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Loading... Spin (original 2005; edition 2010)by Robert Charles Wilson
Work detailsSpin by Robert Charles Wilson (2005)
 breakofdawn | Jun 11, 2013 |  This was a Book of the Month at the SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club. List of the awards this book got is... very long. When I read the summary I thought 'WOW! What a great idea!' So what did get wrong? I don't know. So many things bothered me with this book.... First 50% of book are nothing new, just book summary stretched to 200 pages. Also, main character Tyler Dupree is very annoying. It's the end of the world, and all he can think of is his infatuation with his best friend's sister. Jason is explaining to Tyler how they will terraform Mars, but Tyler saw a picture of Diane and he is not listening he is thinking about her. If he is not interested to hear about that, I was. Many people said that this was a great plus - adding human drama to sf. To me it was boring and in the end, I gave up. reading. (  ) bookwormdreams | Apr 10, 2013 | Some ideas crop up again and again in science fiction stories. In some stories, those ideas are simply macguffins that drive an action-filled plot. In this one, the idea, self-replicating machines, focuses consideration of such things as apocalyptic faith, the evolution of the solar system, and what it means to be human. Well worth reading. (  ) nmele | Apr 6, 2013 | Definitely an interesting book, but for some reason, I just couldn't quite get into it. Not sure if it was the hype and awards surrounding it setting unrealistic expectations, but I just didn't think it was all that special. The story was an interesting twist and such, but for some reason I was left with a 'bleh' kind of feeling at the end. I can't really put my finger on it, and will update the review if I ever figure it out. (  ) ZetaSyanthis | Apr 1, 2013 | Oh book. Neat premise, well written, good pacing, shittyshittySHITTY women issues. I kick you to the curb. GinnyTea | Mar 31, 2013 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 076534825X, Mass Market Paperback)Spin is Robert Charles Wilson's Hugo Award-winning masterpiece—a stunning combination of a galactic "what if" and a small-scale, very human story. One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives. The effect is worldwide. The sun is now a featureless disk—a heat source, rather than an astronomical object. The moon is gone, but tides remain. Not only have the world's artificial satellites fallen out of orbit, their recovered remains are pitted and aged, as though they'd been in space far longer than their known lifespans. As Tyler, Jason, and Diane grow up, a space probe reveals a bizarre truth: The barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time is passing faster outside the barrier than inside—more than a hundred million years per year on Earth. At this rate, the death throes of the sun are only about forty years in our future. Jason, now a promising young scientist, devotes his life to working against this slow-moving apocalypse. Diane throws herself into hedonism, marrying a sinister cult leader who's forged a new religion out of the fears of the masses. Earth sends terraforming machines to Mars to let the onrush of time do its work, turning the planet green. Next they send humans…and immediately get back an emissary with thousands of years of stories to tell about the settling of Mars. Then Earth's probes reveal that an identical barrier has appeared around Mars. Jason, desperate, seeds near space with self-replicating machines that will scatter copies of themselves outward from the sun—and report back on what they find. Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger. (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:58:49 -0500) "One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives." "The effect is worldwide. The sun is now a featureless disk - a heat source, rather than an astronomical object. The moon is gone, but tides remain. Not only have the world's artificial satellites fallen out of orbit, their recovered remains are pitted and aged, as though they'd been in space far longer than their known lifespans. As Tyler, Jason, and Diane grow up, space probe reveals a bizarre truth: The barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time is passing faster outside the barrier than inside--more than a hundred million years per day on Earth. At this rate, the death throes of the sun are only about forty years in our future." "Jason, now a promising young scientist, devotes his life to working against this slow-moving apocalypse. Diane throws herself into hedonism, marrying a sinister cult leader who's forged a new religion out of the fears of the masses." "Earth sends terraforming machines to Mars to let the onrush of time do its work, turning the planet green. Next they send humans...and immediately get back an emissary with thousands of years of stories to tell about the settling of Mars. Then Earth's probes reveal that an identical barrier has appeared around Mars. Jason, desperate, seeds near space with self-replicating machines that will scatter copies of themselves outward from the sun - and report back on what they find. Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger."--BOOK JACKET.… (more) (summary from another edition) |
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5
Wikipedia in English (2)
5
I'm a big fan of the fantasy genre. Science fiction? Not so much. It's always driven me nuts that science fiction and fantasy fans are sort of lumped together. Yes, we are forced to share a space at most book stores. But the two genres are so different. I love fantasy.. Swords and castles, heroes and villains, imaginary worlds and magic, all of it. Science fiction though... Admittedly, I haven't read much of it. But what I have read has always seemed so bogged down by techno babble and science mumbo jumbo, it always ends up feeling like work to read it. I read for enjoyment.. Not to learn how a flux capacitor actually works.
So needless to say, I was apprehensive about reading this book. It is, without a doubt, science fiction. But I'm so glad I went ahead and read it anyway, it turned out to be one of the best / most enjoyable books I've read so far this year. Unlike the other science fiction novels that I've read, this one didn't get bogged down with technical descriptions. It was easy to read, and had a lot of interesting concepts. I don't know whether it's particularly original or unique, I don't have enough science fiction experience to make that call, but it felt original and unique to me. I enjoyed reading this book, and when I put it down I always found my mind lingering on it, wondering what was going to happen next, what the full story was. It had that special something that compels you to keep picking it up and reading more (or it did for me at least).
This comes damn close to a 5 star rating, it's probably a 4.5. It's only getting a 4 because I don't like to round up to 5 stars. Highly recommended, give it a try. Who knows, it surprised me, maybe it will surprise you too! (