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Silas Morlock
"Humanity built its monolithic spires of hopes and dreams and tried to believe that the whole sordid mess actually meant something."
Terapolis is an urban sprawl of global proportions. The vast city state has smothered whole nations, liberated humanity from the tides of history; the place is ripe with secrets...
Here, billions of people live only to give themselves to The Gestalt. An esoteric technology, said to unlock the secrets of creation, it offers humanity the chance to realise its most-cherished and forbidden desires.
For Silas Morlock, enigmatic Master of MorTek, The Gestalt is his greatest achievement, but little time remains to fulfil his purpose and save Mankind from itself; death gathers, an ancient struggle between good and evil nears its peak.
On the other side, the Incunabula; bibliophiles who refuse to stop peddling the items most poisonous to the hold The Gestalt has on human minds.
And then there's Adam, the misfit dreamer pulled into a conflict beyond his understanding. His own desire will take him on a terrifying journey into the heart of darkness.
Poor Adam, he will learn the secrets of Terapolis; if they don't shatter his mind, he'll become the unlikely saviour for good... or ill.
It's a struggle played out in the shadows, where the lines are blurred, and nothing is quite as it seems. For the lost souls embroiled, the stakes are the very highest.
But secrets are for keeping, in the dark places...
Terapolis is an urban sprawl of global proportions. The vast city state has smothered whole nations, liberated humanity from the tides of history; the place is ripe with secrets...
Here, billions of people live only to give themselves to The Gestalt. An esoteric technology, said to unlock the secrets of creation, it offers humanity the chance to realise its most-cherished and forbidden desires.
For Silas Morlock, enigmatic Master of MorTek, The Gestalt is his greatest achievement, but little time remains to fulfil his purpose and save Mankind from itself; death gathers, an ancient struggle between good and evil nears its peak.
On the other side, the Incunabula; bibliophiles who refuse to stop peddling the items most poisonous to the hold The Gestalt has on human minds.
And then there's Adam, the misfit dreamer pulled into a conflict beyond his understanding. His own desire will take him on a terrifying journey into the heart of darkness.
Poor Adam, he will learn the secrets of Terapolis; if they don't shatter his mind, he'll become the unlikely saviour for good... or ill.
It's a struggle played out in the shadows, where the lines are blurred, and nothing is quite as it seems. For the lost souls embroiled, the stakes are the very highest.
But secrets are for keeping, in the dark places...
478 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2013
16 people want to read
About the author
Mark Cantrell
16 books79 followersA coffee-guzzling journalist turned author, Mark Cantrell has chased the literary dream for years.
Somehow, it's always managed to stay one step ahead, but Mark perseveres in his pursuit all the same. There are worse ways to kill time, after all.
Mark is the author of two novels (so far), both released in paperback and digital editions by the indie press, Inspired Quill.
Both his novels haunt dystopian ground, but aside from their dark tone they remain very different beasts.
While CITIZEN ZERO (2017) runs towards political science fiction thriller, SILAS MORLOCK (2013) ventures into the shadows of dark, urban fantasy in homage of literary culture.
For want of comparison, in CITIZEN ZERO The Matrix meets V for Vendetta with a touch of I, Daniel Blake. SILAS MORLOCK, though, is more a macabre melding of Fahrenheit 451 and Nosferatu.
Away from novel-length works, Mark has written plenty of short stories and novelettes in his time. He's even been known to dabble in poetry.
Over the years, his stories have appeared in a variety of small press journals both in print and online.
Way back in 1998, two of his stories were featured in the Clover Books horror anthology, Spirit of Darkness. In 2001 there was Love, Sex, Death & Carrots. More recently, his work appeared in Bards and Sages Publishing's The Society of Misfit Stories Presents, Vol 1, Issue 1 (February 2019).
Between times, his fiction has appeared in publications such as Sci-Fright, Alternaties, Asphalt Jungle, Writers' Muse, the Writers’ Compass, and more. He's even self-published some of these works, individually as 'digital shorts', and in his collection of short fiction, ISOLATION SPACE (2009/2011).
Broadly speaking, Mark's work fits into the science-fiction-fantasy-horror spectrum, but he tends to write to the story and worry about the genre later. It seems to work, more or less. Certainly, he's happy (flattered) to be called a science fiction author.
By trade, Mark is a journalist. This is reflected on his author blog, where he writes articles about politics, society and current affairs, along with regular excursions into science, culture and literary life. Well, it keeps the 'blog-beast' fed.
As a jobbing B2B hack, Mark has mostly written for trade mags. He worked in Manchester for nigh on 15 years, writing about England's social housing industry. A pretty gritty topic, it definitely offered fuel for the dystopian mind.
On a more personal note Mark is a Yorkshireman born and bred in the city of Bradford. These days he lives in Stoke-on-Trent in the Midlands, but he remains a proud Northerner.
Mark studied politics at the University of Liverpool and trained as a journalist at the City University, London. After that, he got distracted writing what would become CITIZEN ZERO when he should have been pursuing his first break in the media. You live and learn. It kind of paid off in the end, though.
The writing bug caught Mark from a curious source. It all began towards the tail end of the 8-bit home computing era, when he crafted a series of text adventure games for the ZX Spectrum 48K and 128K computers.
