involved in discovering what happened to them is truly a page turner and really got me interested in science fiction again after 20 years. Loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
Extremely detailed and well written book about what would happen to Earth if it were held in place in time while the universe evolved around it. That's just a brief bit of what this book is about. There are so many layers to this book that you could re-read it for a year and find a new layer every month. Another book that you must have in your library.
Very good hard SF. Read my full review in the August 2022 PBS Blog.
Refreshing to find a "book 1" in a trilogy that actually had a decent ending. Sadly I don't think I'll continue reading the others since this one went on a bit too long for my tastes. Great idea and very inventive ending (otherwise would have been about 3 stars).
While good, I didn't see this being "Hugo" material... but maybe that's just me. I'd happily re-read pretty much most of the Hugo winners, but probably not so much with this one. Yes, the characters were certainly "real" and the plot well developed, but I prefer more focus on the hard science stuff - personal preference ultimately.
While good, I didn't see this being "Hugo" material... but maybe that's just me. I'd happily re-read pretty much most of the Hugo winners, but probably not so much with this one. Yes, the characters were certainly "real" and the plot well developed, but I prefer more focus on the hard science stuff - personal preference ultimately.
Imagine looking at a beautiful star filled sky and see it turn black before your eyes. It happens to Tyler DuPree, 12 years of age, and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton. Not only have the stars disappeared but also the moon. The incident, known as the Big Blackout, is soon found to be caused by a membrane that encloses the earth and becomes known by the term Spin.
Jason is an exceptionally bight young man and his father promotes him shamelessly. He becomes a scientist who devotes his entire life to studying the phenomena. Diane, frightened, turns to religion for solace and marries a man who is more dedicated to the faith than she. Tyler becomes a physician. The three go their separate ways, and, like many friend, find themselves getting in touch occasionally.
When Jason becomes ill, he contacts Tyler and hires him as his personal physician. Jason's illness brings the three friends together again. The world is a different one from when they were children. The sun is dying. The membrane is flickering. People are frightened and trust no one. Some commit suicide. Some live dangerously because they may die tomorrow. Jason, Tyler and Diane work to find their way through a world gone made with fear and distrust.
I liked this read so much that I looked for other books by the author to put on reading list. Perhaps you will like it, too.
Jason is an exceptionally bight young man and his father promotes him shamelessly. He becomes a scientist who devotes his entire life to studying the phenomena. Diane, frightened, turns to religion for solace and marries a man who is more dedicated to the faith than she. Tyler becomes a physician. The three go their separate ways, and, like many friend, find themselves getting in touch occasionally.
When Jason becomes ill, he contacts Tyler and hires him as his personal physician. Jason's illness brings the three friends together again. The world is a different one from when they were children. The sun is dying. The membrane is flickering. People are frightened and trust no one. Some commit suicide. Some live dangerously because they may die tomorrow. Jason, Tyler and Diane work to find their way through a world gone made with fear and distrust.
I liked this read so much that I looked for other books by the author to put on reading list. Perhaps you will like it, too.
Really, really good book. Several different storylines are told in extended flashbacks about interesting and sympathetic characters in an apocalyptic setting. Though there's a decent amount of science, it's not too hard to follow even if, like me, you're not science-minded. I usually read several books concurrently, but this one was so engaging that I read it straight through. I will be looking for more books by this author!
For once I agree completely with a critical review, so I'm reprinting (in part) the one from 'Bookmarks Magazine' below:
"Spin is not merely a SF thriller. Its also a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a literary triumph, and an ecological and apocalyptic warning. The award-winning Wilson excels at all aspects of his tale, from the human angle to the political, religious, biological, medical, and astrophysical theorizing..."
For once I agree completely with a critical review, so I'm reprinting (in part) the one from 'Bookmarks Magazine' below:
"Spin is not merely a SF thriller. Its also a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a literary triumph, and an ecological and apocalyptic warning. The award-winning Wilson excels at all aspects of his tale, from the human angle to the political, religious, biological, medical, and astrophysical theorizing..."
The Earth is enclosed in some sort of membrane and time outside passes at the rate of thousands of years per year on Earth. What unimaginable force has the power to do such a thing, and why? This book bored me to tears.
