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Shakedowners #3
Shakedowners 3: Slack to the Future
Through the skilful application of being barely competent, Captain Iridius B. Franklin and the crew of the FSC Deus Ex have managed to triumph in not just one adventure but two.
Unfortunately, despite being assured this sort of thing doesn't happen to space adventurers nearly as often as is assumed, Iridius and his crew have been flung almost a year back in time.
Now, in order to stop an existential threat to the galaxy and ensure they don't cause irreparable damage to the space-time continuum, the crew of the Deus Ex must set out to find their way back to the future.
Things go about as well as expected and Iridius Franklin finds himself encountering Nazis, cyberpunks, the bureaucratic nightmare that is the Department of Historical Timeline Preservation and yet more time-travel paradoxes including finally coming face to face with the biggest mystery of his life.
Unfortunately, despite being assured this sort of thing doesn't happen to space adventurers nearly as often as is assumed, Iridius and his crew have been flung almost a year back in time.
Now, in order to stop an existential threat to the galaxy and ensure they don't cause irreparable damage to the space-time continuum, the crew of the Deus Ex must set out to find their way back to the future.
Things go about as well as expected and Iridius Franklin finds himself encountering Nazis, cyberpunks, the bureaucratic nightmare that is the Department of Historical Timeline Preservation and yet more time-travel paradoxes including finally coming face to face with the biggest mystery of his life.
- GenresScience Fiction
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2022
23 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Justin Woolley
20 books125 followersJustin Woolley has been writing stories since he could first scrawl with a crayon. When he was six years old he wrote his first book, a 300 word pirate epic in unreadable handwriting called 'The Ghost Ship'. He promptly declared that he was now an author and didn't need to go to school. Despite being informed that this was, in fact, not the case, he continued to make things up and write them down.
Today Justin is the author of the Australian set dystopian trilogy The Territory Series consisting of the novels A Town Called Dust, A City Called Smoke and A World of Ash, the young-adult science fiction adventure We Are Omega, the science-fiction comedy series Shakedowners consisting of the novels Shakedowners, Shakedowners 2: The Vinyl Frontier and Shakedowners 3: Slack to the Future, and is now adding to the darkness of the 41st millennium for Black Library.
Justin lives in Hobart, Australia with his wife and two sons. In his other life he's been an engineer, a teacher and at one stage even a magician. His handwriting has not improved.
Today Justin is the author of the Australian set dystopian trilogy The Territory Series consisting of the novels A Town Called Dust, A City Called Smoke and A World of Ash, the young-adult science fiction adventure We Are Omega, the science-fiction comedy series Shakedowners consisting of the novels Shakedowners, Shakedowners 2: The Vinyl Frontier and Shakedowners 3: Slack to the Future, and is now adding to the darkness of the 41st millennium for Black Library.
Justin lives in Hobart, Australia with his wife and two sons. In his other life he's been an engineer, a teacher and at one stage even a magician. His handwriting has not improved.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 24, 2022
Captain Franklin and the team are back and having gone back in time, are again in trouble as they try to get back home. Good story, with the crew on top form as they fight there way through time and all the complications it brings.
December 18, 2022
fun and absorbing!
Captain Iridius and crew are back for another edge of your seat adventure to save the solar system. Not a dull moment in this fast-paced, action-driven quirky story. Loved it! Can’t wait for what’s next.
Captain Iridius and crew are back for another edge of your seat adventure to save the solar system. Not a dull moment in this fast-paced, action-driven quirky story. Loved it! Can’t wait for what’s next.
December 1, 2022
Top Shelf
Wooley really came into stride on this one. I guess that for Wooley the third time IS a charm. Not only do we get and outrageous "top shelf" (as he would say) story, but we occasionally get Wooley as narrator to explain where he's going and asking us to stay with him through it all, but we get possessed and controlled aliens, time loops, convergences, dichotomies, space battles.... The list is almost endless. Through it all is a snarkiness that brings it all together like a Dr. Who adventure. Some may think all this silliness beneath them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too.
