I remember the first time that I read “Childhood’s End”, the classic by Aurthur C. Clarke. Clarke wrote the story well before I was born and I came across it at a young age. This tale of the end and beginning of the world had a profound effect and I was entranced. As I recently read Robert Charles Wilson’s “Spin”, I was reminded once again of that same sense of awe and the weight of humanity and its dreams. It was just as I finished the book that I saw in the news that Clarke had died, and I guess that cemented the association in my mind. “Spin” is an incredible tale, and not just a copy or derivative of Childhood’s End. In fact what they have in common is a mood or sense of gravity, not plot or devices. That Wilson won the Hugo Award for Best Novel with this book is absolutely no surprise.

I don’t want to talk to much about the plot of “Spin”. There are too many awesome twists and turns and it would be criminal to ruin the ride for anyone who has not read it yet. The story follows three friends. Young, and relatively poor, Tyler Dupree is friends with brother and sister Jason and Diane Lawton. Tyler’s mother is the house-keeper for the Lawton family but the three children are very close. It is on a cold October night, as young kids that they watch the stars disappear in an instant, hidden behind a barrier that encompasses the globe.

The book follows the three from adolescence through middle age. The events of the world unfold, and each of the three handle this sudden change of all that man has known in their own way. Tyler by and large remains detached, Jason turns every bit of his genius to science and the discovery of knowledge, while Diane seeks solace in spirituality and religion. The paths of each as they separate and cross again are described from the viewpoint of Tyler.

I’ve been reading science fiction for about as long as I’ve been able to read, and so it is hard sometimes to find anything that really feels new. With “Spin”, more than once I was taken aback and surprised. Wilson has carved out a well thought out tale. It is also a complete tale. There is a follow-up to spin, but this story stands completely on its own. In fact I’d like to read the next book but I’m in no rush. I’m enjoying the time as my mind digests this incredible story.

What makes it so strong though, is not just the fact that Wilson has created some unique ideas and plot devices but also that he builds strong characters. And it is just not the protagonists. The reader gets to know them best, but there are others, some only present for a few pages, yet Wilson brings them to life with a force and sense of presence that just pulled me into the story. I don’t think I’ve felt this involved since the first time I read Stephen King’s “The Stand”. Though “Spin” is nowhere close to “The Stand” in terms of length, it holds a wider scope that brought my mind back to some of the classics of Science Fiction, once again stirring the ghost of Clarke. (Not to mention Asimov, Heinlein and others.)

This is a book that any science fiction fan should read and will in all likelihood greatly enjoy.

Title: Spin
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Publisher: Tor
Pages: 464
ISBN: 076534825X
Rating: 10/10