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Vortex (Spin Saga #3)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 1,073 ratings · 158 reviews

Vortex tells the story of Turk Findley, the protagonist introduced in Axis, who is transported ten thousand years into the future by the mysterious entities called "the Hypotheticals." In this future humanity exists on a chain of planets connected by Hypothetical gateways; but Earth itself is a dying world, effectively quarantined.

Turk and his young friend Isaac Dvali are

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Hardcover, 331 pages

Published July 5th 2011 by Tor Books (first published 2011)

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May 04, 2013 Ric rated it 4 of 5 stars

Asymptotic is the word that comes to mind with this book. It starts out gradually and builds momentum to a gush of revelations in the final chapter or two - the deus ex machina of the author's excellent Spin finally resolved.

Robert Charles Wilson rewards his readers with a picture story painted through small brush strokes that all contribute to the whole. The gestalt, to use a 60s term, of this book is built chapter by chapter in a manner that is patient and continuously-revealing. Plus, the rom

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Mar 13, 2013 Steven Drachman rated it 4 of 5 stars

It occurred to me that Jess Walter and Robert Charles Wilson are pretty similar writers, in spite of writing in different genres, in the way they spin yarns that circle around in time without ever confusing the reader, and remain solidly commercial. Here, Wilson picks up a device that Walter used (annoyingly) in "Land of the Blind", having one of the characters write out a skillful narrative that the other characters then read (slowly) and talk about as a major means of moving the plot forward....more

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Jan 28, 2013 Maduck831 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: completed-spin-axis-vortex

Only giving this three stars out of deference to Spin and the series as a whole, otherwise I'd give this book two stars. The only thing I really appreciated about this book is that because of its "stand alone" nature (though can be paired with Axis) it doesn't ruin the genius of Spin. Not sure where to start, I almost feel like the author was required to write a trilogy and was just going through the paces with this book. The entire book just seemed lazy. The two stories were in my opinion essen...more

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Mar 12, 2013 My Inner Shelf rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Et comme je le disais précédemment, Axis ne fut qu’une transition avant Vortex. Sans être aussi percutant que Spin (décidément indétrônable), Vortex vole haut, très haut. La narration alterne entre le récit de Turk, qui se trouve désormais…ailleurs et loin, (dirons-nous pour de pas déflorer un suspense encore une fois très présent) et la rencontre de Sandra, médecin, et Bose flic, et Orrin, jeune homme perdu mais à l’imagination manifestement débordante. Ce dernier relate en effet dans ses cahie...more Et comme je le disais précédemment, Axis ne fut qu’une transition avant Vortex. Sans être aussi percutant que Spin (décidément indétrônable), Vortex vole haut, très haut. La narration alterne entre le récit de Turk, qui se trouve désormais…ailleurs et loin, (dirons-nous pour de pas déflorer un suspense encore une fois très présent) et la rencontre de Sandra, médecin, et Bose flic, et Orrin, jeune homme perdu mais à l’imagination manifestement débordante. Ce dernier relate en effet dans ses cahiers le récit même de Turk. Qui est Orrin, qu’est devenu Turk ? Ici encore l’auteur lâche la bride à son imagination, qui frise de plus en plus le délire au fil des pages. Mais quel délire ! Celui-ci atteint de sommets de poésie (oui, carrément !) et d’inventivité, mais ce n’est pas tout, la thématique est très riche et ne cesse d’interroger le lecteur. La position de l’Humanité face à la Nature, face à l’Univers, et même face à sa faiblesse congénitale qui la pousse non seulement à nuire à son environnement mais à s’inventer et à s’aliéner à des entités divines sans raison ni bon sens. Car l’Humanité, pourtant loin de son berceau, après avoir colonisé plusieurs planètes replonge dans sa propension à vouloir expliquer de manière irrationnelle ce qui peut être expliqué rationnellement, et à développer une nouvelle forme de soumission massive, un nouveau genre de fanatisme religieux. Même si l’on frise parfois le surnaturel avec les explications finales, tout reste finalement assez cohérent, et absolument fascinant. J’ai repensé à Asimov et Clarke pour le côté métaphysico-psycho-philosophique. Finalement on ressort de la trilogie en se disant que nous ne sommes rien face à l’Univers et ses mécanismes, au mieux nous pouvons prétendre être la conséquence d’une suite de phénomènes qui fatalement ont fait éclore la vie telle que nous la connaissons, pauvres ignares que nous sommes. Vous l’aurez compris, avec Wilson on réfléchit, on se bouleverse, on s’interroge, et on reste béat devant les idées véhiculées.(less)