Wooley really came into stride on this one. I guess that for Wooley the third time IS a charm. Not only do we get and outrageous "top shelf" (as he would say) story, but we occasionally get Wooley as narrator to explain where he's going and asking us to stay with him through it all, but we get possessed and controlled aliens, time loops, convergences, dichotomies, space battles.... The list is almost endless. Through it all is a snarkiness that brings it all together like a Dr. Who adventure. Some may think all this silliness beneath them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too.
February 22, 2023
We’ve done some dumb stuff lately, but … this could be the dumbest thing we’ve ever done.
(takes breath after screaming for a good 10 minutes) I'm not going to react to the ending of this book at all. Nope. That might make the nanobots in my brain go nuclear and blow a hole in my mortgage-less, fully paid off house ... and also really make a mess of my couch, which to be fair, is on its last legs anyway but still, it's a damn fine place to nap. Let's continue on then like the ending did not end that way in the way that it, um, ended. However, what with all the paradoxes and what-not that we encounter this time (and even in the meta-times around that), one never knows if this was, indeed, how it ended. I think.
Ahem. In the beginning…
Had they managed to avoid changing history, or was it that they had changed history, and the history they knew only existed because they had changed history?
OK, fans, you definitely need to read the "Captain's Prologue" - pun intended thank the gods - at least twice this time around! Even if, quote, "the best approach is to not think too hard about it." And by "it" we of course mean what's been happening to Captain Iridius B. Franklin and his various teams for the past several months. If you are counting, by the way, that includes three Federation ships (I was going to say "starships" but one didn't qualify really) and a commandeered living schlong thingie (was that redundant?). But technically I guess we have to also include the ten months that things are happening at least twice and maybe even the 25 years that IBF has been alive because he's filled with bugs. Something like that. It all involves quantum which you'll have to (eventually) agree really causes a lot of troubles despite it's usefulness as a cheap alternative to long distance phone charges.
There was still a chance they could have avoided the runaway effects of climate change if they hadn’t become so focused on war, money and buying shoes with the right words printed on the side.
Anyway, despite getting things right most of the time (spot on for the negative review of Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart", even though I would have also banned any mention of his daughters and their "music" as well), we are indeed in the deep space poopoo when things kick off in this third book of Justin Woolley's (note the double-L's, fans!) soon-to-be classic "Shakedowners" series! We do wormholes, we do zappy zap things and visit distant versions of at least 3 of my favorite Star Trek plots along the way, including both from the classic original as well as TNG series. And also some of the movies. And not just Star Trek, because of (redacted). Anyway, as you can guess by now, all of this was to this self-professed nerdy geekoid quite a thrill! Well, let's say it did so up until the weird brain sex scene and then we decided to stop for beer and pizza as one does when these things happen.
People who were handed management positions actual skills began and ended with being a bit of a sociopath.
And did we mention the whole dissolution of the 4th wall during all this hubbub? Gone. Just like that (can't snap fingers very well so imagine someone doing it for me). Which in a way makes me - however reluctantly - admit that this chapter of Woolley's "Shakedowners" indeed deserves a major nod towards Douglas Adams' writing, which I hadn't really been seeing up to now. No, it's not that it's like HHGTTG or Dirk Whatshisname or all that. It's just our author definitely moves in the same direction in terms of the tendency to approach random factoids - and even mild distractions in many cases - with the same kind of insipid yet hilariously run-on diatribes, many of which fill several pages without even coming up for a decent full-stop or semi-colon! They're fun, yes, but you'll find yourself maybe thinking "just how many pages does this SENTENCE last?" a few times. It's all good though, trust me.
This technology was so advanced that even for twenty-third century humans it was the mind-bending equivalent of a Neanderthal being shown brain-linked virtual reality or like, a PE teacher being given a laptop.
