Spin

By: Robert Charles Wilson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

One night when he was 10, Tyler stood in his backyard and watched the stars go out. They flared into brilliance, then disappeared, replaced by an 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 "sun" is now a featureless disk - a heat source, rather than an astronomical object. The moon is gone, but tides remain. The world's artificial satellites have fallen out of orbit. Eventually, space probes reveal that the barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time passes faster outside the barrier - more than a hundred million years per day on Earth. At this rate, the death of the sun is only about forty years away.

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 religion out of the fears of the masses.

Earth sends terraforming machines, then humans, to Mars...and immediately an emissary returns with thousands of stories about the settling of Mars. Then an identical barrier appears around Mars.

Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger.

©2005 Robert Charles Wilson (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2006

"Wilson continues to surprise and delight. I can't think of another science fiction writer who understands the strengths of the genre so well and who works with such confidence within its elastic boundaries." (The New York Times)
"The best science fiction novel so far this year." (Rocky Mountain News)

Interesting Concept

Took a while to get started and seemed scattered but was very entertaining. With time dilation and terraforming how can you not be entertained?

Very engaging

An interesting story with a pretty unique premise, carried through quite thoroughly. I thought Scott Brick's reading was well-done and added to the experience. I enjoyed the story a great deal, both the sci-fi and the social elements, and worried after a little that it would be tough to wrap up neatly. In fact, the ending is slightly anticlimactic--not bad, just not the best thing the book had to offer. However, by the end, I had enjoyed the story enough along the way that I didn't mind how it was ended. It was very good entertainment and I recommend it.

Interesting concept

What did you like best about Spin? What did you like least?

I enjoyed the basic concept. The author has come across a fresh idea. My least favorite aspect - spoiler alert - the whole Mars history could have been fascinating if developed. Finally, if the hypotheticals knew enough to develop their grand plan as it unfolded in the book why keep humanity guessing?

Would you recommend Spin to your friends? Why or why not?

No. But you don't know my friends so how does this help your decision to buy the book?

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Very well read.

Did Spin inspire you to do anything?

Leave these comments.

Any additional comments?

Some editing might have been in order. This book could have been significantly condensed without losing much. For example, in the end, how did Juan Ngo Nguyen, the 4th age, the unrevealed/unrequited lesbian love and other tangential storylines contribute to the end result or, for that matter, the development of any pivotal character?

Finally, a Science Fiction Book that I like

I always Think I want to read a science fiction book, when in actuality, it's the apocalyptic literature that I like. However, I do try to find a SF story that I'll enjoy and this was it. The narrator was Scott Brick and the concept was very interesting & fun for me because I haven't read a book about terrestrials and their counterparts.There was an incredible amount of complexity that would appeal to those who are really into Science Fiction -- and because of the coming of age and freindship/relationship part of the story, it would appeal to many other readers. I really liked it (even though it was perhaps a little over dramatic with the narration which I don't think would come across in print like that).

Read every Hugo award winner.

I listen to many books why not all the award winners and those with many reviews. Weighted choices through Asperger's.

Great Listen!

Having read some of Robert Charles Wilson in the past, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with Spin. I had certainly heard good things, but Wilson has the tendency to start with a great idea and not do much else with it (see Darwinia).

I am happy to report that Spin delivers on all fronts. Not only is the spin a fantastic sci-fi concept, the subsequent focus on how humanity deals with it engrossing. Wilson drifts between scientific and social ideas with such grace, that the world he creates in Spin seems completely plausible.

Another beef I have with Wilson is that he doesn't always end his stories with a lot of closure (or even elementary explanation sometimes). I was working through Spin with a dreadful feeling that all of this tremendous tension and buildup was going to be a letdown. Again, I had nothing to worry about. The ending is left open for the sequel (Axis, coming out this year or next), but the Spin itself is fully explained.

All of the pieces of this book fit very nicely together and I can't recommend it highly enough. This was well deserving of the Hugo, and I look forward to more Robert Charles Wilson in the future!

A perfect blend

It's sometimes hard for me to find the right blend of hard sf with great characterization. Wilson seems to be very good at doing just that. Characters in this book are not just stand-ins for a science exposition. Nor is this a romance that blurs the details of the science either. It's a solid story and great SF. I'd like to see more of his novels on Audible, especially Darwinia and the Chronoliths.

great concept but lacking something......

I was interested in the concept of the stars going out and the earth being trapped in a bubble that slowed time down but like the mysteries of space, the author wrote as if he had no idea what was happening. It is very frustrating to wait for an explanation or wrap up and all characters seem as clueless as I was.
I waited for the sequel(Axis), in hopes that the mystery of the Hypothetical s would be at long last cleared up but you'll need to read that review to find out if it is more defining.

Scott Brick is....well, Scott Brick, the very best at what he does.

Great audiobook well crafted and well read

Complete characters involved in a complex, fascinating plot. The reader was excellent.

Eh.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I guess the performance was okay - I'm just not a huge Scott Brick fan.

Any additional comments?

I was underwhelmed by this, and I finished it with no desire to read the sequels. I was entertained enough to finish it, but just barely.