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Feb 13, 2012 Tim Hicks rated it 4 of 5 stars

In case you somehow read only this review, please note that this is #3 of 3 and doesn't stand alone. Well, it could, but it shouldn't.

I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars, but I went with 4 to reward the long reach Wilson made.

The hard-science framework here is mostly excellent, with a good supply of ideas. Not so much the characters. Allison is an interesting idea, and there are some interesting ideas about Turk's feelings of guilt. I didn't care for Isaac; he's a bit creepy and I couldn't...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Lightreads rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

And this trilogy goes out with a . . . let’s be a teensy bit generous and call it a muffled bang.

So one of the main reasons I loved Spin so much was it paralleled a people story with a cosmic story in this remarkable way. It gave us sweeping epochs of galactic time and the daily quotidiana of an incestuous bunch of people in the same breath, and didn’t lose the scale or the wonder of either. And it was really good at making the cosmic scale stuff so urgent, so interesting because it was so urgen...more And this trilogy goes out with a . . . let’s be a teensy bit generous and call it a muffled bang.

So one of the main reasons I loved Spin so much was it paralleled a people story with a cosmic story in this remarkable way. It gave us sweeping epochs of galactic time and the daily quotidiana of an incestuous bunch of people in the same breath, and didn’t lose the scale or the wonder of either. And it was really good at making the cosmic scale stuff so urgent, so interesting because it was so urgent and interesting and inexplicable to the people, and I got really invested in everything they did to try and figure out the fuck was happening to the human race.

This book explains what was happening. And it’s . . . I . . . hmm. It’s a really nihilist answer. “And now the stone had rolled away, revealing only the weakling prophet of a mindless god,” as one of the characters describes a similar moment, in a classically Wilsonian turn of phrase. Painfully so, for me, because the explanation rendered unto dust all the best parts of Spin the way they struggled individually and societally, how fucking smart they got when they had to, and how scared. That was hard.

Except Wilson knew that. And this is what leaves him a cut above the other guys writing stuff in the same ballpark as him. Stephen Baxter never would have brought this book back around in the moment of its deepest nihilism, and rested a quiet, gentle counter-argument on the tiny actions of one person, spreading to another, to another. And make it actually work for me. Make it move me over what happens to two or three people on one random summer night in Texas, while the main bulk of the story is taking place at the heat death of the universe (not a metaphor).

So yeah. It’s not a perfect book. The first half is really slow, and he throws around a lot of important words like “conscience” and “agency” in this slapdash way where I kept snapping at him to fucking define his terms! But he pulled it out in the end, yeah. Spin is still the best of the trilogy by a lot, but this is not disappointing.
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Jul 14, 2011 Jon Swanson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Vortex is book three of the Spin series. If you haven't read Spin and like sci-fi at all, you should definitely read it. Incredibly great book, with some truly beautiful ideas.

The second book in the series wasn't that great, but Vortex makes up for it. Not quite as good as Spin, it still manages to stand on it's own. The book follows two timelines, one of which is set on earth shortly after the Spin ends, and the other ten thousand years in the future. The storyline from the future follows Turk...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Bradley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, science-fiction

The third (and presumably final) chapter in the Spin saga, by Robert Charles Wilson takes the form of Vortex . A worthy successor to the award-winning Spin , and equally fascinating Axis , Vortex wraps up the story of the Hypotheticals, and Earth's fate from these seemingly unintelligible beings.

