Spire City – Season 1 by Daniel Ausema
Kindle Edition
Mush Publishing
Published September 2014
Review by N. E. White.
Excuse me as I bumble through this review. I don’t often read stories that are released as a serial, so I’m not exactly sure how to refer to each episode. They are not quite short stories, not quite chapters in a book, but maybe something in between. This review if for the first complete Season 1, currently sold as two books: Contagion (Episodes 1-6) and Epidemic (Episodes 7-13).
Regardless of the format, Spire City is a steam-punk fantasy complete with a mad scientist targeting the poor and destitute of a port city. The story focuses on a few outcasts who have banded together for safety. They live in what they call the Weave, basement rooms of an abandoned building in the wrong side of town. While the rich and working class go about in beetle drawn carriages and steam-powered trains move goods in and out of the city, these outcasts struggle to survive. But that’s really hard because they have been infected.
A notable inventor has taken it upon himself to rid the city of their poor and downtrodden by literally turning them into animals like rabbits, rats, dogs, cats, and pigeons. His strategy hinging on the fact that it’s a lot easier to get rid of vermin than a poor person who might warrant a bit more empathy.
But the serum that is turning them into animals isn’t quite perfected and doesn’t work as quickly as the mad scientist would like. Those that are turning may function fine for years, or maybe only months; long enough for them to band together and try in their limited way to protect themselves and get the word out that something terrible is happening under the city’s dirty belly.
Each episode focuses, more or less, on one character as they move through the city attending to some task or just trying to survive. Through each, we learn the wonders and history of the city, along with its inhabitants who are a mix of natives and immigrants. The episodes are loosely plotted, with each giving the reader just a glimpse of the possibility of some success for the infected.
In this first season, we are also introduced to Mint, the mad scientist’s infector. In the first phase of the mad scientist’s plans, Mint’s task is to infect people and learn what he can of those who haven’t changed as quickly as they should, or kill them – I’m not exactly sure, to tell you the truth. And I think that’s because Mint isn’t sure what he needs to do. He’s probably my favorite character. I know, that’s bad, I like the villain, but the story really comes alive when he’s around and I can’t help but want him to be free of his own inner torment. For he was one of the first of the mad scientist’s experiments.
What I liked most about this series is the feel of the city with its many spires with singers chained to the top of each, their songs guiding the beetles who toil for men with seemingly no thought. Some of the imagery is mesmerizing and I thought the author did a wonderful job of giving me a sense of place. I really felt as if I could go and visit Spire City.
What I didn’t like was the lack of pacing. While each episode is well crafted and has a satisfying ending, they sometimes felt too removed from the overarching story (the problem of Mint and the mad scientist). So, it felt to me that the pacing was off. I kept wanting the characters to get back to dealing with that problem, rather than trying to make enough money to buy coal that winter.
Even so, I did enjoy each of the characters. The author has done a good job of crafting diverse male and female characters with strengths and weaknesses that worked well together. And their slow transformation into the animals they have been infected with is a constant reminder of how fragile and doomed their lives are. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the plight of homeless people in my very own city.
Overall, I found myself drawn back to each episode even though I often felt frustrated after each because the author didn’t spend more time on the wider story. This serial definitely feels like an investment, but one that I think will prove worth it. The writing style is clear and easy to follow, and more than once I found myself highlighting a favorite passage or turn of phrase. I look forward to reading more. Season 2 is now being released as individual episodes.
Recommended (with hesitations, if you like your stories fast and furious).
N. E. White, January 2015.
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