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A review by jgaton
Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
3.0
I don't not like this book, but it's no Spin.
I agree with the other reviewers about this book: it's really less sci-fi and more about a spiritual journey; it hangs out in the realm of vague, even mystical speculation; it's a bridge between [b:Spin|910863|Spin|Robert Charles Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312033151s/910863.jpg|47562] and [b:Vortex|627976|Vortex|Larry Bond|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176476340s/627976.jpg|614319] and reads like it.
The last item - about the book being a bridge - may be its most redeeming assessment. The book has a very transitional feel. The plot involves constant motion/travel almost exclusively in one dedicated direction (east to west), which starts and the Arch crossing from Earth to Equatoria and ends at another Arch crossing from Equatoria to ... where? We're not told. Probably wherever (WHENever) Vortex happens. This book is a quick jog through a post-Spin reality.
It's not as innovative or engrossing as Spin, but it's still a fun read. It does have a few of what I believe is one of this author's biggest flaws - I've come to call them "Sad Trombone Moments." These are where the dialogue or action is so awkward that it just begs for a sad-trombone sound effect. In Spin, it was whenever Dr. Tyler Dupree, MD, was written as too dense to follow the science of the Spin membrane. In Axis, there were a few of these moments (mostly involving the supposed aged wisdom of the Fourths), but none so overwhelming as this:
"A billion years of evolution. It that was true, Turk thought, then these things, as a species, were older than the human race itself."
Can I get a herp-derp? Granted, this character is uneducated and decidedly not the sciencey type, but... really? Even coming from a character who is way out of his depth, this is a clunker of a line. Sad trombone.
Overall Axis was an enjoyable read, worth it even if it is only a whirlwind tour of Equatoria on our way to Vortex.
I agree with the other reviewers about this book: it's really less sci-fi and more about a spiritual journey; it hangs out in the realm of vague, even mystical speculation; it's a bridge between [b:Spin|910863|Spin|Robert Charles Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312033151s/910863.jpg|47562] and [b:Vortex|627976|Vortex|Larry Bond|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176476340s/627976.jpg|614319] and reads like it.
The last item - about the book being a bridge - may be its most redeeming assessment. The book has a very transitional feel. The plot involves constant motion/travel almost exclusively in one dedicated direction (east to west), which starts and the Arch crossing from Earth to Equatoria and ends at another Arch crossing from Equatoria to ... where? We're not told. Probably wherever (WHENever) Vortex happens. This book is a quick jog through a post-Spin reality.
It's not as innovative or engrossing as Spin, but it's still a fun read. It does have a few of what I believe is one of this author's biggest flaws - I've come to call them "Sad Trombone Moments." These are where the dialogue or action is so awkward that it just begs for a sad-trombone sound effect. In Spin, it was whenever Dr. Tyler Dupree, MD, was written as too dense to follow the science of the Spin membrane. In Axis, there were a few of these moments (mostly involving the supposed aged wisdom of the Fourths), but none so overwhelming as this:
"A billion years of evolution. It that was true, Turk thought, then these things, as a species, were older than the human race itself."
Can I get a herp-derp? Granted, this character is uneducated and decidedly not the sciencey type, but... really? Even coming from a character who is way out of his depth, this is a clunker of a line. Sad trombone.
Overall Axis was an enjoyable read, worth it even if it is only a whirlwind tour of Equatoria on our way to Vortex.