Spin

Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin was the last of my free Kindle books from Tor. I saved it for last because I expected it to be bad; the Bookmarks Magazine review starts out:

Spin is not merely a SF thriller. It’s also a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a literary triumph, and an ecological and apocalyptic warning.

When something is billed as a coming-of-age tale my usual assumption is that it’s crap.  Imagine my surprise when I found Spin deeply entertaining and addictive; probably one of the top three from the free Tor books.  I’d actually pay for the sequel, but alas Tor hasn’t  made it available for the Kindle yet (and what is up with that?  There are multiple authors whose first book they made available for the Kindle free, but whose second book isn’t available yet.  Wasn’t the whole point to drive sales?).

Having said all that, the book does have a few flaws.  The big reveal is clever, but at the same time it doesn’t bear too close examination.  But that’s ok; the book is moving fast enough at that point that you get drawn smoothly along to the conclusion and don’t find yourself looking at it too hard.  And the romance threading through the story isn’t the most convincing.  But the premise is interesting enough and the characters well enough drawn that I’d recommend Spin to others.

Now it’s on to my pile of free Random House books.  Although I’m going to have to read the descriptions again to figure out which one to tackle first.