Spire

by A. Cuthbertson

The Last City The embattled city of Spire is the last refuge of the human mining colonists on the planet known simply as IV. Clustered around a gigantic, mysterious black spire that points to the stormy skies above, the area around this city is the only place on this hellish planet that hasn’t been destroyed yet. Follow Thaig on a wild, amphetamine-fuelled journey through its streets and its underground. Explore the dark secrets that lay at the underbelly of Spire, as Thaig loses everything in his mad quest for the what is the overbearing government hiding? Why are they pursuing him? What strange thing did he find down in the mines?

Genres: Science Fiction

Paperback

Published October 3, 2022

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella is creative, but feels amateurish in the writing, especially in the first half. I didn’t like the author constantly beating the reader over the head to make his point. It could have been polished up to improve the prose.

On the plus side, the story is decently fast-paced action with a sort of twist at the end, like a good pulp sci-fi read. It’s not deep folks, but neither is classic pulp sci-fi (check out Armchairfiction.com).

[Jamie Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m familiar with Cuthbertson through the Bizarchives, one of their better authors, and Spire doesn’t let him down. It’s a mixture of dark science-fiction and Lovecraftian cosmic horror. A wild ride, in spite of its short length.

[Matthew Bandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based sci-fi.

[Thanos Chatziioannou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spire is a fitting name for this book, cause it is really peak. First half could have been a bit more fleshed out.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Found this book on a list of new sci-fi from self-published authors on a blog I read. World-building was good and well-paced, it just didn't interest me as much as I would have hoped.

[Odin Lightner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thiag, the main character, is very much the strongman archetype, with some stimulant use on top of that. One way other another the planet itself is a barren mining planet.

With the writing itself, the impression is given off that Cuthberton is not seasoned enough yet. This is not to say it is back. I can tell very much that he is on the way to becoming great, but the organization needs to be worked on.
So Far, however, he is skilled at plot development.

Overall, a great book. I didn't like the ending, but that was for personal reasons. He had pretty good dialogue, and good characters, even if most were static.