Science Fiction

Spin

Spin

  • Downloads：5199
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-08 09:54:09
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Robert Charles Wilson
  • ISBN：076534825X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

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 at once， then disappeared， replaced by a flat， 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。

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

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Reviews

Peter Brandano ，

I loved this book。 Robert Charles Wilson is often poetic and always compelling in his storytelling in this Hugo award winning book。 This book reminded me of The Three Body Problem and works by Orson Scott Card in its ability to blend awe inspiring sci-fi with thought provoking political and philosophical consequences。 I highly recommend。

Sonia ，

Intrigante premisa sobre los diferentes tiempos en los que nos movemos （el humano， el geológico， el cósmico。。） pero con unos protagonistas que me han sabido a poco。

Matthew M ，

This novel made me entirely sad， for all the right reasons。 Brilliantly written and intelligently realized throughout， from the hard science to the deeply human characterizations。 We're currently living through the deepest stupidity and selfishness of the human race。 Wilson captured that esprit d'shitbags at an accelerated pace， but beautiful and knowingly。 This novel made me entirely sad， for all the right reasons。 Brilliantly written and intelligently realized throughout， from the hard science to the deeply human characterizations。 We're currently living through the deepest stupidity and selfishness of the human race。 Wilson captured that esprit d'shitbags at an accelerated pace， but beautiful and knowingly。 。。。more

Vicky ，

The ideas and science behind this were really great and well thought out， what with （view spoiler）[the membrane and the terraforming and Earth-descended Martians， and the Hypothetical and the Archways - （hide spoiler）] but everything else I felt was kinda lacking :'））（view spoiler）[Tyler was pretty dull to follow most of the time， because he in turn just follows Jason and Diane everywhere， and they were way more interesting （or， actually， Jason was interesting since he was actually doing all the The ideas and science behind this were really great and well thought out， what with （view spoiler）[the membrane and the terraforming and Earth-descended Martians， and the Hypothetical and the Archways - （hide spoiler）] but everything else I felt was kinda lacking :'））（view spoiler）[Tyler was pretty dull to follow most of the time， because he in turn just follows Jason and Diane everywhere， and they were way more interesting （or， actually， Jason was interesting since he was actually doing all the cool sci-fi space exploration stuff with huge implications for humanity， while Diane was off with her crazy hippie religious cults doing whatever）。 The plot was very slow and meandering， and the book blurb literally told me all the major plot points of the first 1/3 of the book， at least。 It also didn't help that the present day flash-forwards just casually dropped plot bombs like Jason's death， which just made me go "what" and feel depressed （lol maybe cause he was the only character I actually found interesting） and lose interest in the main plot。Also a bit of a minor gripe but I feel like the author doesn't give enough credit to humanity for being very interested and invested in space？？ I mean， ALIENS and TIME WARPS bruh how can all these characters just be like "oh yeah idk what's up with the news I don't follow that" the author also has a very low regard of the general public's knowledge of space in general smh （hide spoiler）]Also I'm sorry but some of the technical-detail-filled paragraphs I skimmed over lol， they didn't really interest me 。。。more

Josh ，

Clever， interesting， uses a novel combination of motifs to give us a court-side view of galactic time and a respectable consideration of our ephemeral nature。 The story arc kinda sucked though。 Not a compelling conflict， and correspondingly no satisfying finish。

Julius Sūrus ，

This was a SPIN :） Enjoyed it。 Let's do the AXIS now！ This was a SPIN :） Enjoyed it。 Let's do the AXIS now！ 。。。more

Garry Garrett ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Hugo Award winning book。 RCW is a master at imagining BIG ideas and throwing in great characters with endings that rarely disappoint。 In SPIN he demonstrates his biggest idea（s） to date adding 3-4 outstanding characters with intriguing story lines。 SPIN stands as this reviewers favorite SF book。 （Previously， it was Ringworld）。 The ideas simply blew me away。 The story of Tyler， Jason and Diane is completely engaging especially Tyler's unrequited love for Diane。 The terraforming of Mars， Jason's l Hugo Award winning book。 RCW is a master at imagining BIG ideas and throwing in great characters with endings that rarely disappoint。 In SPIN he demonstrates his biggest idea（s） to date adding 3-4 outstanding characters with intriguing story lines。 SPIN stands as this reviewers favorite SF book。 （Previously， it was Ringworld）。 The ideas simply blew me away。 The story of Tyler， Jason and Diane is completely engaging especially Tyler's unrequited love for Diane。 The terraforming of Mars， Jason's leadership and the end of the world scenarios help make this a book with neverending ideas and compelling characters。 。。。more

