Spin

Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson, is a true science-fiction book. It contains plenty of fiction but mixes in real science. Many sci-fi books focus on new technologies, fantasy worlds on other planets, or aliens come to Earth. While a tiny bit of those elements are in this book, Wilson also adds a fair amount of accurate physics and theories based on real science.

Spin has a strong fiction piece, though. Fiction and science are fairly well balanced which creates an interesting dynamic. In the end I found myself wanting either more depth in the fictional story OR more expounding of the underlying science.

Spin generally tells the story of Tyler, a doctor who lives through an astonishing time: when he is young, "aliens" known as the Hypotheticals surround the Earth with a membrane known as the "Spin" that creates an artificial sun, while messing with relative time. Each Earth year now encapsulates about 100,000,000 Universe years. Most of the story takes place close to when Earthlings believe the sun is going to die. Earth has turned into a much different place, although beyond religious cults, most of this change is not documented in the pages.

Tyler is very close to two childhood friends, Jason and Diane. Jason is an extremely bright physicist who might be able to solve the problem of the Spin and the survival of the human species. He establishes an environment and an atmosphere on Mars and begins a civilization there. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve all of the issues at stake and he develops a serious illness that may jeopardize the survival of the human race. Diane is the love of Tyler's heart but unfortunately is married to a man who is deep into one of the big religious cults. Everything comes together in the end...but how, well I can't tell you that.

This is a fun book to read that has just enough depth to satisfy the serious reader. But it's no masterpiece. The jumps between the science-rich material and the fictional story are disappointing. Both elements are above-average, but I found myself wanting more of each. In the end I was dissatisfied. This was a decent book that could have been great.

In A Sentence: Spin can't decide if it's science or fiction and settles for something in the middle.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

7 books, 33 days...at this rate I'll read 78 books