Unfortunately, Vortex doesn't quite capture the same level of intrigue as the previous novels in the series. Though the ending is far-spanning, and reveals the ultimate answers, fans may not find them pa...more The third (and presumably final) chapter in the Spin saga, by Robert Charles Wilson takes the form of Vortex . A worthy successor to the award-winning Spin , and equally fascinating Axis , Vortex wraps up the story of the Hypotheticals, and Earth's fate from these seemingly unintelligible beings.

Unfortunately, Vortex doesn't quite capture the same level of intrigue as the previous novels in the series. Though the ending is far-spanning, and reveals the ultimate answers, fans may not find them particularly rewarding. In fact, much of the back story feels grudgingly provided, as if the author only added it as an afterthought. This is not only unusual for Wilson, but disappointing.

Vortex takes place in many different locations, and follows three primary characters throughout the book (another huge change from the previous novels in the series). Turk Findley makes a return, and is most certainly the primary character. After being introduced in Axis, he's become the central character to the series, or at least the final two-thirds. Axis also follows two other characters, of varying interest. Confusing is that the timeframes take place in two very different settings, jumping back and forth. Credit must be given to Wilson, however, for choosing the exact right moments to cut from one timeframe to the other; they are often done just at a moment of high suspense.

The story takes a slow and meandering path toward the end, and it's only the last few pages that actually reveal the end-game of the saga. It's really as though Wilson ran out of steam, and the series finishes with more of a whimper than a bang. The ultimate story is still fascinating, but doesn't lead up to much of a climax, and may leave some readers disappointed.

Still, as a novel, Vortex is a fascinating read, and actually stands very well on its own, with readers not necessarily having to have read the previous entries in the series--quite an accomplishment on its own. Events in the novel keep the pages turning, and the characters are deep enough to be truly cared about, especially up until the very end.

Fans of the Spin saga should most certainly read this book to close out the series, and any fan of science fiction should not only read this book, but any of the works by Robert Charles Wilson.(less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book starts out as a strange, but fairly engrossing story that happens partly before Axis. The characters are well fleshed out without being repetitive or going into ridiculous detail. The flash forwards give a good sense of the differences, and nearly alien natures, of the new societies in a neat fashion.

The ending is where the book really fails. It does give the reader a good concept of what the hypotheticals are at a point in the ending that is very thought provoking. It then starts rambl...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Ron Arden rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the 3rd book in the series that started with Spin, which was pretty wild in its own right. This story is told from 3 points of view, one in current day (sort of) and two 10,000 years in the future. The modern day story focuses on Orrin Mather, who has been channeling or remembering a story from the future. The story in the future are what Orrin wrote in his notebooks. We, the dear reader, get to hear (or read) about the future story of Turk Findley through Orrin's writings. Confused yet?...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Vortex is the third book of a trilogy that began in Spin and continued in Axis. In Spin, present-day Earth is, without explanation, enclosed in some sort of field that hurtles the planet billions of years into the future over the course of five years, leaving it in a solar system grown old, with the Sun grossly expanded and dangerous.

In Axis, we find that the mysterious aliens that brought us forward (called "The Hypotheticals") have also left us a portal to another world.

Vortex answers all the...more Vortex is the third book of a trilogy that began in Spin and continued in Axis. In Spin, present-day Earth is, without explanation, enclosed in some sort of field that hurtles the planet billions of years into the future over the course of five years, leaving it in a solar system grown old, with the Sun grossly expanded and dangerous.

In Axis, we find that the mysterious aliens that brought us forward (called "The Hypotheticals") have also left us a portal to another world.

Vortex answers all the questions raised by the previous two books. The framing story is set on Earth just before the events of Axis -- humanity is beginning to explore the new planet while life resumes some semblance of 21st-century normality. The Hypotheticals have left a remnant of the time-shifting field around the Earth that blocks out the harshest radiation from our now-old sun and gives the illusion of normalcy.

A vagrant is brought to a Houston state welfare intake facility by a city cop. What would be routine any other day is changed because the vagrant has with him a hand-written science fiction story set 10,000 years in the future... a story that seems to tie in to a present-day crime investigation.