Saya ，

La historia empieza bien。 Se desarrolla en dos líneas temporales: el pasado， en el que desaparecieron las estrellas y la Luna， y el presente， con un protagonista muy enfermo y huyendo no sabemos muy bien a dónde。 Hasta el 35% me tenía muy enganchada， pero por la mitad se me ha empezado a hacer pesado: no me interesaba demasiado la vida amorosa de Tyler （el protagonista） y ninguno de los personajes me ha caído especialmente bien。 Además， las dos líneas temporales se van acercando hasta que conver La historia empieza bien。 Se desarrolla en dos líneas temporales: el pasado， en el que desaparecieron las estrellas y la Luna， y el presente， con un protagonista muy enfermo y huyendo no sabemos muy bien a dónde。 Hasta el 35% me tenía muy enganchada， pero por la mitad se me ha empezado a hacer pesado: no me interesaba demasiado la vida amorosa de Tyler （el protagonista） y ninguno de los personajes me ha caído especialmente bien。 Además， las dos líneas temporales se van acercando hasta que convergen y eso me ha resultado algo confuso。 Creo que el autor lo usó como recurso para añadir misterio y enganchar al lector， pero en más de una ocasión he querido gritarle: "¿¡Pero te vas a dejar ya de historias y me vas a explicar lo que está pasando！？"。El estilo me ha recordado un poco al Heinlein de Stranger in a Strange Land， y no hay pocas referencias a esa obra， por cierto。 Será por lo ambicioso del tema， por la cantidad de palos que quiere tocar: desde lo más familiar y cercano hasta lo más lejano， galáctico y desconocido， pasando por política， guerras， medicina， revoluciones， ciencia， tecnología， intereses， algo de espionaje， romance y religión。 Y ahí es donde me ha perdido un poco， sobre todo con el tema religioso。En cierto momento me he dado cuenta de que los personajes femeninos son escasos y en roles bastante típicos o no precisamente positivos: Diane， aunque inteligente， se deja arrastrar por la religión a una secta que casi acaba con ella y Tyler tiene que salvarla; Carol， su madre， es alcohólica; Molly， la amante de Tyler en Perihelion， en realidad lo está utilizando para robar información; Ina les ayuda arriesgándose pero en realidad es su exmarido quien tiene los contactos。 Los cerebritos son Jason， su padre y Tyler， no ellas。Sé que el libro tiene un Hugo y no me extraña: como digo， es ambicioso y abarca muchos temas diferentes。 Pero creo que lo más flojo son sus personajes e historias （el romance y la secta me han sorprendido cero， entre otras cosas）， y lo mejor， la ciencia （ficción）: la membrana que rodea a la Tierra， el descubrimiento de que el tiempo pasa muchísimo más lento en la Tierra que en el exterior， los planes para terraformar Marte en unos pocos años gracias a esa diferencia temporal。。。 Y el desenlace no está mal， pero me ha parecido un poquito precipitado。 Los párrafos explicativos parecen estar metidos un poco con calzador， pero tampoco sé cómo se podría haber hecho mejor， la verdad。En resumen， un libro largo que se hace pesado en algunos momentos （los centrados en temas personales）， pero con una premisa interesantísima。 Vale la pena leerlo， aunque no me haya convencido el estilo。 。。。more

