Spin by Robert
Charles Wilson
Published: Tor, 2005
Series: Book 1 of the
Spin Sequence
Awards Won: Hugo
Award
Awards Nominated:
John W. Campbell Memorial Award,
Locus SF Award
The Book:
“One night, three
young friends—Diane and Jason Lawton, and their housekeeper’s son, Tyler
Dupree—witnessed an event that would shape the future of humanity. With no warning, the stars blinked out
of the sky.
Before long, there was
at least a minimal explanation of what had happened. The stars were still there, but a mysterious shield was
blocking the Earth’s view of them.
Outside of this shield, the universe was aging rapidly, at a rate of
around 100 million years to each year on Earth. Humanity only continued to exist by the grace of whatever
created this shield, and there was no telling when that period of grace might
be over.
Despite this world-changing
event, society continued to plod on as usual. As they grew up, Jason, Diane, and Tyler found different
ways to cope with this incomprehensible event. Jason, a brilliant young man who was being groomed for success
by his wealthy father, threw himself into science. He was determined to find the truth behind the shield before
the end times. His sister Diane,
who had always been an extra child, threw herself into religion. She hoped to find some meaning for her
life through the religious sects that had sprung up in response to the
slow-motion apocalypse.
This is the first novel I’ve read by Robert Charles Wilson,
and it came highly recommended by various book blogs. While it is the first novel of a series, it is definitely a
complete story on its own. In
fact, I believe the second novel, Axis,
does not feature the same set of characters, but is rather another story set at
a later time in the same universe.
My Thoughts:
In some ways, Spin
reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s
End. In both stories,
something is being done to the Earth, with no real explanation, by powers
outside of humanity’s control. Both novels also seem to be a sort of strangely
passive coming-of-age story for the human race, though this maturation occurs
through different means and reaches very different ends. Another major
difference between the two novels is that Clarke focused on the many rippling
changes in humanity and human society as a result of the external meddling,
while Wilson focuses mostly on the personal lives of his three main characters. While there is some scientific and
societal speculation in Spin, it
always takes place in the context of the private lives of Tyler, Jason, and
Diane.
The story is framed by a future arc, which is an account of
Tyler undergoing a harrowing transformative procedure. In this framing arc,
Tyler is frantically attempting to get his life story recorded, since he fears
that the procedure may damage his memory. The main bulk of the novel is made up
of Tyler’s chronological description of his life, starting from his childhood
with Jason and Diane. For me, the
future arc seemed much more compelling than Tyler’s life story. While most of Tyler’s life seemed to
exist in a tense holding pattern, the future arc seems as though it is moving
rapidly forward into an enticingly uncertain future.
For the most part, I thought that Tyler seemed like a
passive observer. Most of his narration consisted of reporting on the lives of
his two closest friends. His character is mostly understood through his
relationship to Diane, for whom he carried a life-long crush, and Jason, who he
essentially hero-worshipped. Jason
and Diane were kind of examples of two extremes people might drift towards in
the face of an incomprehensible apocalypse. Diane made religious faith the single most important thing
in her life, and Jason chose science to fill that role for him. Neither of them had much of a life
outside of their respective obsessions.
I was more interested in Jason, mostly because he is the conduit
through which the reader learns about the ‘Spin’ barrier and the creative ways
humanity exploits the time differential to do things that would be impossible
in today’s world.
The characters were pretty well developed, but I didn’t
personally find them very compelling. As a result, I became much more interested towards the
end of the novel, when more information about the ‘Spin’ barrier and the fate
of humanity began to appear. I
wasn’t completely satisfied with the ultimate explanation for the barrier, but
there are still two novels left in the trilogy to further develop the
motivation behind it. I think the
end of the novel sets up a really intriguing situation, and I am very curious
to see how Wilson will use the universe he’s created in the rest of the
trilogy.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Spin is a story of
how people cope with the sudden appearance of a mysterious barrier around the
Earth, a barrier that may doom the entire human species. Most of the novel focused on the lives
and relationships of Tyler Dupree, his eternal crush Diane Lawton, and her
genius brother Jason Lawton. The
characters were pretty well developed, but I just wasn’t very drawn in by
them. Tyler, the narrator, was
essentially an observer, and he was defined by his relationships with Jason and
Diane. Jason and Diane were
defined by their respective obsessions, science and religion. I became more interested later in the
book, when the science-fictional explanations began to appear. I think Wilson has created an
interesting universe in Spin, and I’m
looking forward to see what further stories he has to tell within it!
I have this book on my "to read" pile for a while now. One of the few Hugo winners left for me to still read. I'm getting to it :-)
ReplyDeleteIf the follow does not feature the same characters, can I safely assume the story of "Spin" is self-contained?
I still have something like 20 Hugo winners to read... I'm sure I will get to them all eventually :). I think you can safely assume "Spin" is self-contained. However, I get the impression that the sequels rely on the world-building of "Spin". My guess would be that they're best read in order, though each novel appears to have a self-contained story.
ReplyDeleteI was also more interested in Jason due to his connection to the Spin, but my overall interest in the story petered out before the Spin was explained in any detail. I still have to finish it. It was readable but, as you observe, the way in which Tyler, Jason, and Diane aren't characterized much beyond their obsessions didn't make them as engaging as they could have been.
ReplyDeleteI thought eventual explanation for the Spin was neat, but the information was a long time coming. I read the post on your blog where you described why you stopped reading the novel, and I think I pretty much agreed with the points you made. It's irritating when the book plays the "The Earth is About to Die" card and then calmly carries on with everyday life, pining over childhood crushes and family drama. Do you think you'll go back to finish it someday?
ReplyDeleteI've now finished "Spin" and had the same experience as @Matthew. I came very close to abandoning the book, but stuck it out. The religious parts and the ensuing calamities following the "Flicker" was well written and kept me reading, but I could not really engage with any of the characters. I felt a little cheated towards the end with the whole business of Mars' magic drug and the "escape" to another world.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, the magic Martian drug was pretty irritating. The main thing I liked about the ending was that it seemed like an interesting set-up for a future story. That's kind of why I was interested in reading the second one- a whole new set of (hopefully more engaging) characters and a more interesting environment.
ReplyDelete