Spin

By Robert Charles Wilson, 2003

The novel starts when a sort of black veil (later called the "Spin") covers all the stars, as well as the sun which is replaced by a "false sun". The same day, all human made satellites fall on the ground. What is happening? Alien Attack? Maybe but it initially does not seem disastrous: no stars, no satellites, but everything else is ok.

However, it is suddenly revealed that there is another effect of the Spin: a temporal gradient. Time passes much faster outside the membrane: for every second on earth, three years elapse in the universe. Quick calculation and humanity discovers that in a few decades (aka 5 billion spin-years), the sun will swallow the earth forever. Who are the Hypotheticals, the supposedly aliens that created the Spin? Can we really fight against a race able to manipulate time itself? The only solution: pierce the mystery of the Spin to stop the end of the world.

The sci-fi part was well detailed and interesting. The core of the story is how the countries finally see the Spin as a tool rather than a burden. It changes everything: terraforming Mars and even conquering the galaxy becomes possible in less than a decade. The interesting part is also that all humanity tries to fight against a hypothetic alien species they do not even see. The whole mystery of the book is indeed to discover who they are.

While the true sci-fi part was pretty good, I found the narrated part actually... flat. Well I'm sorry but it is was boring, so I ended skipping all these parts. If it was not for the mystery around the Hypotheticals, I might not read the sequels, but I will :)

A short review for a short title. Have a nice and sweet day ;)

Medicis