Spin
★★★★★
The Earth is enclosed in a bubble, the Spin, slowing time while outside the universe ages at such a rate that the sun will be dead within our lifetime. A stunning high concept that Wilson uses to explore the sociological and psychological impact on a generation born with no future.
Though there are some very imaginative approaches to using the time differential to our advantage that had me cheering, this isn’t a novel about solving the problem. It’s about an unknowable cosmic horror providing the setting for a character novel exploring how we individually cope with existential dread, or don’t.
I found our protagonist, Tyler, a bit bland - bookended by the more stereotypical personalities of his childhood friends; the scientist and the cultist. I found them more interesting than Tyler who just seemed to passively get on with his life with little conflict beyond his unrequited love.
It was the speculative ideas in this story that hooked me, but they’re sparse. I yearned for more resolution, I wanted more agency over the situation, but this isn’t the hard SF of your average big dumb object narrative. The Spin is the background; the setting and motivation for the character story. Even the worldbuilding is somewhat backstage - we’re focused on the lives of our three main characters, with the wider societal impacts less detailed, slightly out of focus. When it did spend some time here towards the end as apocalypse loomed, I found myself more engaged by the dystopian action, which was mostly absent from the rest of the book.
There’s a lot going for Spin if you expect what it delivers - strong characterisation, elegant but digestible prose, well-observed anthropology, all set against a background of a high concept novum. It felt a bit long, but was an easy read and deserving of its Hugo.
