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| Spin | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.87
You Save: $4.12 (52%)
Buy New/Used from $2.21
Avg. Customer Rating:  (113 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10161
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 076534825X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780765348258
ASIN: 076534825X
Release Date: February 7, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent - what science fiction should be July 20, 2008
This is simply a fantastic book. It has a very unique, brain-boggling premise that you have to read to believe. But what really sets the book apart from many if not most sf novels is its three dimensional, complex set of characters, keen insights into the human condition, and the fact it is so exceptionally well written. br /br /Without question on the short list of the finest science fiction novels I've read, you should read it - you won't regret it!
A SOFT-SPOKEN, EVERYMAN TYPE OF NARRATOR... July 18, 2008
First, a linear summary of the plot: Suddenly, sometime during the first decade of the 21st century, the entire planet earth is enveloped in a shroud which causes the stars and the moon to disappear. The sun, later understood to be artificial, is the only celestial object that is seen to behave as it did before the shrouding. Also, it is later learned that the passage of time is different outside the barrier than it is inside, almost a hundred million times. This sets an upper limit on the time the earth can last before it is engulfed by the expanding sun.br /br /THE TONE: WONDER ALMOST OVERSHADOWED BY DESPAIR; A SOFT-SPOKEN, EVERYMAN TYPE OF NARRATOR; DAY TO DAY LIFE JUXTAPOSED BY THE PASSAGE OF MILLENIAbr /The novel is based on life experience of the protagonist, who witnesses this cataclysmic event as well as the way people around him, and humanitybr /at large, responds to it. The novel is in the first person and and is, at times, almost too lucid in its transparent evaluation of the human condition, giving it the air of a documentary instead of a story. The narrative style is, by turns, poetic and dour, effectively communicating the despair of the narrator without overwhelming the flow of the tale. Non-linear narrative is frequently used to generate suspense, although it turns out to be the end of a tale of salvation, more or less. The scale of the imagination is stupendous, and although the protagonist deals with very old questions regarding faith, belief and the purpose of science and discovery, the author dextrously manages to give the answers through dialogues that exchange comfortable deflections and tautologies. This results in a work of fiction that is believable because of its characters but wonderful because of the almost too zany ideas.br /br /THE IDEAS: MORE FANTASY ADVENTURE THAN PURE SCIENCE; HUGE IDEAS GLOSSED OVER; PRO-LIFE; PRO-SCIENCE; ANTI-NOTHINGbr /The biggest idea in this book is to explore the response of humans to apocalypse, not sudden and dramatic, but sustained and prolonged and mostly painless.br /The 'Spin' is used as repeatedly as a force of history (much like the Vietnam war), as a destroyer of innocence and as a differentiator in terms of how people respond to it (analysis and action or faith and acceptance). The next big idea is the transience and universality of life. Although the carbon footprint of humans is alluded to, the story never gets preachy, refuses to draw inferences and still manages to sustain the hope, perhaps through the almost monochromatic narrator, of Salvation that might be available at the next corner. Later this hope is deliberately battered when wave after wave of human efforts are shown as futile. Eventually, however the infectiousness of life is shown as triumphant. Although Time has been the favorite tool of SF writers for more than a century, the author wisely refrains from using it as a plot device, using it most effectively for cosmetic verbal fireworks:br /for example, the description of a lawn being mowed in terms of 'absolute time' was particularly enchanting. Arguments between schools of thought are wide-spaced and never overbearing, usually often resolved within a couple of pages and mostly left dangling (as most real-life arguments are). The tilt of the narrative is definitely towards science and analytical knowledge but nothing is disparaged and more often than not organic growth is shown as natural instead of spurts in progress.br /br /THE EXECUTION: MIX, YET NOT BLEND, SCIENCE WITH SOCIOLOGYbr /The biggest problem of science fiction is to bend science, as complicated it is these days, into complex and innovative fiction that can easily bebr /appreciated by a person who cannot understand today's science. In this regard, this novel succeeds brilliantly. Every radical new idea is presented as a mystery to be solved, but in believable terms. Every believable new idea is presented in terms of applications and effects. Some ideas central to the story (like the barrier) are used like an elephant in a drawing room: not directly referred to yet affecting every slight nuance of the proceedings of the tale. The human element, the way ordinary people respond to extraordinary occurances, is central to the story. The author successfully portrays the despair of a whole generation waiting to die, trying hard to pass the buck for judgement day. Mass suicides, lawlessness and religious fervor are described though one-liners, while the changing flavor of an unprofessed love becomes the metric through which the years are shown to pass.br /Playing alongside all this is the effort of a few dedicated men, some driven by material gain, some by glory and some by the quest for knowledge, to understand and exploit the assumed catastrophe. The result is a simple story of a dysfunctional pseudo-family told engagingly, in uncomplicated terms, entwined with the otherworldly occurances that make this more of a science fiction novel than a family drama. The skill of the author is most apparent when he uses the oft-abused conundrums of the human conditions in the foreground of a tale that has Martians (not small and green but small and black), all-powerful aliens and a time duration of 4 billion years, and manages to fit it all in a compact and engaging narrative.
 Good, but little science fiction July 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a good, if extremely slow paced, novel. There isn't much science in this science fiction book, though. The story is about a brother, a sister and their closest friend, growing up in very unusual times. It is interesting and told well, with good development of the main characters. But the science fiction part is little more than background for most of the book, and then it's wrapped up quickly at the end, as if it were an afterthought. Trust me, I wasn't looking for a shoot 'em up, blow 'em up novel, but the relevance of the sci-phi aspect here is truly minimal.
Another amazing sifi must read June 27, 2008
Spin is a great novel. It is one of those great scifi books where the scifi aspect is not front and center but is a tool to tell a more human story. I found that I could not put this book down and I lost quite a bit of sleep staying up late reading it. This is a must read for all scifi fans.
'Spin' is EXCELLENT June 26, 2008
Spinbr /br /The book has an intriguing premise: one night when the protagonists, (brother and sister twin siblings and their best friend) are 12 and 13 the stars (and the Moon) disappear from the night sky. It turns out that Earth is surrounded by some kind of shroud, called "The Spin" which is affecting the flow of time drastically inside the Spin. Approximately 300 billion years (the amount of time left before Earth's Sun goes nova) will occur outside the Spin within the next 30-plus years of elapsed time on the planet. This one central idea animates the novel, but at its core is the relationship between the three main characters: Tyler Dupree, Diane Lawton and Jason Lawton. Of course, this turns out to be a (straight) love triangle between the three. In addition, however there are numerous other interesting themes and questions: how does society deal with certain impending doom? If you could extend your lifespan through a very painful process which also has a chance of expanding and drastically modifying your consciousness, would you? What do you think is the likely nature of extraterrestrial intelligences? All these ideas are included and weaved throughout Wilson's Spin to thrilling effect. br /br /GRADE: A-
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