andy_hird's review against another edition
3.0
Ultimately, while books 1 and 3 of this series were pretty readable, the overall story arc just left me pretty let down and disappointed. It just kind of went.... nowhere. Maybe that's the point, since all the characters wanting to know more about the Hypotheticals were or would have been let down too. But that doesn't make me want to recommend the series to anyone else, or read it again.
rmichno's review against another edition
3.0
I loved "Spin" and I'm a big fan of Robert Charles Wilson, but this book was a disappointing end to the Spin story. I almost didn't read it after I had a similar experience with "Axis", but I was hoping the story would improve.
I didn't care as much about the new characters introduced and I found the jumping back and forth between timelines to be distracting. The ending also felt a bit rushed.
In the end, I think it's a shame that he didn't leave Spin as a stand-alone novel. The sequels didn't seem to add anything to the story.
I didn't care as much about the new characters introduced and I found the jumping back and forth between timelines to be distracting. The ending also felt a bit rushed.
In the end, I think it's a shame that he didn't leave Spin as a stand-alone novel. The sequels didn't seem to add anything to the story.
lachese's review against another edition
4.0
What a journey it has been. Cultivated attachments to characters later turned legend, then forgotten to the decay of time. Mysteries revealed, then answered, then continuation of the cycle. Readers careening headfirst along the chaotic rivers of time, watching everything crumble. That was probably the most difficult thing to read: the abysmal future of the earth depicted in this novel. Poisonous air, toxic sea, most life completely snuffed out...this is the future humankind is currently creating for itself. In 2011, when this book was published, this could be considered a cautionary tale. However, in 2020, this feels more like impending fate: a dose of harsh reality that does not go down smoothly. And unlike the humans of the spin universe, we do not have the cushion of a multitude of habitable connected worlds giving us hope for the future.
Depressing future aside, this book slowly returned and eventually surpassed the epicness that was Spin. My review of Axis predicted that it was merely a bridge between Spin and Vortex, and after reading the entire trilogy, I believe my assessment to be accurate. I was worried that this book would just be an dump of literal and figurative hypothetical information, but the author has truly mastered the art of "show, don't tell." The ending itself was satisfying (and that's all I'll say about it. No spoilers!) and I'm not left craving more.
This series is my Pandora's Box. Reading it released all the horrors of the possible future, but one thing still remains: hope.
Depressing future aside, this book slowly returned and eventually surpassed the epicness that was Spin. My review of Axis predicted that it was merely a bridge between Spin and Vortex, and after reading the entire trilogy, I believe my assessment to be accurate. I was worried that this book would just be an dump of literal and figurative hypothetical information, but the author has truly mastered the art of "show, don't tell." The ending itself was satisfying (and that's all I'll say about it. No spoilers!) and I'm not left craving more.
This series is my Pandora's Box. Reading it released all the horrors of the possible future, but one thing still remains: hope.
jessring's review against another edition
4.0
This was more like 3.5 stars but I put a 4 because I do like Wilson's writing style and imagination. This book takes place in two timelines - one 10,000 years post spin and one in the more immediate post spin. I didn't connect to these characters like I did in the first book. In Spin, the science and the people were all interesting and kept me engaged the whole time. In Axis and Vortex, it was just the story and unanswered questions that kept me going. I can't say I feel completely satisfied at the end of the trilogy but I'm glad I read it.
titusfortner's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating conclusion to the Spin trilogy. Spin, an amazing Hugo award winning book, gave us well fleshed-out characters and unique story. Axis was a disappointing bridge story for this finale. Vortex suffers the difficulties of all books that end up explaining the reasons behind the actions of an impressive book. It was well told, but somewhat emotionally unsatisfying, especially when the characters are less relatable than in the first book. I did thoroughly enjoy the story telling approach, a fresh take on the back and forth between "modern day" and far future events. Oddly I was more connected to the modern day characters which lessened the impact of the main part of the story being told in the future. All in all, I'm glad I read the sequels, but they aren't essential to appreciating the brilliance of Spin.
okenwillow's review against another edition
5.0
Et comme je le disais précédemment, Axis ne fut qu’une transition avant Vortex. Sans être aussi percutant que Spin (décidément indétrônable), Vortex vole haut, très haut. La narration alterne entre le récit de Turk, qui se trouve désormais…ailleurs et loin, (dirons-nous pour de pas déflorer un suspense encore une fois très présent) et la rencontre de Sandra, médecin, et Bose flic, et Orrin, jeune homme perdu mais à l’imagination manifestement débordante. Ce dernier relate en effet dans ses cahiers le récit même de Turk. Qui est Orrin, qu’est devenu Turk ? Ici encore l’auteur lâche la bride à son imagination, qui frise de plus en plus le délire au fil des pages. Mais quel délire ! Celui-ci atteint de sommets de poésie (oui, carrément !) et d’inventivité, mais ce n’est pas tout, la thématique est très riche et ne cesse d’interroger le lecteur. La position de l’Humanité face à la Nature, face à l’Univers, et même face à sa faiblesse congénitale qui la pousse non seulement à nuire à son environnement mais à s’inventer et à s’aliéner à des entités divines sans raison ni bon sens. Car l’Humanité, pourtant loin de son berceau, après avoir colonisé plusieurs planètes replonge dans sa propension à vouloir expliquer de manière irrationnelle ce qui peut être expliqué rationnellement, et à développer une nouvelle forme de soumission massive, un nouveau genre de fanatisme religieux. Même si l’on frise parfois le surnaturel avec les explications finales, tout reste finalement assez cohérent, et absolument fascinant. J’ai repensé à Asimov et Clarke pour le côté métaphysico-psycho-philosophique. Finalement on ressort de la trilogie en se disant que nous ne sommes rien face à l’Univers et ses mécanismes, au mieux nous pouvons prétendre être la conséquence d’une suite de phénomènes qui fatalement ont fait éclore la vie telle que nous la connaissons, pauvres ignares que nous sommes. Vous l’aurez compris, avec Wilson on réfléchit, on se bouleverse, on s’interroge, et on reste béat devant les idées véhiculées.
alibrareads's review against another edition
3.0
I still enjoyed this, but it lacked something that the first two books had. Even though we have a recurring character in Turk Findley, which one might think means I would care most about him, he was the most boring in my opinion and I had a hard time connecting with him. Allison/Treya also wasn’t super interesting, because while she had that struggle of identity, it wasn’t REALLY a struggle: one moment she was Treya, the next she was Allison and glad for it for the most part.
I normally don’t mind multiple perspectives/timelines, but with this one I just wasn’t really feeling it, maybe because I didn’t particularly care for Turk and Allison. I preferred Bose and Sandra’s POV and story more actually, even though I’m a huge fan of all things Hypothetical-related. I correctly surmised what the deal was with Orrin’s notebooks before the reveal happened, as it’s the only way to make that sort of plot work without creating paradoxes.
Isaac was underutilized and was only really there as a plot device at the end to make everything work, even though I did enjoy his final portions: there were some really mind-boggling concepts being imagined that were cool! And again, I really enjoyed all the bits where we saw or learned anything about the Hypotheticals.
And there were lots of interesting bits of future history presented to us that I enjoyed: learning all about what befell Earth and the human race up to this point, how Vox came about, what was learned about the Hypotheticals and the ring of worlds, and more.
The trilogy wrapped up as well as it could be I guess, and it did leave me with a sense of wonder, I just wasn’t as enthralled by this volume as I was the other two. Still a great series overall though!
My Youtube review: https://youtu.be/2F18_Asj90c
I normally don’t mind multiple perspectives/timelines, but with this one I just wasn’t really feeling it, maybe because I didn’t particularly care for Turk and Allison. I preferred Bose and Sandra’s POV and story more actually, even though I’m a huge fan of all things Hypothetical-related. I correctly surmised what the deal was with Orrin’s notebooks before the reveal happened, as it’s the only way to make that sort of plot work without creating paradoxes.
Isaac was underutilized and was only really there as a plot device at the end to make everything work, even though I did enjoy his final portions: there were some really mind-boggling concepts being imagined that were cool! And again, I really enjoyed all the bits where we saw or learned anything about the Hypotheticals.
And there were lots of interesting bits of future history presented to us that I enjoyed: learning all about what befell Earth and the human race up to this point, how Vox came about, what was learned about the Hypotheticals and the ring of worlds, and more.
The trilogy wrapped up as well as it could be I guess, and it did leave me with a sense of wonder, I just wasn’t as enthralled by this volume as I was the other two. Still a great series overall though!
My Youtube review: https://youtu.be/2F18_Asj90c
ranchel's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely an improvement over Axis, but still nowhere near as good as Spin. I did like how the shifting narratives played out, and I appreciate that some loose ends from the previous books were tied up.