Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of Duncan Smith's books

259 ratings | 225 reviews | avg rating:3.88

Duncan’s Year In Books

Duncan’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Duncan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Duncan’s 2025 Year in Books

Duncan Smith’s Followers (29)

Duncan’s Bookshelves

to-read (40)
currently-reading (3)
read (269)
did-not-finish (0)
music (11)

Duncan’s Friends (24)

Ingmar Weyland

13,854 books | 100 friends

Jennifer

1,799 books | 24 friends

John Anthony

16,691 books | 1,167 friends

Lee Kofman

1,088 books | 384 friends

``Laurie

9,913 books | 313 friends

Brandon

459 books | 116 friends

Tsukkimen

491 books | 105 friends

Peggy

694 books | 86 friends

More friends…

Duncan Smith

Goodreads Author

Born

in Sydney, Australia

Website

http://www.vortexwinder.com

Twitter

duncansmith75

Genre

Thriller, Music, Fantasy

Member Since

December 2015

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/duncansmith

edit data

I write 'music novels' - books that have their own soundtrack albums. Here's how that began.

A few years ago I wrote a book called The Vortex Winder. Then my rock band, Lighthouse XIII, wrote an album of the same name, in which all the songs fitted into the story. It ended up like a film-musical, but with a book instead of a film.

This continued with the sequel, The Maelstrom Ascendant and the new book Cultown (unrelated to the others). I now have three novels, each with their own original rock soundtrack album.

As for literary genre, my novels have been linked to the following: psychological thriller, music, philosophical, adventure, and magic realism. My books don't fit neatly into one genre, and that's fine - it's more fun to mix things ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Duncan Smith questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Duncan Smith 'Cultown' has just been published, so I'm not working on a new book just yet. I'm trying to write a blog and / or short story each week in 2017. They'…more'Cultown' has just been published, so I'm not working on a new book just yet. I'm trying to write a blog and / or short story each week in 2017. They'll appear on the Sparks blog on my website. (less)

flag

like
Comment

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Duncan Smith It's a longish answer, but here it is. 'Cultown' is the story of Thomas Swan, a charismatic figure who forms a cult called the Milinish.

The most dull …moreIt's a longish answer, but here it is. 'Cultown' is the story of Thomas Swan, a charismatic figure who forms a cult called the Milinish.

The most dull and obvious way to tell such a story would be to write it from a position of superiority i.e. “Aren’t cults terrible? Cult leaders are awful and the people who join them must be weak, deluded fools.” That is not my way. For one thing, the story is told from the cult leader’s perspective. For another, it is suggested that he has good reason for his actions. And finally, I say we are all cult members, or brainwashed, in one way or another.

'Cultown' deals with topics to do with science and religion. If it had been written by a hard core scientist, it may have just been someone making fun of religious beliefs. But the Milinish is a scientific cult as much as a religious one. A reader of the book said it ‘shows not just the cultishness of religion, but of science too.’ One of the book’s themes is that for some people, science has become our new religion, with all the problems that entails.

I wrote the first version of this book in the late 1990s, while studying these topics at university. The first version of the book was quite good, but when I went back to it a couple of years ago, I realised it had flaws and could have been much better. In the last ten years I’ve become a much better writer, as a result of writing two novels – 'The Vortex Winder' and 'The Maelstrom Ascendant.' From the lessons learned there, I’ve been able to improve 'Cultown' considerably in its quality of writing.

That is not the only difference. The story’s setting has been updated from 1999 to 2017, incorporating the changes in technology we’ve seen in that time. Most significantly, Cultown now has a full rock soundtrack album. For both 'Vortex' and 'Maelstrom', my band, Lighthouse XIII, recorded a full soundtrack of songs, each of which fit into the story (sort of like a movie musical, except it’s a book). That trend continues with' Cultown'. There are twelve new songs which tie into the story.

When we think of cult members, we tend to think of people who are brainwashed into a given belief system and forced to adhere to a set of values and expectations. Yet if that is true, there are many different types of cults. On a mass scale, Nazism, for example, operated much as a cult does, with many of the same characteristics on show. There are other, more recent political examples. More generally, whenever we align ourselves with an organisation that expects us to conform to certain values, beliefs, and behaviour, we are at risk of showing cultish behaviour to some degree. My fascination with the psychology of cults was one factor that led me to write this book.

I was also intrigued by the leaders themselves. What prompted them to form such groups? The most obvious explanation was the desire for power, yet I’ve tried to go beyond such simple motivations. Thomas Swan is also, I hope, a sympathetic figure. He is ‘evil but not vile’ as one of the song titles has it. Besides, as Cultown is partly a comedy, as well as a drama, Tom is good for a few laughs!(less)

flag

like
Comment

See 2 answers from Duncan Smith…

Combine Editions
Duncan Smith’s books

Average rating: 4.42 · 62 ratings · 30 reviews · 7 distinct works

	The Maelstrom Ascendant 4.56 avg rating — 18 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cultown 4.53 avg rating — 15 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Conquest By Concept: A Novel About the Culture War 4.08 avg rating — 12 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tightarse Tuesday Book Club 4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spark really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Vortex Winder 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Vast and the Spurious it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Duncan Smith…

36 posts
Duncan Smith's Blog

CBC – coming soon

CBC rules.

View more on Duncan Smith's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 23, 2020 17:47

View all 36 posts »

Duncan is Currently Reading

Duncan Smith is currently reading

The Wicked Pavilion

by Dawn Powell

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 25, 2026 07:05PM

Duncan Smith is currently reading

A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

by Thomas Sowell

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Apr 07, 2018 04:06PM

Duncan Smith is currently reading

The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood

by David Simon

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mar 07, 2018 02:52AM

rss
Duncan’s Recent Updates

Duncan Smith is currently reading The Wicked Pavilion by Dawn Powell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 25, 2026 07:05PM · like
Duncan Smith rated a book it was amazing The Surprising Liberation by Duncan Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 17, 2025 06:31AM · like
Duncan Smith rated a book liked it Paranoid: Black Days with Sabbath & Other Horror Stories - The Unexpurgated Edition by Mick Wall	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mick Wall is smart and a very good writer, but also - in the period described in this book - a cynical, jaded junkie who faked an interest in music for the sake of a rock journalist career to earn money. At one point in the book he admits to hating li ...more
Jan 30, 2025 08:46PM · like · see review

More of Duncan's books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Aussie Readers: * List of Aussie Authors who are members of Goodreads	5	157	Aug 27, 2019 10:09PM

Duncan’s Quotes

“All I had was a dream and six million pounds.'

Denholm, The IT Crowd”
― G. Linehan

tags: humour, motivation

0 likes

“My temperament is not inclined toward more self-promotion than is absolutely necessary for my professional well-being.”
― Robert Silverberg

11 likes

“Most whites do not have a racial identity, but they would do well to understand what race means for others. They should also ponder the consequences of being the only group for whom such an identity is forbidden and who are permitted no aspirations as a group.”
― Jared Taylor

tags: identity, identity-politics, politics, race, racial-identity, racial-politics, white-people, whites

15 likes