Revification

by John M. Bauer

A science fantasy story about falling into a wormhole and dealing with psychological trauma. Rather than attempting to describe technology and theories I will never understand, Revification uses the unknown as a way to dive into a surreal realm of nightmares and false memories. If we were able to successfully create a wormhole, the idea would resemble something like a bridge over extra-dimensional... somethingness. In my story, I ask what would happen if there was a being or an entity waiting in the nothing between our universe and its space-time and an adjacent reality. This is also my first ever completed NaNoWriMo project. Just over 50,000 words for the month of November. It may still be a bit sloppy, but it has been a fun adventure to work and develop on an idea so quickly. I wasn't sure what to do with the story, but I thought it would be a good exercise to put it up here!

189 pages, Paperback

Published January 13, 2024

About the author

John M. Bauer spent his youngest years on a farm in the middle of nowhere. His dad was a lawyer for the local tribe and he grew up thinking he would one day raise pigs. After several more moves across countries and continents, he ended up leaving that swine-fueled dream behind and settling into an apartment just outside Paris. The constant shifting of the Earth has left John with a feeling that nowhere is ever truly home.

Adrift on that tiresome sea, he spent years writing for other people and their goals: podcasts, blogs, marketing copy, press releases, and other nightly noise. Disillusioned, overexposed, and anxiety-ridden, he began seeking refuge from the emotional tithe. In words and stories, solid ground finally began to form.

John now captures that magic, exploring the space between us all. Conversations around cheap cups of coffee or just a reminder of the significance all too often lost in otherwise mundane moments.

Reviews

[Noriboo · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠.

This quote pretty much sums up my experience reading this book. It was trippy!
I was incredibly confused and found myself wondering if the main character, Shahin, really fell into a wormhole or if he was experiencing psychosis. Or maybe somehow both?
I just wanted to figure out what was actually going on, and I really wanted things to work out.

That being said, the story is told in a fast-paced manner where all the different moments (memories?) seamlessly flowed together. So, despite my confusion about what was happening and when and where our main character was, I did enjoy reading this story. Throughout, we get multiple variations of the past, present, and future. Nothing is the same twice, which made it so much harder to puzzle things together. I loved it!

The feeling of bewilderment is, I believe, very much the point of this story, and I think the author has done an incredible job in creating this.
I think this story is great for people who are looking for a sci-fi with a smidge of fantasy variation of the "stuck in a timeloop" trope and people who enjoyed movies such as 'Inception' and 'Looper'.