Vortex then interleaves the Houston story with chapters of the vagrant's SF story, which continue the adventures of two of the characters from Axis after they are thrown 10,000 years ahead by a Hypothetical time portal. Future humanity is now strung out on a series of worlds connected by Hypothetical arches, anchored on one end by Earth and on the other by Mars. Turk Findley is guided in this future by a woman who has imprinted upon her the memories of a 21st century girl from upstate New York; together they travel to (and upon) a (possibly insane) roving archipelago called Vox, which attempts to travel once more to a now-dead Earth to meet at last the Hypotheticals face to face.

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I absolutely LOVED Spin... refreshing and original. The follow-up, Axis, was just okay. It's the middle book of the trilogy and it shows. No questions will be answered, but it does flesh out many of the events in the first book.

Vortex could have continued in the same vein, but it does things quite a bit differently. The framing story in near-future Earth turns out to be intimately connected to the vagrant's SF story set 10,000 years hence... which tells of a history that doesn't jibe with what the Houston characters know.

There's two romances, there's a Baxter-ian glimpse of a far future, there's lots of loose ends tied up... it's a fitting end to an extremely inventive trilogy.

Recommended.
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Apr 19, 2013 Arthur rated it 4 of 5 stars

While I'm not a huge fan of his writing style (can't really define why, but it's always a bit of a struggle getting through his books), I do love Wilson's premises and ideas. This is the third (and last, as far as I can tell) book in the Spin series and like the other two, I found most of the book good, but not really that gripping. I did like the characters, the plot was very much sci-fi, and there was plenty of action, mystery, etc. It's very people-oriented sci-fi, perhaps a bit too much so,...more

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May 15, 2012 Liana rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's been a while since I read Spin and Axis and I really didn't remember much about their plot lines. I had to read my own reviews here just to get an inkling of who Turk Findley was (so yay for my book report project! It does come in handy sometimes!). It didn't really work, though; I still don't remember specifics. But I remember liking the first story and being a little confused with the second story. Turns out that's good enough for the third and final novel.

Even though the story didn't int...more It's been a while since I read Spin and Axis and I really didn't remember much about their plot lines. I had to read my own reviews here just to get an inkling of who Turk Findley was (so yay for my book report project! It does come in handy sometimes!). It didn't really work, though; I still don't remember specifics. But I remember liking the first story and being a little confused with the second story. Turns out that's good enough for the third and final novel.

Even though the story didn't interest me much until we get to Orrin's notebooks (which happens soon enough, thank goodness), I felt the rest of it was compelling enough (this is, perhaps, one of my most important criterion for a book: is it compelling? Do I want to keep reading?) I was mainly curious about Turk's storyline. And it's interesting to have a book take place in the future and the distant future. Okay, when I typed that out, it didn't seem that interesting, but perhaps it's simply my failure to articulate.

We finally get a real sense of what the Hypotheticals are and what they're trying to do. It's nice to have the certainty, but still somewhat of a letdown to realize there isn't the kind of higher consciousness behind it all that we would expect or led ourselves to believe. It's more instinct/programming combined with the ability to work toward maximizing survival strategies (the "farming" of world cultures to produce high-end tech that they would eventually scavenge).

One reviewer really liked the final chapter. Probably because it was a grand Explanation and resolution (i.e., how did Orrin get those stories in his head?). And it seems well thought out. For me, I was glad to have it (for those exact aforementioned reasons), but I wasn't particularly awed by grandiosity of it all. It seemed... a bit tacked on, like the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (the movie) or "AI: Artificial Intelligence." At least in this book, there was more consistency and the jump forward makes sense. Although I realize it's been a while since I read 2001 and maybe I'm not giving that book enough credit.

I felt the romance between Sandra and Bose was too quick. Even though she kind of reminds herself that she doesn't know him that well, I find it odd that they would bond so quickly. And even though Bose himself doesn't pressure her into a relationship at the end (i.e., going to Seattle as friends or lovers), it seems clear that they're a couple. I can't help but think: what is it built on? You've only known each other for a few days! I don't care how much history you may have covered over drinks that one night. Maybe I'm just being cynical.