Mark even won an award for one of those games, which led to them all being picked up and released by indie adventure game stalwart, Zenobi Software – itself an award winning company.
It proved to be a satisfying way of closing that chapter of his life, Mark says, as he went on to embark on a new beginning as an author and journalist.
Catch Mark on Facebook.
Visit his page on Smashwords.
Visit his Amazon Author Page.
Somehow, it's always managed to stay one step ahead, but Mark perseveres in his pursuit all the same. There are worse ways to kill time, after all.
Mark is the author of two novels (so far), both released in paperback and digital editions by the indie press, Inspired Quill.
Both his novels haunt dystopian ground, but aside from their dark tone they remain very different beasts.
While CITIZEN ZERO (2017) runs towards political science fiction thriller, SILAS MORLOCK (2013) ventures into the shadows of dark, urban fantasy in homage of literary culture.
For want of comparison, in CITIZEN ZERO The Matrix meets V for Vendetta with a touch of I, Daniel Blake. SILAS MORLOCK, though, is more a macabre melding of Fahrenheit 451 and Nosferatu.
Away from novel-length works, Mark has written plenty of short stories and novelettes in his time. He's even been known to dabble in poetry.
Over the years, his stories have appeared in a variety of small press journals both in print and online.
Way back in 1998, two of his stories were featured in the Clover Books horror anthology, Spirit of Darkness. In 2001 there was Love, Sex, Death & Carrots. More recently, his work appeared in Bards and Sages Publishing's The Society of Misfit Stories Presents, Vol 1, Issue 1 (February 2019).
Between times, his fiction has appeared in publications such as Sci-Fright, Alternaties, Asphalt Jungle, Writers' Muse, the Writers’ Compass, and more. He's even self-published some of these works, individually as 'digital shorts', and in his collection of short fiction, ISOLATION SPACE (2009/2011).
Broadly speaking, Mark's work fits into the science-fiction-fantasy-horror spectrum, but he tends to write to the story and worry about the genre later. It seems to work, more or less. Certainly, he's happy (flattered) to be called a science fiction author.
By trade, Mark is a journalist. This is reflected on his author blog, where he writes articles about politics, society and current affairs, along with regular excursions into science, culture and literary life. Well, it keeps the 'blog-beast' fed.
As a jobbing B2B hack, Mark has mostly written for trade mags. He worked in Manchester for nigh on 15 years, writing about England's social housing industry. A pretty gritty topic, it definitely offered fuel for the dystopian mind.
On a more personal note Mark is a Yorkshireman born and bred in the city of Bradford. These days he lives in Stoke-on-Trent in the Midlands, but he remains a proud Northerner.
Mark studied politics at the University of Liverpool and trained as a journalist at the City University, London. After that, he got distracted writing what would become CITIZEN ZERO when he should have been pursuing his first break in the media. You live and learn. It kind of paid off in the end, though.
The writing bug caught Mark from a curious source. It all began towards the tail end of the 8-bit home computing era, when he crafted a series of text adventure games for the ZX Spectrum 48K and 128K computers.
Mark even won an award for one of those games, which led to them all being picked up and released by indie adventure game stalwart, Zenobi Software – itself an award winning company.
It proved to be a satisfying way of closing that chapter of his life, Mark says, as he went on to embark on a new beginning as an author and journalist.
Catch Mark on Facebook.
Visit his page on Smashwords.
Visit his Amazon Author Page.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 26, 2018
Silas Morlock is a dark urban fantasy set in macabre. Books are banned, and Adam is living in this society where a technological system, is taking over and consuming its people. He discovers the love for reading and books only to realize that the benefactor is Silas Morlock and discovers why the books disappeared in the first place.
What I enjoyed most about the book was its originality. The literature was strong, and the pace was steady keeping the reader interested wanting to know what was to come. Adam had a neat personality. He wasn’t the hero everyone wants to see. He is a misfit but, happens to be given great responsibility.
The world description stood out for me. It had the descriptive nature of a good story and did not overexpose the parts where you would need to keep in order for the story to move forward. I believe anyone interested in science fiction and dystopian stories would really enjoy this one.
The work could improve where it all comes together, but that did not take away anything from enjoying the nature of its substance.
I believe the author has potential in creating good work and is one to look out for.
What I enjoyed most about the book was its originality. The literature was strong, and the pace was steady keeping the reader interested wanting to know what was to come. Adam had a neat personality. He wasn’t the hero everyone wants to see. He is a misfit but, happens to be given great responsibility.
The world description stood out for me. It had the descriptive nature of a good story and did not overexpose the parts where you would need to keep in order for the story to move forward. I believe anyone interested in science fiction and dystopian stories would really enjoy this one.
The work could improve where it all comes together, but that did not take away anything from enjoying the nature of its substance.
I believe the author has potential in creating good work and is one to look out for.
April 3, 2018
Overall, reading this book was a very pleasant experience. The editing was good, and it kept my interest throughout. The characters were believable, and the content is very imaginative. Although I wish some of the concepts were a little clearer, I can appreciate the book for what it is. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves books and believes in the power they hold to keep society FREE.
Reviewed by Emily
4 1/2 Stars
Want to read
December 21, 2014Note that this is actually the ebook edition, not the Kindle edition, but I'm too tired to correct GoodReads right now.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews