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Spin  By  cover art

Spin

By: Robert Charles Wilson
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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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)

What listeners say about Spin

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very enjoyable

This is a story of a new world like I've never imagined. Wonderful performance that ended before I was ready.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Diverting but too long

I did not care for the way the story jumped around. Maybe the author needed that device to keep our interest. I seems like one of those novels that start out with a solid, exciting plot that is padded out by introducing extra characters that we don't end up caring a lot about.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Decent Sci-fi

Pretty interesting theories about the nature of things, but incredibly wordy, and a bit preachy. The Author wanted you to know his political ideology. I think it would have read better without his personal opinions clogging up a great start to a series. Not sure at this time if I will continue.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great idea, boring story.

And Scott Brick's narration is like he went to the William Shatner school of speech. Really got on my nerves about 2 hours in. Just the way he says "anyhow" sets my teeth on edge.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best!

It’s been a long time since I’ve read such a good sci fi book. I was beginning to think the likes of Foundation were done. Highly recommended!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

interesting story but a little long

it feels like the content for a short story put into a novel. it was well done and interesting ideas but took too long to get there

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Mind Altering Adventure

The plot of this book is amazing. I love the world the author builds and the way he weaves through the story. I enjoyed how imaginative the tale is. If I have one complaint it would be that it can seem very slow at times. Though, this may be done intentionally to build the characters so I can’t fault Wilson too much. Excited to start the 2nd book in the saga.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I really don't know what happened.

Honestly, there were some kids that lived next to each other, then something weird happened to the sky, then they grew up and some other weird stuff happened in the sky. That's about all I could piece together. All I know is I'm out one credit. Avoid this boring book and spend your credit on something infinitely more captivating, like a book on corporate tax law, or someone reading the entire New York City telephone book.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

The world ends veeery slowly.

Only two more hours left. The world gets cut off from the universe and time moves at one-millionth the speed. And this 17 hour book moves just as slowly Only two more hours. Will there be a point?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good book and very engaging

while the story is slower and no action, it is a gripping story. well worth the read.

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