And even though Bose had some exposition on the subject, I didn't really "get" the threat level that Orrin apparently posed to Findley Sr's drug operation. Yes, he's a breach that that Findley didn't want, but the lengths he went to in order to secure Orrin seemed a bit intricate. I can't remember why it wouldn't have been easier to simply kill him off.

I went through Texas in March. It was warm. I do not want to go through there in the summer (September 2010, I went through the panhandle, which was a relatively short trip, although I did stay overnight).

Even though I guess it was nice for Orrin to have a family member contact, Ariel's role felt unnecessary and tacked on. She didn't do much except mention that Orrin had some "moods" while he was growing up and that, sometimes, he could fight back. And then she alerted Bose & Sandra that Orrin had disappeared, but that plot point could have been done just as well without her.

I was mostly interested in Turk Findley's future timeline. As with Bose and Sandra, I thought the relationship between Turk and Treya/Allison sprung up pretty quickly. I'm surprised that the arch to Earth let them through. Vox dogma believed it was because the Hypotheticals "recognized" the Uptaken, but, after learning more about them and their indifference to individuals, this doesn't make much sense.

The whole "limbic" democracy was interesting (do cortical democracies have implants as well? I don't know why they would. Do *we* qualify as a cortical democracy?).

For some reason, I kept picturing Isaac Dvali as black, but I don't think he is... I don't remember much about his provenance. His reconstruction seemed like a horrific sight. I'm surprised his mind appeared to grow back as well. I'm glad he was able to help Turk and TreyAllison. How long did they "live" and travel together in Vox Core? I like the idea of that forest house. But... I can imagine that it must been somewhat lonely for Turk and TreyAllison. I wonder what they thought of human civilization when they got back to it and how they adjusted to life there.(less)

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Jul 11, 2011 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: martha

Recommended to Kelly by: martha

Woke up yesterday morning, sat up in bed and read this completely straight through (even listened to the Clint Mansell score for the Fountain for the last hour, which I remembered listening to on repeat when I first read Spin). Vortex is better than Axis but still not 10% the book Spin was. I think the problem is that Spin was fairly epic in its presentation and covered a long period of real time and a relatively short period of universe time. Both Axis and Vortex are much shorter novels in comp...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011_release_read, review_fbc, genre-sf, read_2011, series_read, t1_recommended_2011

It is very hard to follow up on a masterpiece like Spin and Axis and Vortex try valiantly. While Axis continued the Spin timeline some decades later and a planet away and had a lot of great moments, it had one main flaw in that as a middle book it expanded the universe of the series but offered little resolution. Vortex splits into distinct narratives that are related by a "message in a bottle" device - though in this case the message goes time-reverse - with the full import of everything reveal...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Andres rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

If you've read my reviews of the previous books in the Spin trilogy, then you know I loved the first book but hated the second. This final volume is a mixture of the two, therefore I liked it, but not too much or too little.

It does wrap up the story, but it ends on a kind of big-idea note rather than a character based one. 'Spin' was all about characters and story, with 'Axis' starting out about characters then devolving into plot with a bit of idea chewing. 'Vortex' is light on developing chara...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, author_male, book-club_scifi, pub_post-1945, scifi, scifi-environmental, series, type_fiction

This is going to be one of those reviews that is difficult to write because I don’t want to give away too much. I can say that this book has everything that I look for in a good scifi novel. It has incredible world-building. It has fascinating predictions about what the far future will be like, not only technologically, but also ecologically, politically and ethically. It has several well-drawn characters that I really cared about. The language is nimble, descriptive and inventive. And it has a...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Trying to organize my thoughts about Vortex is taking quite a bit longer than I expected.

First, I really, really enjoyed it. I felt it was an excellent way to finish out this series. After reading Vortex, Axis also made a lot more sense & seemed to "fit" better than it did at first glance.

I was pleased that Vortex didn't fall back on a "goddidit" resolution. The Hypotheticals remained complex, yet without omniscience or even - critically - what we would consider consciousness or will. In A...more Trying to organize my thoughts about Vortex is taking quite a bit longer than I expected.

