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Explosive Decompression
Isaac Asimov meets Charles Dickens with a dash of Jonathan Swift…
In a world that is a science experiment gone horrifyingly wrong, scientist Audrey Novak awakes from a centuries-long sleep to discover that her work has been used to create an appalling world. Aided by commoners, bots, and another refugee from 20th century America, Audrey takes on the power elites on Earth and on the Moon in a novel that is equal parts adventure, science gone haywire, and rollicking humor.
A sampling of acclaim for John L. Sheppard
“Sheppard’s characters pretend not to be funny, to not be emotional, to not need each other, when of course, they are and they do. There’s a clarity to the chaos, the restraint, the vulnerability Sheppard creates, something so human and essential you can’t help but turn the page.”
—Entropy magazine
“…an easy affection for his characters and a sense of natural, unforced humor.”
—Booklist
"...You have a good time seeing someone have a bad time. It's fun..."
—Padgett Powell
“...raw feeling and taut smart prose."
—Sam Lipsyte
“The author grips you from the beginning, I couldn't have put it down if I wanted.”
—Amazon reviewer
In a world that is a science experiment gone horrifyingly wrong, scientist Audrey Novak awakes from a centuries-long sleep to discover that her work has been used to create an appalling world. Aided by commoners, bots, and another refugee from 20th century America, Audrey takes on the power elites on Earth and on the Moon in a novel that is equal parts adventure, science gone haywire, and rollicking humor.
A sampling of acclaim for John L. Sheppard
“Sheppard’s characters pretend not to be funny, to not be emotional, to not need each other, when of course, they are and they do. There’s a clarity to the chaos, the restraint, the vulnerability Sheppard creates, something so human and essential you can’t help but turn the page.”
—Entropy magazine
“…an easy affection for his characters and a sense of natural, unforced humor.”
—Booklist
"...You have a good time seeing someone have a bad time. It's fun..."
—Padgett Powell
“...raw feeling and taut smart prose."
—Sam Lipsyte
“The author grips you from the beginning, I couldn't have put it down if I wanted.”
—Amazon reviewer
426 pages, Paperback
Published September 4, 2016
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
John Sheppard
142 books5 followersA veteran of the U.S. Army, John Sheppard's short stories have appeared in Bridge magazine, the2ndhand and Exquisite Corpse. He is a frequent contributor to ParagraphLine.com and B2L2.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 6, 2016
WOW - another awesome book by John L. Sheppard. Explosive Decompression is an awesome science fiction satire type story.
This novel takes readers into the mind of Audrey Novak. She is the eternal narrator in her bid to salvage the world-changing innovation that she once helped build. I don't write spoilers - but OMG, this book is so intense!!! I find it hard to put this book down - but still found it necessary at times.
Sheppard writes this as a sequel to his 2015 novel After the Jump. Although it is not necessary to read After the Jump before Explosive Decompression - it does help you understand what happened before this book started.
I was given a copy of this book for an honest review.
This novel takes readers into the mind of Audrey Novak. She is the eternal narrator in her bid to salvage the world-changing innovation that she once helped build. I don't write spoilers - but OMG, this book is so intense!!! I find it hard to put this book down - but still found it necessary at times.
Sheppard writes this as a sequel to his 2015 novel After the Jump. Although it is not necessary to read After the Jump before Explosive Decompression - it does help you understand what happened before this book started.
I was given a copy of this book for an honest review.
October 21, 2016
I picked this up without really reading the summary because I've enjoyed every Sheppard I've read. I really got on board though when I realized it picked up from "After the Jump" in a post apocalyptic future. "After the Jump" was one of the most fun things Sheppard had written in my view, so I couldn't wait to read more with Audrey. It's definitely a blast, and something totally new from "After the Jump" rather than simply a sequel. The imagination is rich and the world is captivatingly created. I enjoyed reading immensely.
October 14, 2016
John Sheppard has been funny, poignant, and tough in his writing before. But this is the first time his writing has been so formidable. Part of it is obviously the length of Explosive Decompression, which is his longest published work to-date. But a lot of the weight of the book is in the details, in the way it shifts from SF, to magical realism, to a cosmic comedy style that has influences all over the map (from Doug Adams to Jonathan Swift), while yet remaining Sheppard’s baby throughout. All of Sheppard’s trademark humor and ability to turn a phrase is on display, but there’s a maturity and a poetic quality to the work that marks his maturation (if not breakthrough) as a writer. That the book can maintain the tightrope walk of addressing serious themes without getting didactic or pretentious is quite the high wire act.
The plot defies description, like most great fiction. If I were to try to describe it, though, I would say it is about a girl (or a copy of a girl, or a copy of a copy of girl) flinging her way through space and time and trying to rescue humans (and animals) from a nightmare future all too familiar to readers of dystopian fiction (or residents of 21st century America). The book works as a standalone, but is also a sequel to After the Jump, another book Sheppard wrote that is very good, but not necessary reading to appreciate this one.
Here’s hoping there’s another sequel in the works. Highest Recommendation.
The plot defies description, like most great fiction. If I were to try to describe it, though, I would say it is about a girl (or a copy of a girl, or a copy of a copy of girl) flinging her way through space and time and trying to rescue humans (and animals) from a nightmare future all too familiar to readers of dystopian fiction (or residents of 21st century America). The book works as a standalone, but is also a sequel to After the Jump, another book Sheppard wrote that is very good, but not necessary reading to appreciate this one.
Here’s hoping there’s another sequel in the works. Highest Recommendation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews