Robert Charles Wilson – Spin

is a scifi book which I’ve just finished, and I’m so excited that I have to write this short review. I’ve read other Wilson’s books, namely Darwinia and The Chronoliths, and they have quite a lot of common features with Spin. They all describe the world as we know it after it was hit by some unpredictable and completely mindboggling event. In Darwinia, a continent disappears and is replaced by an unknown land, in Chronoliths, gigantic statues from the future begin to appear around the world. Wilson manages to plausibly describe what these events do to the world, how the society and individuals react, and how everything is trying to stay normal. Also the main characters are a bit similar in their nature. However, while Darwinia was interesting and The Chronoliths engaging and massive, except their dissapointing (lack of) ending, Spin is simply perfect.One day, the stars and the Moon dissapear from the sky. The sun comes up, as warm and blinding as ever, but there’s no activity to be seen on it. As we find out, the Earth has been wrapped in a kind of capsule, which simulates the Sun and gravity of the Moon on one hand, and slows down time inside on the other. One minute inside is about a thousand years in the rest of the Universe.

And that, as strange as it may sound, is of course only the beginning of a brilliant book. When I read half of it, I was breathless already, as it was about at that stage that The Chronoliths ended. But this time, not only is there another half of the book, but it’s even getting more and more interesting, everything falls logically into place and things get explained in the end – I didn’t believe that it was possible. There is even a kind of elegant happyend.

Politics is mixed with a plausible depiction of human relationships in the shade of upcoming Apocalypse (the Sun outside goes through its natural life cycle, which doesn’t concern us since it takes billions of years, but suddenly in the book it becomes a key issues), the longing to lead a normal life is contrasted with apocalyptic cults and the chaos of the end of days. It is unbelievable, how many topics Wilson managed to include and touch in his book, and how compact and solid it stays all the time. It is believable, it is thrilling and at the same time it makes you think.

Well, simply thumbs up. One of the best books I’ve read lately. Robert Charles Wilson – Spin @ Amazon.