First, I really, really enjoyed it. I felt it was an excellent way to finish out this series. After reading Vortex, Axis also made a lot more sense & seemed to "fit" better than it did at first glance.

I was pleased that Vortex didn't fall back on a "goddidit" resolution. The Hypotheticals remained complex, yet without omniscience or even - critically - what we would consider consciousness or will. In Axis, the characters did a lot of speculation about the Hypotheticals, and it made me nervous that we were going to get something like a Big (Bad?) Alien Daddy moving worlds around like chesspieces in a galactic game. Snoozeville! I'm glad that didn't happen. Wilson committed to the idea that complexity evolves on its own and doesn't necessarily point to an underlying design or purpose. He holds to this both with organic (plants, animals) evolution, and inorganic or semi-organic (space, the Hypotheticals) processes. Because of this, the book doesn't really provide any "answers," and there really isn't an "end," per se. This was in the book's (and author's) favor, because often a story will cave to the desire to come up with a straightforward reason for why stuff happens. There is no why; there doesn't need to be a why. Stuff just happens.

So there's that. My own preference to resist anthropomorphism of the universe was satisfied.

Other than that, it was just good writing. The two timelines in the book (which actually work out to be the same timeline that loops back on itself, sort of) are suspenseful and engaging. One thing in particular that stuck with me was the description of the Earth's last moments before being burned up in the dying sun. Wilson creates a feeling of such utter and overwhelming loneliness. It stabbed at my heart and left me feeling lost & desolate. There is somewhat of a reprieve for the characters stuck on Earth when the Arch collapses, but in keeping with the rest of the book it's a mixed blessing: you can never really go home. I enjoyed the 'twist' at the end, even though it's easy enough to see coming.

For picking up Spin on a random impulse, these three books turned out to be a rather impressive series... yay!(less)

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Jan 08, 2013 Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, distopian

This book was so much different than the first two books. I spent the whole time reading this book trying to figure out what was going on. Come to think of it, I guess that was true about the other two but this book was more disjointed and it had less science and real reasoning about it. Usually I like my sci-fi/fantasy books to stray more to the fantasy side but since he had made a point of adding logic and reasoning to his first two, the lack of it in this one was upsetting. I was also annoyed...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed

Here's the thing . . . the last 40 pages or so are fascinating, jam-packed with mind-stretching concepts in the best tradition of the first book, Spin. But you have to wade through a whole lot of filler first. Then the end feels rushed, as if Wilson was just ready to be done with it. A narrator drops in to explain all the mysteries (the classic telling instead of showing that so many writing instructors warn against). I'd have rather the book had fleshed out the last forty pages into the main ac...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy

The last of the series that began with Spin and continued with Axis. It was short, like Axis. I was expecting something deeper, longer.

I liked having Turk Findley reappear. I thought he might reappear, but I wasn't sure. There were some unfinished issues with his life in Axis.

I enjoyed going back and forth between the present in Houston (the present as it is in this book) and the future on Vox. I liked the story of Vox Core better. I became interested in Vox and it's history and I wanted a lot m...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is more of trilogy review. And not very helpful.

I've enjoyed all of Robert Charles Wilson's books, but I loved Spin. Despite reading a lot, I almost never get so into a book I can't stop reading, which happened for Spin. After I finished it, I learned it had a sequel. It didn't feel like it needed one, really. Sure, I wanted to know what happened to Tyler and Diane after sailing through the arch, but the book felt complete.

So I read Axis. It was okay. I don't think Wilson writes bad books,...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Sargeatm rated it 3 of 5 stars

2.5 Sterne
Der Abschluss der Spin-Trilogie liest sich recht zäh. Man kämpft sich durch zwei Handlungsstränge die zeitlich extrem weit auseinander liegen. Einerseits Turk in der Zukunft, der auf weiterentwickelte Menschen trifft, die allerdings ebenso wie ihre Vorfahren vor 10.000 Jahren noch auf einer spirituellen Reise sind und dabei eine Gesellschaftsform entwickelt haben, bei der sich alle Bürger durch ein Netzwerk emotional gleichschalten. Zugleich versklaven sie Unmengen an Menschen, die sic...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-author, science-fiction, 2011-books-read

