One October night, Tyler Dupree, twelve, and his two best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, fourteen years, attending the sudden disappearance of stars. Soon, humanity discovers that the Earth is surrounded by a fence outside the time which elapses millions of times faster. The moon has disappeared, the Sun is a sham, artificial satellites have fallen back to earth. But the most serious is that the rate at which older now the real sun, mankind has only a few decades to live ...
Who has imprisoned behind the Earth Shield in October? And if it is extraterrestrial, why have they done so ?
Read in the context of SC scheduled for October 5.
was the third novel by the author after I read The Chronolites and Darwinia, I already liked the first and loved the second and the third book confirms the talent of Robert Charles Wilson. It's a great writer of science fiction, no doubt that in years to come it will be considered an author "classic".
His science-fiction is not flashy with rifle battles in space, or ultra-science is above all a human SF. Even if technology plays an important role in this book, one quickly realizes it is there primarily for highlighting the characters, she is not the star.
Wilson talking about an Earth that would be suddenly cut off from the rest of the universe by a sort of permeable membrane which would nevertheless respect a temporal effect. Outside this membrane time goes hundreds of times faster. This is apparent when, attempting to launch satellites to understand what happens they fall almost immediately, and yet contain hours and hours of data. It follows therefore
decades the lives of Tyler, Jason and Diane. You see them change, we see them make choices that bring them closer, choices that distance, choices that make them grow and change. We see how each reacts differently to things. Tyler does not really seem to ask questions, he takes things as they are, Diane turned to spirituality, and Jason, gifted curious and eager to know that he is trying to understand the mystery of Spin and This membrane will be named soon.
But obviously, it does not follow that the lives of these three main characters. It also follows them through some other characters, like the parents of Jason and Diane, or mother of Tyler, and their quite different ways and respond well to them. Through
Jason is also following the meager understanding is that as and when the spin, its consequences, its possible causes, its possible reasons. Understanding the reasons for the Spin is rather well fed, it does not intervene in a brutal way to the end of the story, no she is fed gradually and is very original and surprising. I do not think anyone expected such an explanation and for such a purpose.
The construction of the story is original, perhaps a little unsettling at first, but we made it very quickly. Indeed, the author alternates between a chapter in which Tyler tells her this, and several chapters are somewhat flashbacks of his past life, flashbacks that gradually lead to the time of his present.
Ultimately, it is a really good novel, very well written, very engaging, very readable I found. A sequence exists, I would read it for sure, but still is it that this book stands on its own. When we finished, we do not necessarily need a sequel.
notices: Miss Spooky Muffin , Lelf , Julien wrecked , Spocky
