Tetherfall

I kept waiting for Tetherfall to surprise me and it mostly didn't. The prose can be gorgeous — that opening line about rain on hot metal is great — but too often the plot moves from A to B on rails. Cass is clearly meant to be a compelling lead, but aside from her rig-riding swagger and a few sharp lines she feels underexplored, and the fledgling crew reads like checklist character types. Marla Voss is threatening, sure, but also a little one-note: visor, long coat, calm voice with teeth. The shard/device concept is promising but left me with questions about why it matters so much beyond being 'the thing everyone wants.' Also: a couple of convenient escapes (winch saves, perfect timing of skiff malfunctions) felt like authorial hand-holding. If you're craving neon action and don't need deep surprises, you'll enjoy the set pieces. For me, it needed more risk and fewer genre autopilot moves.

Tetherfall hooked me from that very first paragraph — the harbor description felt like standing on the deck with Cass: salt, diesel, neon bleeding into rain. The opening salvage scene (Cass prying open the barnacled crate, the drone's keening) was cinematic and tense. I loved how the tiny drone's 'Please. Keep. Safe.' lands like a moral seed that ripples through the rest of the book. Cass is a believable, hard-edged protagonist; the way she rides her rig, the harness singing against her ribs, made her tangible. Marla Voss is an effectively cold threat — the calm with teeth line still gives me chills — and the ragtag crew you meet later adds real warmth and stakes to the action. The Spire shard and the strange device felt mysterious without being hand-waved away, and the city itself is almost a character: neon, water, and that Spine pulsing through the smog. A few scenes could've used a bit more breathing room, but overall this is an action-packed, emotional read about loyalty and hard choices. Highly recommend for anyone who likes gritty sci-fi and fast pacing.

I wanted to like Tetherfall more than I did. The opening is strong — the imagery of the harbor and the salvage run is vivid, and that moment with the stranded drone and the shard is genuinely gripping. But as the story moves forward, a lot of familiar beats take over: corporate villainy as shorthand evil, a 'ragged crew' that feels assembled to hit genre beats rather than to be lived-in people, and a MacGuffin (the shard) whose rules aren't always clear. Pacing is uneven; action sequences are exciting, but long stretches of exposition and internal monologue sap momentum. The author leans heavily on noir-flavored tropes — rain-slick streets, visor-clad enforcers, the lone salvage runner with a heart — which is fine when subverted, but here many of those elements hit predictably. Also, some tech explanations wobble between too-brief and overcomplicated: the device that 'tastes wrong' is intriguing but not fully earned by the time the chapter ends. If you want a fast, stylish action romp and don't mind familiar sci-fi scaffolding, it'll work. If you're after something more subversive or character-forward, it falls short.

Okay, first: that drone's little AI voice saying 'Please. Keep. Safe.' hit me like a punch in the gut and also made me laugh because of how tender it was in such a brutal place. Cass is cool and messy in all the right ways — surfboarding on a rig, prying barnacled crates, snatching things that will probably get her killed. Marla Voss = corporate menace, 10/10. I loved the sensory stuff (neon bleeding down barges, salt and copper tang) and the tiny details (winch, sparks, the skiff cutting fog) that make the world feel lived-in. The only gripe: I wanted more time with the crew — they show promise but feel a smidge shorthand. Still, sharp dialogue, solid action, and a world that wants to be explored. I'm all in for a sequel. Bring on more Spine mysteries, please 😉

Tetherfall is tight, propulsive sci-fi. The opening sequence — dropping into the cargo maw, the cracked drone, the shard that fits like a heartbeat — sets up stakes and tone in under a page, which I appreciated. Cass's skillset (rig, harness, winch) and the city's physicality (stacked barges, neon, the tethered Spine) are conveyed with economical detail that never feels like info-dump. Marla Voss reads as a classic corporate enforcer, but her confrontation on the skiff is effective: the visored silhouette, the motorthrum, the calm voice with teeth. I also liked that the shard/device isn't just a magic box; it comes with consequences and choices. Pacing is mostly strong — action-driven, as promised — though a couple of expositional chapters slow momentum. Still, for fans of urban sci-fi and heist-adventure combos, this is a solid, well-crafted ride.