I don't often read book series. Usually, I find that the first book is great and the next 2 books are mediocre at best. I think that, for me, this series kept my attention because I haven't branched much into the harder sub-genres of science fiction. So, this was my first literary taste of terraforming, nanobots, collective biological networking (for lack of a better phrase), and star gates (to borrow the term from the series by the same name). I don't know if I found this series fascinating bec...more I don't often read book series. Usually, I find that the first book is great and the next 2 books are mediocre at best. I think that, for me, this series kept my attention because I haven't branched much into the harder sub-genres of science fiction. So, this was my first literary taste of terraforming, nanobots, collective biological networking (for lack of a better phrase), and star gates (to borrow the term from the series by the same name). I don't know if I found this series fascinating because of the author's creative ability to interlace these concepts or if it's simply because it's my first time encountering them on the written page.

The characters in this final book in the series did feel a little 2 dimensional to me. The words on the page rarely plumped up and surrounded me in the world they were trying to create. I never felt truly transported by this book as I did the first 2. However, I did find the progression of 10,000-years-in-the-future humanity to be intriguing and did enjoy the ending of the series.

I heard or read an article in the New Yorker (or was it a story on NPR .. or both?) recently about how astonished scientists were to discover what was once a stone age paint shop in a cave. They were amazed at the complex chemistry involved in the creation of the paints, glues, etc., that they found there. Just how much have our brains evolved over time? Strip away our "civilizing" technologies and conveniences, and how many modern men could easily turn to the savagery we think that we're so far above? Similarly, if we took stone aged chemist into our century and taught him our culture, would he be that much different from us? He would definitely have a more finely honed skill set than most of us do. Again and again, I find myself intrigued by the juxtaposition between civilization and savagery and what those words really mean. We think we're so evolved, but how different are our brains really from men of a few thousand years ago? Isn't it mainly just our cultural norms and way of life that has been changed by the inventions and thoughts of a handful of people?

I mention that because this series touches deeply on the idea of human cerebral evolvement. Thousands of years beyond today, the human brain does not appear to have evolved biologically. There are controversial and illegal cellular reconstructive treatments available that repair both brain and body. And there's a way to technologically network into a collective group over-soul. However, there does not appear to be a true evolving of the human brain without doing so through medicine and technology.

In Vortex, humanity's future is one in which people have agreed to a surgery that allows everyone to be cerebrally connected by a true social network. Everyone in the country shares emotion and logic for a truly democratic and empathetic nation. Once upon a time, I would have thought this idea to be wonderful. But I now think it sounds like a disaster. Imagine a government that's run by everyone. I cringe to think that this would include the people who used to make such hateful comments to Tulsa World articles (before only paid subscribers could comment). I'd also not like my thoughts melding with people with psychopathic tendencies. The idea of having everyone's thoughts and feelings networked just sounds like a nightmare rather than like nirvana. If this were the future of humanity, I'd want no part of it.

The series ends with the concept of a biological network being taken to its ultimate limit. But it seems like such an empty ending. It seems as if extreme social networking merely leads to extreme loneliness in the end. And so it goes. (less)

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Apr 03, 2013 Shara rated it 4 of 5 stars

My Review: 7 - Good Read

It feels like forever since I read and fell in love with Spin. The sequel, Axis, didn't pack the same punch in terms of sense of wonder, but there was no doubt I'd read the third and final installment of this trilogy, Vortex. It's not as good as Spin, I'll be honest, but it's a lot better than Axis, and the last part of the book packs a wonderful punch in terms of sense of wonder that I had a hard time putting it down once I got into those final pages. Vortex kept me gue...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

If it was common practice to have a favourite chapter in a book, my hat would come off to the last chapter of Vortex. I have never read a series that was so gratifyingly wrapped up than the Hypotheticals trilogy.

Though first the book within the trilogy itself. It's been probably about a year since I read Spin, which was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable. Axis I enjoyed, but didn't find as satisfying. I wanted to like the characters, but the only one I really felt for was Isaac (round one). I al...more If it was common practice to have a favourite chapter in a book, my hat would come off to the last chapter of Vortex. I have never read a series that was so gratifyingly wrapped up than the Hypotheticals trilogy.

Though first the book within the trilogy itself. It's been probably about a year since I read Spin, which was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable. Axis I enjoyed, but didn't find as satisfying. I wanted to like the characters, but the only one I really felt for was Isaac (round one). I also have a problem with the way Wilson writes his female characters. All of his characters are bruised in some way or another, by the destructive nature of love, or the destructive influence of alien technology perverting their lives, or a combination of those two. That works, but the women (specifically Lise, Sandra, Allison/Treya) all felt slightly thin and interchangeable, and the habit of them falling into bed with the leading men feels a little too much like clockwork heterosexuality for me (Calyxa, from Julian Comstock, on the other hand... now there's a woman to sit proudly on my bookshelf). The women sometimes feel a little too poor-me-daddy-issues driven for me, when Wilson definitely has the capability to write a fantastic woman (again, I point to Calyxa).

This is my main grievance. When I first held the copy of Vortex in my hand I felt a little uneasy about the size. How could the Hypotheticals trilogy be wrapped up so quickly? However when I read it I found the prose to be, although a little pragmatic (especially the Vox sections), quite enjoyable. To be frank, the whole Treya-Allison concept blew my mind, how the summation of a person can take on a life of its own. Expertly executed. And like I said before, the return and evolution and beyond of Isaac Dvali has to be one of the most satisfying science fiction writing I have ever read. It reminded me of the section of Darwinia in which the god-like universal entity is invaded by the "Miracle", which was my favourite chapter of that book. I think its commendable and probably one of my favourite things about Wilson, that he can write these inhuman supernatural god-alien-beings and make them so understandable and superbly etched out.(less)

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Jul 23, 2012 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Following the events of Axis, Turk Findley awakens in the far, far future and in the hands of Vox, a religious cult that has traveled from world to world with the intent of making direct contact with the Hypotheticals, the entities responsible for the Spin. When he befriends a Vox woman who also possesses the memories of a woman from the 21st century, they gradually begin to realize the danger of their quest.

Parallel to this story, in the "present" (post-Spin), a state care worker finds herself...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Stephen Hawkwind rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fine ending to the Spin-trilogy. I found Axis to be a bit of a let-down, but in hindsight I think it would work better if read back-to-back with this. RCW ties up the themes and questions of the previous volumes while delivering an engaging story with the typical Wilson-trademarks (well-drawn, sympathetic characters, grand concepts, etc). As with Axis I feel that the future setting, the Ring of Worlds created by the Hypotheticals, is little more than a background setting for the human drama, w...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good, but by the end of this trilogy I was pretty worn out and getting bored with all of the hard sci fi explanations. I'm not an idiot, but after awhile I neither understood, nor cared about the hypotheticals and how they existed/what they were. I really did enjoy Spin and cruised through the whole trilogy pretty rapidly. A bit frustrated with Wilson always going for the $50 word when a $1 word would have done just fine and gotten the message across. I read a review that said he should "put the...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Norm Galloway rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pretty good end to the series.

The romances seemed kinda cheesy. As if it was just filler for the (I'll admit, VERY cool) ideas and ending for the series. And it's not as if RCW can't write emotion... Blind Lake was really quite moving!

IMO spin was great by itself, I could have survived without answering the questions that it left hanging.

While I felt that a lot of the ideas were worth writing about (Vox core, and the cortical democracies, earth's legacy, etc) I think they could have been shoved...more

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About Robert Charles Wilson

Born in California, Robert Charles Wilson lives in Toronto. Darwinia won Canada's Aurora Award, The Chronoliths won the John W. Campbell Award, and Blind Lake is a New York Times Notable Book. All three were Hugo finalists. Spin won the Hugo for best novel.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...

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“What is inevitable is not death but change. Change is the only abiding reality. The metaverse evolves, fractally and forever. Saints become sinners, sinners become saints. Dust becomes men, men become gods, gods become dust.” — 2 people liked it

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Vortex (Spin Saga #3)

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