acopytopy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
If you want to read this book, don't read the summary. It spoils a lot of the book's sci-fi elements.
I personally wouldn't recommend this book, especially to people who are curious about its sci-fi aspects. Though it's in the sci-fi genre, it's much more focused on one man's life and his observations of how a single event can affect a generation.
I found the characters and writing style to be simplistic and the pacing agonizingly slow. While the concept is fascinating, the length of this book felt very bloated, and I wasn't invested in any of the characters or the half-hearted romance.
The questions revolving around (ha) the Spin are only answered near the very end. If you don't want to read nearly 150,000 words of Tyler's day-to-day life to get there, here's the spoilers:
I personally wouldn't recommend this book, especially to people who are curious about its sci-fi aspects. Though it's in the sci-fi genre, it's much more focused on one man's life and his observations of how a single event can affect a generation.
I found the characters and writing style to be simplistic and the pacing agonizingly slow. While the concept is fascinating, the length of this book felt very bloated, and I wasn't invested in any of the characters or the half-hearted romance.
The questions revolving around (ha) the Spin are only answered near the very end. If you don't want to read nearly 150,000 words of Tyler's day-to-day life to get there, here's the spoilers:
Spoiler
One night, the Earth is suddenly surrounded by the "Spin" membrane that hides the stars from view. The membrane doesn't allow comets or excess radiation through and even has a fake sun. It's discovered that time outside the membrane is passing much, much faster than on the inside (hundreds of millions of years), so the sun will expand to consume the Earth within a few decades. It's theorized that the "Hypotheticals" are an alien species that did this to the Earth.Spoiler
To figure out what's happening and possibly save the Earth, microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans are launched to Mars. They survive for 100,000 years before a Spin membrane surrounds them. The membrane was made just before the human population on Mars would've grown too large and collapsed. Using Martian technology, replicator cells that act as an information network are spread across the galaxy to scan for other Spin membranes.Spoiler
It turns out that the Hypotheticals are actually a replicator network that evolved over billions of years and subsume other replicators into itself. It made the Spin membranes around planets where civilizations were about the collapse specifically because civilizations create replicators. The Hypothetical doesn't understand that people create replicators or that they suffer because of the Spin. After the sun expands, it won't consume the Earth. Instead, the Earth, other Spin planets, and habitable planets will be connected to each other using special gateways so that hopefully, they can survive and continue making replicators (or for some other purpose that isn't revealed in this 1st book).sebrei's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
incredibrent's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
hackman's review against another edition
5.0
It's Sci Fi but it kind of reads like a mystery.The book starts with the stars suddenly "going out" and the rest of the novel has this element of mystery where your'e ultimately digging deeper and deeper and deeper into why this is happening. But unlike a standard mystery novel where you start with a broad cone of hypotheses and then whittle it down until you collapse to a single theory, with this novel you start with a broad band of hypothesis and every time you learn something new it is like the book has said "oh. Yeah. Those were all good ideas. And totally made sense. But you forgot you could look at things from this perspective and now everything looks entirely different... here's a hint." and your understanding of it all shifts and you have an entirely NEW broad band of hypotheses. So unlike a standard mystery novel where the satisfaction comes from gaining knowledge and narrowing your view of the problem, here the satisfaction comes from having to contort your perspective to see things fresh every time and reshape your theories.
hmaustin's review against another edition
5.0
Was I “smart enough” to read this book? No. But the author had mercy on the average reader like me and explained the hard concepts well
This should be a 10 part Netflix series!
This should be a 10 part Netflix series!
wickles's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
draeprice's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the science fiction part of the story. The main character is a little detached.
manuphoto's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An excellent read. Great pacing, relatable characters and a great sci-fi concept.
literatetexan's review against another edition
5.0
Top notch science fiction novel. One day the night sky goes black, as if all the stars had gone out at once. That's not the case, though--instead, the planet has been enveloped in a membrane called the spin. We gradually learn that time inside the spin travels much more slowly than time outside the spin, so the universe is aging a billion times faster than our planet. Within 40 or 50 years, the sun will be so large and hot that life on Earth won't be able to survive.
Into this mess is our protagonist, a doctor, and his main patient, who's the most brilliant scientist involved in the study of the phenomenon. The doctor is also in love with the scientist's sister, who has gotten herself mixed up with an end-of-the-world cult.
Like all of the best science fiction novels, Spin combines big ideas with characters you can relate to and care about. I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, but I also didn't want it to end. I'm glad that it's the first book in a trilogy, because I can start reading the next novel in the series tomorrow night.
I originally read this from March 2, 2013 to March 4, 2013.
Into this mess is our protagonist, a doctor, and his main patient, who's the most brilliant scientist involved in the study of the phenomenon. The doctor is also in love with the scientist's sister, who has gotten herself mixed up with an end-of-the-world cult.
Like all of the best science fiction novels, Spin combines big ideas with characters you can relate to and care about. I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, but I also didn't want it to end. I'm glad that it's the first book in a trilogy, because I can start reading the next novel in the series tomorrow night.
I originally read this from March 2, 2013 to March 4, 2013.