Oliver Terrones ，

Una noche tres adolescentes ven desaparecer la luna y las estrellas。 En 'Spin' hay una manera de enrarecer algo que por mucho tiempo fue otredad: el fin de la Tierra， el viaje en el tiempo， Marte y los marcianos。 Volviéndolo tan familiar y poco maravilloso por ser producido， casi todo， por nosotros que se contrapone a los relatos de otredad extrema， pero también a los relatos de tecnomnipotencia humana。 Como resultado， en 'Spin' hay un viaje en el tiempo contrario al escape tipo Wells。 Traerle a Una noche tres adolescentes ven desaparecer la luna y las estrellas。 En 'Spin' hay una manera de enrarecer algo que por mucho tiempo fue otredad: el fin de la Tierra， el viaje en el tiempo， Marte y los marcianos。 Volviéndolo tan familiar y poco maravilloso por ser producido， casi todo， por nosotros que se contrapone a los relatos de otredad extrema， pero también a los relatos de tecnomnipotencia humana。 Como resultado， en 'Spin' hay un viaje en el tiempo contrario al escape tipo Wells。 Traerle a nosotrxs; deformar y extraer del tiempo más que ir hacia él。 Normalización de un fin del mundo que no es corto， sorpresivo ni espontáneo sino largo， cotidiano， procesual y normalizado; pero también una manera de contranarrar lo edulcorado alrededor de Marte， incluido Bradbury al que， por momentos， se muerde。—"A veces cito la parábola de la rana。 Tira una rana dentro de agua hirviendo y saldrá de un salto。 tira una rana dentro de un caldero de agua agradablemente templada， aumenta el fuego lentamente， y la rana estará muerta antes de darse cuenta de que tiene un problema。""¿Cómo construye uno una vida bajo la amenaza de la extinción？ La pregunta definió a nuestra generación。" 。。。more

September ，

The premise （and all of the ripple out possibilities） is amazing！ So fascinating！ Frankly， it's what kept me in it。。。Wilson does a lot of character development， which I would normally appreciate when blended with scifi， but instead it felt tedious。 Maybe not entirely purposeful？ I liked several of the characters a little bit， but didn't love any of them。 So， I was never fully invested。I stuck around primarily because I needed answers， and I wanted to learn how Wilson was going to push the premis The premise （and all of the ripple out possibilities） is amazing！ So fascinating！ Frankly， it's what kept me in it。。。Wilson does a lot of character development， which I would normally appreciate when blended with scifi， but instead it felt tedious。 Maybe not entirely purposeful？ I liked several of the characters a little bit， but didn't love any of them。 So， I was never fully invested。I stuck around primarily because I needed answers， and I wanted to learn how Wilson was going to push the premise。 （Oh！ The possibilities！！） We learn a bit more near the end， but I need MORE。 I'm definitely going to read the next book， when I can get my hands on it。 。。。more

Deni Jane ，

Wonderful book， I strongly recommend it to hard-core sci-fi fans。 I don't remember when I have bought it， I found it on my tablet and started reading it， and I was absolutely locked to the story。 Very well written， very well developped and the world-building is fantastic。 I don't like page-turners but I simply couldn't put it down。 I don't want to spoil it for anyone， but it reminded me of when I watched the movie "The time machine"。 I remember back then I felt existential shock by the utter irr Wonderful book， I strongly recommend it to hard-core sci-fi fans。 I don't remember when I have bought it， I found it on my tablet and started reading it， and I was absolutely locked to the story。 Very well written， very well developped and the world-building is fantastic。 I don't like page-turners but I simply couldn't put it down。 I don't want to spoil it for anyone， but it reminded me of when I watched the movie "The time machine"。 I remember back then I felt existential shock by the utter irreversibility of time displacement and the helplessness it comes with it。 The book does the reverse to the movie， the people stay but the Universe moves。 Which creates obviously a lot of problems， but also - a lot of opportunities。 The book is also very well researched。 I'm an astrophysicist and I didn't feel annoyed by it， quite the opposite it was very engaging。 。。。more

Chad Hamilton ，

Great book。 Very interesting story for the most part。 Felt a tiny bit unfinished。 The ending just wasn’t especially satisfying although it wasn’t a disappointment either it just was almost a “wow” kind of book and then the ending was a 5/10。

Hugh Carter ，

Loved this。 Similar in scope and ambition to The Three Body Problem， moves a lot more quickly， but isn't as stunning。Just fantastic。 Loved this。 Similar in scope and ambition to The Three Body Problem， moves a lot more quickly， but isn't as stunning。Just fantastic。 。。。more

John Colombo ，

This book has some really good parts but also drags in other parts。 I almost gave it a 4 （ha no pun intended you’ll get that later） however You’ll need to know this word to get through the book for some reason:etagere

