Spin [Paperback]

Robert Charles Wilson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 557 pages
• Publisher: Heyne Verlag (August 31, 2006)
• Language: German
• ISBN-10: 3453522001
• ISBN-13: 978-3453522008
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (182 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,250,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your average excellent Robert Charles Wilson novel, December 9, 2004

By 

Chris Lee Mullins (Highlands Ranch, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spin (Hardcover)

I managed to snag an advanced copy of this novel last week, which I finished in about a day and a half reading during lunch breaks, bathroom breaks and the hours before bedtime. As per usual, Wilson does an excellent job of keeping me up at night.

For those who are familiar with Robert Charles Wilson's work, "Spin" should come as no surprise. Most of his novels feature a conflicted protagonist who is caught up in storms of intrigue and extraordinary circumstances. Wilson's stories typically focus 70% on the characters and 30% on the science. His characters walk away from these experiences utterly changed, for better or for worse. Their arcs aren't always pleasant but usually realistic. You could easily put yourself into their shoes.

"Spin" is no exception.

As the previous reviewer pointed out, Wilson's one weakness is his endings. The endings are usually a rush to tie together loose ends, explain away anything that wasn't properly explained before. "Blind Lake" fell into this trap. "The Chronoliths" did not. Thankfully, "Spin" falls into the latter catagory.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb novel full of Big Ideas, June 30, 2005

By 

John Joseph Adams (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spin (Hardcover)

Spin is a superb novel full of Big Ideas, but those Big Ideas don't come at the expense of rich character development as is so often the case with books of this sort. Wilson has a real knack for creating characters one can empathize with and can really grow to care about. The family relationship depicted here, between the narrator, Tyler Dupree, and his childhood friends Jason (the genius) and Diane (his first, unrequited love), is the real driving force of this novel, and is what makes it such a compelling page-turner. The prose is clean and fluid, and Wilson expertly paces the book, keeping the reader engaged and anxious to find out what comes next. This can be tricky in a novel that spans several subjective years (and billions of relativistic years), but Wilson pulls it off marvelously.

Spin is exactly the sort of novel that I think we need to see more of, one that infuses the reader with that gosh-wow sense of wonder that many writers seem to have forgotten is the reason we all fell in love with the genre in the first place.

65 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Spin" spins, sometimes in place, February 21, 2007

By 

Amy "Hateful Harridan" (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spin (Mass Market Paperback)

Robert Charles Wilson's "Spin" tells the tale of the earth being cloaked in a time-warping membrane, put in place by unknown entities. It's also the tale of Tyler Dupree and his privileged best friends, twins born to the couple his mother works for as a maid.

The story weaves the past and the present, starting with Tyler's early life with his mother in a small guesthouse across the lawn from the big house. That's where the twins, Jason and Diane, reside uneasily with their powerful and sometimes cruel father and withdrawn, alcoholic mother.

One night the three youngsters sit talking on the lawn, peering in at a grown-ups' party in the big house. Suddenly, the moon and the stars are no longer visible. They're blocked by the membrane, which is quickly dubbed the Spin.

After that, the story becomes a search for knowledge.

The world wants to know the meaning of the Spin. Tyler wants to know his place in the world. To understand that, he must also understand his relationship with the twins. There's Jason, whose brilliance and hunger to know who put the Spin in place astound Tyler. And there's Diane, whose search for redemption breaks his heart.

This is also where "Spin" starts spinning in place. Does it want to be a science-fiction tale whose main characters come of age? Or a coming of age tale that takes place in a science-fiction setting? It's as if Wilson wants both, and as a result, almost ends up with neither.

There are compelling facets to "Spin," but there are also long passages where the story is beautifully worded, yet the action is plodding.

The ending could've been interesting had it been built to more quickly, and it's not a big enough payoff for the effort we go through to stick with the main characters as they struggle through life.

Those of you who want a fast-paced, simpler story should look elsewhere. Those of you who want great literature should also look elsewhere. Those of you who want to read something by a talented author we'll be hearing from again and again should read "Spin," mostly for its innovative ideas.