What do you think?
Rate this book
The Shadow Spark
A dark, post-apocalyptic science fiction thriller blending cyberpunk, rebellion, and supernatural elements.
THE MACHINES THAT RULE THE PLANET WANT HIM DEAD.
THE REBELLION WANTS HIM CONTROLLED.
AND THE TRUTH OF WHAT HE IS MAY SAVE THE WORLD — OR DAMN IT.
When the Veil—a parallel dimension that sustained humanity for half a century—suddenly goes dark, all hell breaks loose. And those who turned the lights back on weren’t human, but machine.
Two years later, Dante Stelling awakes in the ruins of his hometown. As if that weren’t bad enough, he has no memory of the Glorian conquest or why the shapeshifting robots that now rule the country are hunting him. Instead, he has a head full of hallucinations, haunting visions of something ancient stirring, and a strange metal spine fused to his back. Seeking safety and sanity, Dante makes a pilgrimage to join a secret rebel force known as the Ark. There he learns his spine is more than metal—it's a weapon that could turn the tide of the war.
But when Dante uncovers a truth that shatters everything he believes about the enemy, the rebellion, and himself, he must lead a desperate crusade through the Glorian ranks to stop an apocalypse already in motion. Can he survive long enough to uncover the terrifying truth and stop the end of humanity without losing his own in the process?
THE MACHINES THAT RULE THE PLANET WANT HIM DEAD.
THE REBELLION WANTS HIM CONTROLLED.
AND THE TRUTH OF WHAT HE IS MAY SAVE THE WORLD — OR DAMN IT.
When the Veil—a parallel dimension that sustained humanity for half a century—suddenly goes dark, all hell breaks loose. And those who turned the lights back on weren’t human, but machine.
Two years later, Dante Stelling awakes in the ruins of his hometown. As if that weren’t bad enough, he has no memory of the Glorian conquest or why the shapeshifting robots that now rule the country are hunting him. Instead, he has a head full of hallucinations, haunting visions of something ancient stirring, and a strange metal spine fused to his back. Seeking safety and sanity, Dante makes a pilgrimage to join a secret rebel force known as the Ark. There he learns his spine is more than metal—it's a weapon that could turn the tide of the war.
But when Dante uncovers a truth that shatters everything he believes about the enemy, the rebellion, and himself, he must lead a desperate crusade through the Glorian ranks to stop an apocalypse already in motion. Can he survive long enough to uncover the terrifying truth and stop the end of humanity without losing his own in the process?
486 pages, Paperback
Published December 30, 2025
About the author
Carson Hawkes
1 book1 followerCarson Hawkes is the debut author of The Shadow Spark. Raised around artists and video game illustrators, he began constructing fictional worlds on floppy disks—developing a lifelong fascination with symbolism, moral consequence, and character-driven storytelling.
Raised exploring the mountains of Utah and shaped by time spent in New York, Las Vegas, and Moscow, Carson draws on both wilderness and urban decay to build immersive, fractured worlds. He now lives and works in the forests of Michigan, where he designs outdoor products for leading camping brands.
He is currently developing a new trilogy set in the aftermath of a human–Atlantean war, exploring power and belonging, in a world permanently altered by its own ambition.
Raised exploring the mountains of Utah and shaped by time spent in New York, Las Vegas, and Moscow, Carson draws on both wilderness and urban decay to build immersive, fractured worlds. He now lives and works in the forests of Michigan, where he designs outdoor products for leading camping brands.
He is currently developing a new trilogy set in the aftermath of a human–Atlantean war, exploring power and belonging, in a world permanently altered by its own ambition.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 19, 2026
EDIT: I did end up finishing this book.
The latter half of this book is far superior to the first half. The interiority and overwrought feel of the book diminishes considerably, and has some fantastic worldbuilding and satisfying end, with solid twists and turns. That doesn't change my opinion on the first half, but it does make it a better book than my previous review may have implied.
The heroes are very wholesome good men, the villains are despicable and worthy of comeuppance, the settings are very "Sword and Sorcery" but with a science fantasy framework, and the action setpieces in the latter half are very very entertaining.
3.5 out of 5 overall, this book would benefit INCREDIBLY by a solid copy edit.
---
Previous review
I reached a little over 40% of this book before I had to put it down.
The story and lore behind everything that’s going on is interesting and quite good, but the situations that they find themselves in and what the world evolves into feels incredibly overwrought and unbelievable. We get paragraph after paragraph of interiority repeated across various chapters. The villains are so excessively evil that it borders on satire. The heroes are almost angelically good.
I’m not putting this book down because it’s necessarily bad, there is a very solid story under here that has had a lot of thought went into it and the world building has also had a lot of thought put into it, and it shows in the writing, which is unfortunately part of the problem because there’s so much of it.
I truly think that with a solid edit, this book could easily become a fast paced action adventure, with some deeper theological and mythological threads to it
As it stands, it basically reads like every violent and dystopic video game or franchise all squished together into a cyberpunk Hell scape while it’s also touching on similar points as “The Stand.”
The action centerpieces are very fun and the best part of the book.
It’s also an incredibly dense story telling a very large scope, which I feel hurts the story a bit because it becomes so fast-paced that we don’t get the conversations and bonding that these characters really need we more or less just get told “these are the people we trained“ and thus you have our squad.
The latter half of this book is far superior to the first half. The interiority and overwrought feel of the book diminishes considerably, and has some fantastic worldbuilding and satisfying end, with solid twists and turns. That doesn't change my opinion on the first half, but it does make it a better book than my previous review may have implied.
The heroes are very wholesome good men, the villains are despicable and worthy of comeuppance, the settings are very "Sword and Sorcery" but with a science fantasy framework, and the action setpieces in the latter half are very very entertaining.
3.5 out of 5 overall, this book would benefit INCREDIBLY by a solid copy edit.
---
Previous review
I reached a little over 40% of this book before I had to put it down.
The story and lore behind everything that’s going on is interesting and quite good, but the situations that they find themselves in and what the world evolves into feels incredibly overwrought and unbelievable. We get paragraph after paragraph of interiority repeated across various chapters. The villains are so excessively evil that it borders on satire. The heroes are almost angelically good.
I’m not putting this book down because it’s necessarily bad, there is a very solid story under here that has had a lot of thought went into it and the world building has also had a lot of thought put into it, and it shows in the writing, which is unfortunately part of the problem because there’s so much of it.
I truly think that with a solid edit, this book could easily become a fast paced action adventure, with some deeper theological and mythological threads to it
As it stands, it basically reads like every violent and dystopic video game or franchise all squished together into a cyberpunk Hell scape while it’s also touching on similar points as “The Stand.”
The action centerpieces are very fun and the best part of the book.
It’s also an incredibly dense story telling a very large scope, which I feel hurts the story a bit because it becomes so fast-paced that we don’t get the conversations and bonding that these characters really need we more or less just get told “these are the people we trained“ and thus you have our squad.
May 1, 2026
It grips your attention from the beginning. All the feels of a great Sci-fi, post apocalyptic, theological, saving the world energy. The story is well plotted, side characters stand out and are present and characterized appropriately. I was excited, I laughed, I cried, felt vengeance, all of. Highly recommend
February 18, 2026
great concept! Such an interesting story. Definitely felt like there's a specific twist that made me like the book less about halfway through. Also, moves a little bit fast for me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews