The Patterns of Cloth and Dreams: a Spire City novella

Spire City

by Daniel Ausema

The vast northern valley grows colder, and no mighty steam furnace will ever bring back its warmth. Seamstress Nalariana is desperate to escape, any way she can. When her chance comes, though, it isn't to warmer lands, but deeper into the north, where old ways hold sway.

Along with the spire singer Derran, she must face a suspicious people while navigating a proud society that is stranger, subtler, and more advanced than she ever guessed. Could she make a place for herself here, in this strange land? Should she escape instead to Derran’s city of gears and carriages and amazing factories?

Will either place ever accept her?

For readers new to Spire City, this novella offers a stand-alone story of cultural clashes and a changing world, as the steam revolution begins to take hold. For readers of the Spire City series, it stretches the world beyond the city and answers one of the great questions that Chels never uncovered—how the friendship between her mother and the chained spire singer Derran began.

Immerse yourself in a rich fantasy journey—read it today!

127 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2017

About the author

Daniel Ausema grew up in West Michigan, surrounded by orchards, hay fields, glacial lakes, and stands of oak and maple trees. He earned his BA in English Literature and Spanish in 2000. After working in experiential and alternative education for a while, he moved to Colorado with his family and settled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He is now a stay-at-home father. His fiction and poetry have appeared in dozens of publications.