Scott Kardel ，

An interesting "what if" novel that explores how civilization might cope with a dramatic， incomprehensible change to the world。 An interesting "what if" novel that explores how civilization might cope with a dramatic， incomprehensible change to the world。 。。。more

Ankita ，

Awesome concept。。。 I mean everyone already agrees on that！ It's the first time I could actually comprehend what's a million years and how could sun look like after 4 billion years！ Totally provokes 'what if。。。' discussion in my mind。 The author has also captured lot of aftereffects of such event from social and economical angles。 I think the human part of the story is really boring and felt stretched。 There is a lot of repetition about 'end of world' and eventually I started skipping those parag Awesome concept。。。 I mean everyone already agrees on that！ It's the first time I could actually comprehend what's a million years and how could sun look like after 4 billion years！ Totally provokes 'what if。。。' discussion in my mind。 The author has also captured lot of aftereffects of such event from social and economical angles。 I think the human part of the story is really boring and felt stretched。 There is a lot of repetition about 'end of world' and eventually I started skipping those paragraphs。 Also skipped narrator's rant after awhile。。。it was getting too depressing。 The sci fi angle totally worked。。。 kept me engaged and I could finish the book only because I wanted to still know what happens to hypotheticals。 。。。more

Manolya ，

Quite a nice novel， a well built sci fi but somehow it was hard to read。 The storyline wasnt catchy enough for me。 So I had to leave the book and star again a few times。

Mathew Heard ，

4。5/5Felt everything but the last 10% was 5/5。 Ending was a bit drawn out and predictable past a certain point IMHO。 Otherwise great though， strongly recommend regardless。

Andrei Mocuţa ，

Wow， ce univers și-a imaginat R。 C。 Wilson！ Prima parte a trilogiei Turbion ar fi putut fi noul Dune sau Foundation a literaturii Sci Fi din secolul XXI。 Spun ar fi putut fi pentru că partea SF ocupă doar un sfert din roman， restul de trei sferturi fiind un thriller nu tocmai rău scris， dar din cele 500 de pagini， 200 puteau lipsi cu ușurință。 O premisă extrem de bună cu documentare științifică pe măsură， umbrită din păcate de episoadele de umplutură。 M-a făcut extrem de curios în privința părți Wow， ce univers și-a imaginat R。 C。 Wilson！ Prima parte a trilogiei Turbion ar fi putut fi noul Dune sau Foundation a literaturii Sci Fi din secolul XXI。 Spun ar fi putut fi pentru că partea SF ocupă doar un sfert din roman， restul de trei sferturi fiind un thriller nu tocmai rău scris， dar din cele 500 de pagini， 200 puteau lipsi cu ușurință。 O premisă extrem de bună cu documentare științifică pe măsură， umbrită din păcate de episoadele de umplutură。 M-a făcut extrem de curios în privința părților 2 și 3， însă le întâmpin cu scepticism。 Oricum， romanul merită citit， mai ale de fanii hard ai genului。 （3，5 / 5） 。。。more

♥ Becky 22 ，

I loved it！ One of my favorite books I have ever read！I can't get it out of my mind。 It's amazing。 <3 I loved it！ One of my favorite books I have ever read！I can't get it out of my mind。 It's amazing。 <3 。。。more

Amanda Levine ，

5。00/5。00Truly one of the best books I have ever read

Adam Kennedy ，

Great， but the ending makes the novel feel like an introduction to a larger story。

TraceyL ，

Cool， unique premise but stilted writing stopped me from really connecting with the story。 The book focuses on three old friends and their relationship as they try and figure out why Earth has a forcefield around it and whether or not the world will end。 I could not care less about these characters。 The science part of this science fiction book was interesting， but about 2/3 of the way in， it really started going over my head and I wasn't sure what was happening anymore。 There was a bunch of stu Cool， unique premise but stilted writing stopped me from really connecting with the story。 The book focuses on three old friends and their relationship as they try and figure out why Earth has a forcefield around it and whether or not the world will end。 I could not care less about these characters。 The science part of this science fiction book was interesting， but about 2/3 of the way in， it really started going over my head and I wasn't sure what was happening anymore。 There was a bunch of stuff about a doomsday cult which didn't seem very important and I didn't pay much attention to， but at the end it became super important so I was a little lost。The more I think about this book the lower my rating gets。 I won't continue in the series。 。。。more

Max Reads ，

Review to follow！

Saad ，

A brilliant story。It follows three characters and sees how a global event affects them individually。Recommended。

Neil ，

This was quite the page-turner！ _Spin_ is an intriguing book about earth's first extraterrestrial contact， though the contact is framed in a way that is both uniquely apocalyptic and surprisingly subtle。 Basically， all of earth experiences， in one night， the loss of the moon and all the stars and， when the next day comes， the sun appears to have been replaced with a simulation。 Wilson doesn't flinch from considering the political， psychological， and civilizational repercussions of this surprisin This was quite the page-turner！ _Spin_ is an intriguing book about earth's first extraterrestrial contact， though the contact is framed in a way that is both uniquely apocalyptic and surprisingly subtle。 Basically， all of earth experiences， in one night， the loss of the moon and all the stars and， when the next day comes， the sun appears to have been replaced with a simulation。 Wilson doesn't flinch from considering the political， psychological， and civilizational repercussions of this surprising event and he paces the revelations of its mysteries very nicely over the course of the 450-page novel。 I was impressed by the ways in which he let the repercussions of this celestial transformation （dubbed the "Spin"） take the story in interesting science fiction directions。 The premise here is slightly more interesting than the characters， as the protagonist， Tyler， is infatuated with his childhood friend， Diane， in a way that never quite seemed real or interesting to me， but Tyler is uniquely positioned in relation to the US defense industry so that he has a front-row perspective on some of earth's more secret and dramatic developments。 I recommend this book for those looking for a fun read and a solid work of science fiction。 I'm very glad that I came across it。 Also， I want to say how great it was to get access to this novel during COVID-19 since it was part of California State University， Long Beach's "Masback Science Fiction Collection。" It's recently been re-released as part of the new "Tor Essentials" series， but there was a certain authenticity to reading the original mass market paperback。 。。。more

Sara ，

The first 300 pages were one of the best books I've ever read， building up to。。。a very disappointing， rushed， anticlimatic ending。 The first 300 pages were one of the best books I've ever read， building up to。。。a very disappointing， rushed， anticlimatic ending。 。。。more

bee* ，

4。75/5

Ray Smillie ，

A Hugo winner and I can see why。 A truly epic sci-fi masterpiece with ideas full of imagination and extremely well written。 Concentrating on Tyler Dupree and his two best friends， twins Diane and Jason Lawton。 They were watching the skies the night the stars went out and the moon disappeared。 The next thirty years of their life takes roughly three hundred billion years。 Sounds impossible but it happens。 One of my all time favourite sci-fi novels。

Matt Shaw ，

Like some others of RCW's books （looking at you， Darwinia）， Spin is a Big Idea Book， presenting sweeping concepts and BDOs that take your sense of wonder for a long forced march in the manner of Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama or Bear's Eon。 Wilson presents his cosmic concepts like layers of an onion， peeling each back to expose another as you come to grasp the first; that's really the strength of the novel， compelling the reader onward。 The chaotic social effects those cause in contemporary （publ Like some others of RCW's books （looking at you， Darwinia）， Spin is a Big Idea Book， presenting sweeping concepts and BDOs that take your sense of wonder for a long forced march in the manner of Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama or Bear's Eon。 Wilson presents his cosmic concepts like layers of an onion， peeling each back to expose another as you come to grasp the first; that's really the strength of the novel， compelling the reader onward。 The chaotic social effects those cause in contemporary （publ。 in 2005） America are uncomfortable in post-Trump America， but perhaps more credible now。Sadly， Spin's biggest flaw plagues many such novels: character development suffers。 There are only three fully active characters in Spin and even they are really archetypes， placeholders for psychologies that do what the story needs them to do。 That's made tragic by the actually quite lovely writing Wilson uses to frame them， color them， move them around; for instance， to underscore Diane's underlying sadness， he tells us，There was little enough love and affection in her life and each instance of it had to be accounted and stored up in heaven， hoarded against the winter of the universe。That's perhaps more elegant than the book or character required， but I appreciate use of rich language。 It kept me going even when I was impatient with the cardboard-cutout simulacra involved。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Spin

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Spin&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Spin&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0