First up - the description. "Eighteen-year-old Allin Arcady only wants one thing: to reach the Roof of the World and see the Sun for the first time in his life. The problem is, he's lost in the depths of the ruined planet-city called Earth, fleeing the horrors of his past.
When his past catches up to him, Allin is thrust into a science fantasy adventure in which he meets a race of genetically-modified cats, tangles with vengeful werewolves, and parlays with cyborgs. Along the way, Allin is forced to decide: will he spend his whole life running or take a stand against the forces that want to finish off the Earth once and for all?"
I like it. It's short, sweet and to the point, but has enough spice to leave me wanting more. It's not often that you see a novel include cat-people, werewolves and cyborgs (plus ghosts, I discovered) and not come off as extremely hokey. At first I was half-expecting twinkly vampires to pop up in the mix, but thankfully, those seem to be extinct in this dystopian story. I think this description does edge a little close to cliche' land with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, but hey, maybe it really does. Who doesn't love a little end of the world drama? Even so, it is well written and makes me want to read the story, which is the point. A- for the description.
The Cover. Sorry about the red border, that was actually my fault, and it doesn't show a border on Amazon, apparently my snipping tool added that on. Sigh. I do like this cover, for the most part. The picture that Andy Goldman used is very fitting to the description and the story, and isn't too busy for a cover. I like that he used a picture of the moon instead of the sun, even though Allin is trying to get to the roof to see the sun for the first time. It lends a certain air of trickiness to the story to me, like maybe Allin will make it, but find that the sun isn't there, or only gets to see the moon? I don't know, but I guess I will have to keep reading and find out.
The only thing that I would look at changing on this cover is the white font for the title. It blends in to the moon and sky (maybe the clouds? or the milky way, possibly?) that are directly behind the words, causing them to bleed together a little. Putting the title in a color would add a little drama and pop, and make it a lot easier to read. It's not difficult to read now, but that might make a difference when viewed as a thumbnail on Amazon. All in all, I would give the cover a B-.
*** Andy Goldman gets extra points here. He does something that I've heard about doing, and plan to do personally, but don't see done often in all of the e-books that I read. And I read a lot of them. Like a lot. Right below the cover page, Andy includes the description of his book again. This is big to me. I know, I know, "You know what the book is about when you decide to buy it, so why would you want the description inside the book again?" most people would ask. My answer is.... BECAUSE I FORGOT. I download a lot of books each time I shop - which I admit is the first thing I should address in this issue lol - but I also read stuff from several different genres. Thus, I like being able to look at the description for a book again when I decide if this is the one I'm in the mood for when I get around to it. So, bonus points. A+ for making this convenient for me, the reader.***
On to the actual story. We start off with action, which is always nice. The first few pages find Allin, the main character, climbing in the rafters of an abandoned mall, during which he is attacked by a cat and some sort of mechanical man-eating scavengers (more description of these things later would be nice, but not necessary. They served their purpose well and I imagined them as little crab-like things), then basically shoots himself in the foot when he defeats them. But he does defeat them and makes a friend out of the stray kitty along the way. I like that Andy includes an animal as the main character's companion, as it gives him someone to talk to without sounding like a crazy person. I know, talking to animals is arguable on the 0-batcrap crazy scale, but you know what I mean. There was someone to talk to in a world that doesn't seem to have many human inhabitants.
The pacing of The Only City Left is great. The action kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know what happens next, but it wasn't exhausting or overly detailed. It had enough details to help me envision the situation, but not too many that would bog me down, or worse, disagree with how I, the reader, chose to see the setting. Which is nice. The first 4 chapters (my 10K requirement) flew by and I found myself excited to keep reading when I was done.
This is a first person story, told by Allin, and I think like him. Thusfar, he seems to be a smart, and smart-assed, teenage protagonist. He makes mistakes and screws up, but can recover nicely and still keeps on trucking. He has a few little tricks and gadgets up his sleeve from the get go, which made me curious about what else he's packing. I like that his character has some sort of depth almost immediately. He has a driving goal, secondary goals, fears, sadness and somehow an upbeat undertone that kept me interested in him as a person. He seems to be very well-rounded in the few chapters that I've read, and I think something would have to change drastically to ruin him for the rest of the book.
The next character is the scrawny stray cat. He (I think it's a he) rounds out the beginning quite nicely, and gives Allin a nice little companion that I hope sticks around. There are several funny moments with the cat and reading about its interactions with Allin gave me a deeper appreciation for the author's voice in the book. I really liked how they play off of each other.
The only thing about the writing that I can say needs a little work are the run on sentences. Every so often there are a few paragraphs that are really just one very long sentence. These could be broken up to vary the pace, as well as express what's going on a little more clearly. Example - "I fell free for a few more seconds, until the gun's failsafe kicked in and gradually slowed the rope's output so it wouldn't be torn out of my hands when it reached its end." There are several more instances like this, but it doesn't get overwhelming. Thankfully.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this and will definitely finish it. Possibly this week. I give this one an A.
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