Stone Clock: (The Spin Trilogy 3) (Spin Trilogy, #3)

by Andrew Bannister

It is a hundred millennia after Iron Gods. The Spin is nearing the end of its life.

Its inhabitants are divided between those who live unknowingly in the relative paradise of one of hundreds of Virtual Realities – vrealities – and those who scrape a living in what remains of the real world.

The massive servers needed to maintain the vrealities are draining the resources of the Spin. And an escalating, desperate and seemingly futile war has begun between those who tend the servers and those who believe they should be shut down, killing millions. But one amongst these unwitting combatants will discover the real nature of the vrealities – and his role in their fate.

From a remote star system, a being has been observing the Spin for several lifetimes. He is Skarbo the Horologist and he is about to die for the very last time. He has come to accept that he will never visit the object of his studies but is coerced into making one last journey. His final destination lies across a war-torn galaxy. And there he will learn of the Spin’s past – and its astonishing future . . .

Returning to the extraordinarily envisioned artificial planetary cluster called the Spin, Stone Clock is the dazzling new space opera from the acclaimed author of Creation Machine and Iron Gods.

• ISBN10: 1473527201
• ISBN13: 9781473527201
• Publish Date: 6 September 2018 (first published 15 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Transworld Digital
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Stone Clock in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Stone Clock is the third and final novel in Andrew Bannister's The Spin series. And it is a novel that packs one heck of a punch. The series is a prime example of Space Opera, full of fascinating characters and dynamic plots. And it's one that's going to stick with me for quite some time.
The whole series has been a deep dive into virtual reality, and all of the wonders and chaos that can come along with a world full of different realities and timelines. And yet, the series is one that is perfect for fans that are new to Space Operas. It's light and fun, and a bit quirky at times even.
The whole series has been focused on Spin, a planet with a lot going on. Or at least, it used to have a lot going on. Now the planet is nearing the end of its lifetime, and we're going to see it all happen. And we'll see it right alongside those that dedicated their lives to watching it as well.

“A warning buzzes hoarsely. He sighed. Much earlier than he would have liked, the pod orbit was beginning to decay. He closed his eyes, focused his attention on a distant part of his mind and did the thing that bailed him out of the vreality.”

Stone Clock was everything I had hoped it would be, and that's saying something. It's been a while since I read a series that was so immersed in the concept of virtual realities. And thus it was very refreshing to read. I'm sad that Stone Clock marks the end of the series. But I'm also kind of looking forward to seeing what Andrew Bannister can come up with next.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stone Clock. It was its own being, all while having hints of something familiar. I'm not going to say that it was similar to anything else out there, more like it had the same feeling as other plots (specifically the Matrix). And I'm not complaining about that fact either.
There were characters and elements that I liked more than others, but that's probably a given in any series. And I imagine anybody who will read this book will enjoy the Bird, and for good reasons.
Once again, I'm finding myself a bit sad that this series is over. But I'm also okay with the way it ended if that makes any sense. And I'm looking forward to seeing what Bannister will think up next, so that is some consolation.

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