''Axis'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American-Canadian writer Robert Charles Wilson, published in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. It is a direct sequel to Wilson's

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

-winning ''Spin'', published two years earlier. The novel was a finalist for the 2008 John W. Campbell Award.

Plot summary

''Axis'' takes place on the new planet introduced at the end of ''Spin'', a world the Hypotheticals engineered to support human life and connected to Earth by way of the Arch that towers hundreds of miles over the Indian Ocean. Humans are colonizing this new world — and, predictably, fiercely exploiting its resources, chiefly large deposits of oil in the western deserts of the continent of Equatoria. Lise Adams is a young woman attempting to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance ten years earlier. Turk Findley is an ex-sailor and sometimes-drifter. They come together when showers of cometary dust seed the planet with tiny remnant Hypothetical machines. Soon, this seemingly hospitable world becomes very alien, as the nature of time is once again twisted by entities unknown. A quasi-religious group of "Fourths" from Earth, led by Dr. Avram Dvali, lives in the desert seeded by falling dust. They've created a child they call Isaac with a Martian upgrade (fatal to adults) that connects him with the Hypotheticals. The Fourth-hunting "Department of Genomic Security" is searching for this group or for a visiting Martian Fourth who disapproves of Isaac's creation.

Sequel

A third book in the series, titled ''Vortex'', was published in July 2011.

References

Sources

*"Axis".'' Publishers Weekly ''254.31 (6 August 2007): 173–173. *Schroeder, Regina. "Axis", '' Booklist'' 104.1 (September 2007): 65. *"Axis". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' 75.13 (July 2007): 8–8. *Cassada, Jackie. "Axis". ''Library Journal'' 132.15 (15 Sep. 2007): 54–55.

External links

* {{ISFDB title, id=389901, title=Axis
Axis
at Worlds Without End 2007 American novels Novels by Robert Charles Wilson 2007 science fiction novels Canadian science fiction novels Tor Books books