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 a...
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reviews
Aug 19, 2011
James
rated it: 
This was some of the best science fiction I've read in years. Heck, it was one of the best books I've read in years.
This is the sort of book that I babble about. It's hard to write down what's good about it because everything about it is good. Everything about it is amazing, really, so there's no good starting place. It all just comes out in a rush of Plot/Big Ideas/writing style/characters/character relationships/tragedy/humor/everything.
If you've ever enjoyed a sci-fi book More...
This is the sort of book that I babble about. It's hard to write down what's good about it because everything about it is good. Everything about it is amazing, really, so there's no good starting place. It all just comes out in a rush of Plot/Big Ideas/writing style/characters/character relationships/tragedy/humor/everything.
If you've ever enjoyed a sci-fi book More...
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(12 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Josh
rated it:
This is one of those rare science fiction books that lets you wonder and imagine and forget that it's science fiction at all. Many sci-fi authors lean too heavily on the science and speculation and not enough on the fiction, creating interesting premises but characters that are two dimensional. Wilson does not have that problem here. His characters are fully fleshed, flawed and realistic and it is these characters that move Spin along so well.
This is not to say that this book lacks More...
This is not to say that this book lacks More...
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(19 people liked it)
Feb 16, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
(note - satirical spoiler alerts ahoy)
Robert Charles Wilson appears to be paid by the word - how else to account for such passages, and they are legion, as this :
The day I left Perihelion the support staff summoned me into one of the now seldom-used boardrooms for a farewell party, where I was given the kind of gifts appropriate to yet another departure from a dwindling workforce : a miniature cactus in a terracotta pot, a coffee mug with my name on it, a pewter tie pin i More...
Robert Charles Wilson appears to be paid by the word - how else to account for such passages, and they are legion, as this :
The day I left Perihelion the support staff summoned me into one of the now seldom-used boardrooms for a farewell party, where I was given the kind of gifts appropriate to yet another departure from a dwindling workforce : a miniature cactus in a terracotta pot, a coffee mug with my name on it, a pewter tie pin i More...
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(13 people liked it)
Feb 09, 2012
Maggie
rated it:
I really LOVED this book. I had to think about it for a day or two to decide whether to rate it a 4.5 or a 5, but the fact that i was thinking about it brought it over the edge-lol.
The novel follows the thoughts of Tyler Dupree after the stars are just shut off one night. One storyline follows that evening during his teenage years up until it is revealed exactly what happened to them, while the other plot followsthe present day urge to hide from the government fallout of what is ha More...
The novel follows the thoughts of Tyler Dupree after the stars are just shut off one night. One storyline follows that evening during his teenage years up until it is revealed exactly what happened to them, while the other plot followsthe present day urge to hide from the government fallout of what is ha More...
Jun 16, 2011
Nancy
rated it:
Spin was my third exposure to Robert Charles Wilson, a writer who has yet to disappoint me. He is not a "hard" sci-fi writer. Instead, the author writes about regular people and their ways of coping with major changes in their lives and environments. Spin is a very compelling story with believable, yet not overwhelming, scientific details and realistic characters. This is the type of SF novel that I would not hesitate to recommend to readers of high-quality, literary fiction who m
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3 comments
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(17 people liked it)
Dec 31, 2011
Amy
rated it:
Why did the stars suddenly go out on an October night?
This is the type of book that you wish someone else is reading at the exact same time as you are so that you can immediately discuss all the "did that just happen?" moments. I really wish my husband had been reading it at the same time as me so that I could ask if he'd ever seen any of the various plot elements put together this way in his vast reading of sci-fi. It's a story about time travel, but it's not. It's a stor More...
This is the type of book that you wish someone else is reading at the exact same time as you are so that you can immediately discuss all the "did that just happen?" moments. I really wish my husband had been reading it at the same time as me so that I could ask if he'd ever seen any of the various plot elements put together this way in his vast reading of sci-fi. It's a story about time travel, but it's not. It's a stor More...
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 15, 2008
Red
rated it: 
THe earth is suddenly enclosed in a alien forcefield. It blocks out views of the stars, the sun and the moon. Time inside the "Spin membrane" slows on a millennial scale. No apparent change on the planet, but outside the "spin" 100,000 years go by for every earth day that passes. It lets the author (and thereby the characters) play with the universe on a god-like scale. Small events can make huge changes over geologic time frames, and are easy to watch when that means just a
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3 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Christy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 02, 2008
Jamie
rated it: 
I loved the first 3/4 of this book. The story of the spin and mankind's reaction to it was fascinating, and the characterization was pretty good, but all the while I could see an unsatisfying ending coming: the author chose to alternate between two time periods and the later one was consistently less appealing to me.
The fast-forwarding of the universe was great: a terraformer's dream. It was a little creepy to be reminded how tiny and insignificant humanity really is.
The More...
The fast-forwarding of the universe was great: a terraformer's dream. It was a little creepy to be reminded how tiny and insignificant humanity really is.
The More...