Look, I can't say really ANYTHING more here that won't be a spoiler! This chapter is a bit of a mind-fudge and it would be unfair to present any of it because that would seriously decrease the degree of, well, fudge-itude you'll experience if I did that. You see, even I'm starting to do that Adams / Woolley thing where I go on and on and never really say much and then end with some kind of clever pun that makes it all seem relevant somehow. What's important is : plot = really good, really complex, great!!! scifi! Characters = just get better and better! Future = tomorrow, tomorrow, is only a day away! Oh yeah? Well, your mom, too! Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I need to look up pronto as the aneurysm feels like she's gonna blow!
He was getting a little tired of time, which had seemed to pass so consistently and predictably for most of his life, being so wibbly-wobbly of late.
But back to that ending… (sobbing) WHY? WHY? I'm ok... kind of...
(takes breath after screaming for a good 10 minutes) I'm not going to react to the ending of this book at all. Nope. That might make the nanobots in my brain go nuclear and blow a hole in my mortgage-less, fully paid off house ... and also really make a mess of my couch, which to be fair, is on its last legs anyway but still, it's a damn fine place to nap. Let's continue on then like the ending did not end that way in the way that it, um, ended. However, what with all the paradoxes and what-not that we encounter this time (and even in the meta-times around that), one never knows if this was, indeed, how it ended. I think.
Ahem. In the beginning…
Had they managed to avoid changing history, or was it that they had changed history, and the history they knew only existed because they had changed history?
OK, fans, you definitely need to read the "Captain's Prologue" - pun intended thank the gods - at least twice this time around! Even if, quote, "the best approach is to not think too hard about it." And by "it" we of course mean what's been happening to Captain Iridius B. Franklin and his various teams for the past several months. If you are counting, by the way, that includes three Federation ships (I was going to say "starships" but one didn't qualify really) and a commandeered living schlong thingie (was that redundant?). But technically I guess we have to also include the ten months that things are happening at least twice and maybe even the 25 years that IBF has been alive because he's filled with bugs. Something like that. It all involves quantum which you'll have to (eventually) agree really causes a lot of troubles despite it's usefulness as a cheap alternative to long distance phone charges.
There was still a chance they could have avoided the runaway effects of climate change if they hadn’t become so focused on war, money and buying shoes with the right words printed on the side.
Anyway, despite getting things right most of the time (spot on for the negative review of Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart", even though I would have also banned any mention of his daughters and their "music" as well), we are indeed in the deep space poopoo when things kick off in this third book of Justin Woolley's (note the double-L's, fans!) soon-to-be classic "Shakedowners" series! We do wormholes, we do zappy zap things and visit distant versions of at least 3 of my favorite Star Trek plots along the way, including both from the classic original as well as TNG series. And also some of the movies. And not just Star Trek, because of (redacted). Anyway, as you can guess by now, all of this was to this self-professed nerdy geekoid quite a thrill! Well, let's say it did so up until the weird brain sex scene and then we decided to stop for beer and pizza as one does when these things happen.
People who were handed management positions actual skills began and ended with being a bit of a sociopath.
And did we mention the whole dissolution of the 4th wall during all this hubbub? Gone. Just like that (can't snap fingers very well so imagine someone doing it for me). Which in a way makes me - however reluctantly - admit that this chapter of Woolley's "Shakedowners" indeed deserves a major nod towards Douglas Adams' writing, which I hadn't really been seeing up to now. No, it's not that it's like HHGTTG or Dirk Whatshisname or all that. It's just our author definitely moves in the same direction in terms of the tendency to approach random factoids - and even mild distractions in many cases - with the same kind of insipid yet hilariously run-on diatribes, many of which fill several pages without even coming up for a decent full-stop or semi-colon! They're fun, yes, but you'll find yourself maybe thinking "just how many pages does this SENTENCE last?" a few times. It's all good though, trust me.
This technology was so advanced that even for twenty-third century humans it was the mind-bending equivalent of a Neanderthal being shown brain-linked virtual reality or like, a PE teacher being given a laptop.
