Circle in a Spiral

Circle in a Spiral by Stefan Nicholson (Self-published) PB RRP $24.00 from www.stefannicholson.com ISBN 9780980460452

Reviewed by Janet Kershaw

This 56,000 word psychological thriller with its focus on climate change, robotics and the survival of the human race is aimed at the adolescent fiction market. Author and composer Stefan Nicholson has published seven books to date and a CD of original music: he is also the inventor of Symbolic Art Notation, a complete language in pictures.

The book’s cover is from abstract artwork by the author and while it is interesting and colourful, it does not serve the book well, giving no indication of what genre the book is or what is its subject matter. Inside there is a list of contents with chapter headings. Unfortunately the print type is very small which might be off-putting to some readers.

The first page, however, immediately engages the reader’s attention with fast-paced writing as a sister and her small brother, Lodi and Modnar, having attempted to raid the Xylon auto-farm for food and weapons, race to escape a fire. Before long they meet a being called Amgine who alerts them to the destruction of planet Earth caused by man. However, Lodi and Modnar are not the real names of the children: when they return to their home, they are known as Sarah and Max Robertson.

It is Sarah’s quest to fix the problem which affects the universe: she needs to find the ‘Krel Key’, a complex sequence of algorithms which prevent humanoids (developed by scientists and the military to become super-beings) from using their machines from destruction.  Of course, as in any quest dystopian fantasy Sarah’s quest is never going to be easy. Two universe sentinels, Amgine (see above) and Retibra try to use humans and others to stabilise the universe, but one of the sentinels becomes corrupt as does one of the human collaborators. Sarah, who is naïve in many ways, has a massive job to right wrongs in a world where everyone, including Life/Death Algorisms have their own interpretations of survival.

For an intelligent reader who enjoys fantasy and quest tales, and is able to navigate their way through a labyrinth of places, people, and events, this book is sure to be to their taste.