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(4 people liked it)
Sep 16, 2010
Ron
rated it:
Outstanding. A fresh, original story and setting. Well-enough written to keep the reader engaged. There are loads or minor SF quibbles, of course, but Wilson managed to fit his exposition between two covers.
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 19, 2012
Randy
rated it:
Though I consider myself an avid science fiction reader, every now and then I have to take a break. This isn't because some of these books are bad, but because alot of plot likes to be recycled in them. This astounds me because Sci/Fi to me is a ways to let loose in what you want the reader to experience in your mind, it's a fascinating thought to dwell on. Since picking up the Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, it has rekindled my inner child and unleashed my imagination that I thought I lost years
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 30, 2011
Wendy
rated it:
One night, the stars go out. The earth has been shielded, and it's soon discovered that time is passing much more rapidly outside the barrier. This means the death of the sun (and the end of the world) is fast approaching. The human race reacts with denial, hedonism, religiosity, despair, and clever scientific schemes which may offer some hope.
Loved the main idea but got tired of the slow pace, language, and characters and eventually skipped through to see how the story would play out. More...
Loved the main idea but got tired of the slow pace, language, and characters and eventually skipped through to see how the story would play out. More...
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(3 people liked it)
Oct 28, 2009
Cindy
rated it:
What a fun read! A gripping science fiction romp that will leave you dazed, thinking about the size of the Universe, the effects of world-wide crises, and our small place in both of these.
The difficulty is being able to tell you much about the book. Every chapter contains either a huge game-changing twist, an important turn in the characters' story, or both. The twists start happening so early on, that I can't even breathe a word of them, lest I ruin the fun of the surprise.
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The difficulty is being able to tell you much about the book. Every chapter contains either a huge game-changing twist, an important turn in the characters' story, or both. The twists start happening so early on, that I can't even breathe a word of them, lest I ruin the fun of the surprise.
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6 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Apr 17, 2008
M.d.
rated it:
For those who read Darwinia, the tone and tenor of Spin are similar: a mix of science and fantastic, with a focus on human nature's reaction when faced with the inconceivable. Wilson is a master at it.
On a bright summer evening, three children on the cusp of teenhood witness the impossible: in the blink of an eye, all the stars wink out. Although the sun rises the next morning as usual, the next night the stars don't. Soon, scientists discover that a filtering membrane has been wrapp More...
On a bright summer evening, three children on the cusp of teenhood witness the impossible: in the blink of an eye, all the stars wink out. Although the sun rises the next morning as usual, the next night the stars don't. Soon, scientists discover that a filtering membrane has been wrapp More...
Feb 09, 2008
Chris
rated it:
I was so impressed by his work on The Chronoliths that I went right ahead and jumped into this book without hesitation. Of course, I was not disappointed. At least not too much, but I'll get to that later.
It is the near future, as these stories so often are, and one night the stars go out. The night sky goes black, with none of the familiar lights that have guided us throughout human history. Within minutes, the entire network of satellites circling the globe plummet to Earth, leavin More...
It is the near future, as these stories so often are, and one night the stars go out. The night sky goes black, with none of the familiar lights that have guided us throughout human history. Within minutes, the entire network of satellites circling the globe plummet to Earth, leavin More...
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 25, 2008
Sharon
rated it:
The best straight-up science fiction I've read in a long time. The author doesn't let his concepts get in the way of his characters. Very cool premise with lots of surprises.
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 12, 2010
Susan
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 24, 2009
Artie
rated it:
The reason I give Spin five stars is because it was painfully difficult to put down (I lost sleep over this one), and truly engrossing. Robert Charles Wilson creates such dynamic characters of such differing mindsets that it's quite enticing to follow along and see what becomes of them. Mostly the main character Tyler Dupree and his friend Jason Lawton. The other reason I rated Spin so highly was because I feel like it could be a great Sci-Fi novel for people just giving the genre a chance, b
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 12, 2009
Erik
rated it:
I used to have a creative writing professor who would not let his students ever write science fiction or fantasy. He would say, before you can learn to write about other worlds, you have to learn to write about simple people and simple conflicts. In effect, it tended to make stories more boring than they had to be, but his philosophy was sound.
The best sci-fi and fantasy are character-driven stories about people with simple desires and simple conflicts that just so happen to get ex More...
The best sci-fi and fantasy are character-driven stories about people with simple desires and simple conflicts that just so happen to get ex More...
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 28, 2008
Lightreads
rated it:
One day in our near future, the moon and all the stars disappear from the sky. All of them at once, all over the world. Decades later and far away, Tyler remembers that night and all the years after as he grew up part of the generation that knew the world was going to end within the next fifty years. And I really cannot describe the plot with any more exactitude, because saying anything else would spoil one of the hundred complex threads woven into this story, and that would be a damn shame.
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(7 people liked it)
Dec 26, 2008
Tony
rated it:
I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars for this one. Wish I could give it 3.5 (but then, where does such hair-splitting end? 3.1415...?). This is a fine science fiction novel in the tradition of, say, Larry Niven-- a deeply-thought-out cosmic apocalyptic event featuring a heady dose of hard science and high concept, with an emphasis on how it affects a handful of individual humans. Wilson combines the two quite well, no mean feat-- though he does seem to fall into the trap of seeming a bit aloof at
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 09, 2012
Chris
rated it:
Great book! It will probably be a sci-fi classic. Even though it's written for a mainstream audience there are plenty of insightful quotes, and Wilson has a talent for ending sections with remarkable sentences that would probably even keep readers who aren't fans of sci-fi wanting more. Not only that, but that he's served up some fascinating, well-developed characters (most of whom are certified geniuses), and he has a concise way of explaining all the scientific perks that nerds like myself
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Oct 15, 2011
Mike
rated it:
A tremendous novel. An inventive premise yields an engaging story focused on the interactions of believable and sympathetic characters, which eventually amounts to a treatise on ethics. It rolls by so effortlessly that you could easily miss or ignore the fact that Wilson is hitting on some deep philosophical stuff. Reminded me of what speculative fiction can do (and after the last three Hugo winners I've read, I needed the reminder). Bottom line, this is a really enjoyable book that is full
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May 03, 2011
Daniel
rated it:
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson's latest, is a very rare treat indeed: a SF novel, based on extravagant and mind-boggling SF concepts, which still manages to tell a very human story filled with emotions and character development.
For Wilson fans (and I count myself among them), there is nothing dramatically new in terms of themes and focus in Spin. Wilson, once again, manages to tell the story of one man on the grandiose canvas of humanity as it comes to grips with an insane, uncomprehensible event. More...
For Wilson fans (and I count myself among them), there is nothing dramatically new in terms of themes and focus in Spin. Wilson, once again, manages to tell the story of one man on the grandiose canvas of humanity as it comes to grips with an insane, uncomprehensible event. More...
Dec 25, 2010
Matthew
rated it:
Spin was an extremely enjoyable read, a unique combination of science-fiction thriller, coming-of-age tale, and philosophical reflection on the vulnerable yet heroic human condition. Robert Charles Wilson has an intimate writing style, bringing a first-person narrative to life (which I regard as a feat, as I find many stories in first-person difficult to read at times). The author weaves together a complex and fascinating universe containing realistic and fantastical science fiction, as well a
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Sep 22, 2010
Harmonybites
rated it:
The premise is imaginative and unusual. In a recognizably contemporary world, a planetary-wide shield is placed over the earth blocking the night sky from view--outside that shield, over 200,000 years pass each day and within a generation the sun, a red giant, will swallow the earth.
The first person protagonist, Tyler, was a child when he saw "the October Event" happen--stargazing with this two best friends, Diane and Jason, twins. Diana becomes a religious fanatic; Jason More...
The first person protagonist, Tyler, was a child when he saw "the October Event" happen--stargazing with this two best friends, Diane and Jason, twins. Diana becomes a religious fanatic; Jason More...
Aug 17, 2010
Rob
rated it:
If there’s a better science/speculative fiction writer working today than Robert Charles Wilson, I’d like to know about her – or him. For consistent ability to write compelling and fascinating novels which play with big ideas and share common themes, you’d be hard pushed. Ian MacLeod, Charles Stross, Kim Stanley Robinson, Paulo Bacigalupi: all great writers, but none of them combine prolificacy and quality in quite the same way as Wilson.
Like a Coupland novel, Spin revolves around th More...
Like a Coupland novel, Spin revolves around th More...
Jul 12, 2010
TDF Pamela
rated it:
While the SF aspects of Spin were pretty fascinating (the ongoing mystery of the Hypotheticals and why the Earth was shrouded in a time-bending cloak--the Spin--more than held my interest; it made me read the book all in one sitting), what impressed me the most was Wilson's masterful blend of hard and "soft" SF elements. The science is equally important as the human relationships that make up the backbone of this excellent novel.
Tyler Dupree, the narrator, is very believab More...
Tyler Dupree, the narrator, is very believab More...
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Jan 31, 2010
John
rated it:
Leaving aside all other considerations, Robert Charles Wilson is probably the best writer currently at work in the whole of science fiction; I can think of a few challengers, so let's say he's most certainly in the top five, and those five are a long way ahead of the rest of the pack. As with the books of another of those select few, Christopher Priest, I tend to ration my intake of Wilson books to one every year or three, lest I spoil my palate.
And then, whenever I do jump in, I wonder More...
Sep 23, 2009
Rowena
rated it:
On one fateful evening, the stars are extinguished by an unknown phenomenon. As the hours pass, scientists discover that a kind of "membrane" has been encircled around Earth, trapping it in time while the universe outside accelerates at an astonishing rate. The novel focuses around Tyler Dupree and his two friends, Jason and Diane Lawton. Jason devotes his life to the study of this membrane, devising fantastic and fantastical plans to save Earth from inevitable distinction. Diane joins
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