Look, I can't say really ANYTHING more here that won't be a spoiler! This chapter is a bit of a mind-fudge and it would be unfair to present any of it because that would seriously decrease the degree of, well, fudge-itude you'll experience if I did that. You see, even I'm starting to do that Adams / Woolley thing where I go on and on and never really say much and then end with some kind of clever pun that makes it all seem relevant somehow. What's important is : plot = really good, really complex, great!!! scifi! Characters = just get better and better! Future = tomorrow, tomorrow, is only a day away! Oh yeah? Well, your mom, too! Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I need to look up pronto as the aneurysm feels like she's gonna blow!
He was getting a little tired of time, which had seemed to pass so consistently and predictably for most of his life, being so wibbly-wobbly of late.
But back to that ending… (sobbing) WHY? WHY? I'm ok... kind of...
April 16, 2023
Wonderful, if doubly sad.
Strange series! One of, if not the most emotionally weird series I have ever encountered. Normally, I stop reading if dialog takes on random and unnecessary foul language. Not here, though. Some how the author makes it fit. It isn't just the spouting of an emotionally immature twerp. Some how it belongs, and is largely appropriate. I don't know how he does it, but it fits.
Strange series! One of, if not the most emotionally weird series I have ever encountered. Normally, I stop reading if dialog takes on random and unnecessary foul language. Not here, though. Some how the author makes it fit. It isn't just the spouting of an emotionally immature twerp. Some how it belongs, and is largely appropriate. I don't know how he does it, but it fits.
April 6, 2023
Part 3. - as good as the first.
Its been a good series so far.
Easy reading, not overly repetitive on the details like some authors seem to do to pad out their word count, (like 75 mentions of the exact colour and swirly behaviour of a portal in one book.).
Humorous, and just enough storyline to keep me buying the next one.
Its been a good series so far.
Easy reading, not overly repetitive on the details like some authors seem to do to pad out their word count, (like 75 mentions of the exact colour and swirly behaviour of a portal in one book.).
Humorous, and just enough storyline to keep me buying the next one.
October 27, 2025
Serious humour and full-on Sci-Fi
A group of great characters continue their crazy adventures. Clever science-fiction and time travelling from one heroic disaster to another. Neatly entwined with an important moral story. Will they achieve their desired end?
A group of great characters continue their crazy adventures. Clever science-fiction and time travelling from one heroic disaster to another. Neatly entwined with an important moral story. Will they achieve their desired end?
June 2, 2023
Brilliant
Please tell me you're not really leaving us to wait a long time for the continuation of this fantastic series😁
I'm hungry for more xx
Please tell me you're not really leaving us to wait a long time for the continuation of this fantastic series😁
I'm hungry for more xx
July 10, 2023
2.5 stars actually ...couldn't get into that space travel thing ...dropped out of it in the middle of the book
May 4, 2023
Almost up there with the first book! It was sooo close.
I can only imagine that keeping one's spirits up to write a follow up novel in the worst part of Covid deaths and lockdowns may have reduced the joy levels in the third book somewhat, but Woolley is still a wonderful writer and this third novel stands high above much of the other sci-fi stuff that's out there right now.
Good god, I just heard they made a netflix series of the most boring novel of all time, Silo! (facepalm) So, I would definitely recommend this whole series if you don't feel like being dragged down by miserable dreary stories where everything is grey and meh, or mean stories full of torture, and instead you feel like something smart but with a light touch and a good heart.
(Yes, I know I'm being mean about dreary Silo, but I just feel like it. Ergh. Spoiler alert: Some woman limps up and down a big grey silo for a bunch of days)
I can only imagine that keeping one's spirits up to write a follow up novel in the worst part of Covid deaths and lockdowns may have reduced the joy levels in the third book somewhat, but Woolley is still a wonderful writer and this third novel stands high above much of the other sci-fi stuff that's out there right now.
Good god, I just heard they made a netflix series of the most boring novel of all time, Silo! (facepalm) So, I would definitely recommend this whole series if you don't feel like being dragged down by miserable dreary stories where everything is grey and meh, or mean stories full of torture, and instead you feel like something smart but with a light touch and a good heart.
(Yes, I know I'm being mean about dreary Silo, but I just feel like it. Ergh. Spoiler alert: Some woman limps up and down a big grey silo for a bunch of days)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews