Praise for Deep Structure
Candy Davis, Editor, Editing International ____________
Da Vinci Code, move over for this sparkling, fast-paced tale of magic, mystery,
and intrigue. Dedicated epigrapher Gatsby Donovan trots half the globe to
uncover the secret of a set of glyphs that suggest a deep connection between
three major ancient civilizations. Gatsby moves from curiosity to terror as the
power behind the unknown symbols begins to manifest in her own body.
Lori Stephens’ great sense of storytelling spiced with humor effortlessly carries
the reader back to a time when Druids, Mayan priests, and Egyptian gods
shared the world between them and the spoken word held the power to move
even the earth itself.
“Do you ever wonder if there are some questions that science cannot
answer?” Gatsby wonders. The answer is definitely, “more things in heaven
and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Deep Structure takes flight
with the entrance of strange monsters, whimsical beings, and bizarre
phenomena. Glowing symbols appear and disappear at will by a curious
loophole in the known structure of the universe. Who is pulling the strings?
Perhaps Gatsby herself.
Surprise after surprise leads the discerning reader deep into the story as
Stephens paints a unique and fascinating picture on the larger canvas of
history. Was there a connection between ancient Egypt, massive Mayan
temples, and the origin of Stonehenge? Stephens offers the reader a unique
perspective on historical “coincidences” that uncover a mind-bending
dialogue between what we’ve long assumed to be three far-flung cultures.
Ms. Stephens’ extensive research and intuitive imagination bring to life the
magic of languages, both those ancient and those yet to be decoded, twining
them together with real physics and archaeology in a highly entertaining story
that echoes Shyamalan’s Signs and Gaiman’s Stardust.
Charles King, President, Cox-King International ____________
Stephens’s Deep Structure is an archaeology-meets-magic adventure in the
tradition of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, but with a much more human
protagonist, Gatsby Donovan (a thirty-something woman) and some marvelous
research on archaeolinguistics, ancient civilizations, obscure geography, and
more.
The initial braininess of the book is offset by Gatsby’s best friend, an oversexed
woman psychotherapist. There are some moments of pop thrown in to liven
things up; e.g., the ability of the protagonist to give people the finger and swear
a blue streak (not overused) are charming facets complimenting her
bookwormish personality. One older character starts out as a cliché
absentminded professor but becomes something much more, a lesson in how
looks can be deceiving.
There are some really nice, artistic turns of phrase in this book. Things intimate
to everyone — like what fatigue feels like, the goods and bads of working out in
a gym, how different smells make one react — are detailed with craft but
without conceit and make the characters feel human even when the storyline is
touching on ghosts and telekinesis.
The book is cinematic in some places, the way it reveals secrets, how it stages
observations by multiple characters. There are a few weaker moments when
you feel that the author is imagining an eventual screenplay instead of the
novel she’s writing, but these are few enough not to be distracting from what is
a truly fun read overall.
A valid complaint about most science fiction is that the science is so shoddy
there’s no suspension of disbelief to aid the fiction. Here, the science is more
than solid, and the reader is easily immersed in the adventure.
Kevin Joseph, Amazon.com ____________
Deep Structure is an introvert's adventure in which the thrills and chills are
driven by scientific and philosophical intrigue instead of murder and mayhem.
We need more thrillers like this.
Epigrapher Gatsby Donavan is a woman of science who, on the cusp of her
summer sabbatical, is challenged with deciphering a series of magical symbols
appearing in Egyptian and Peruvian ruins. Her quest for the truth leads her
from exploration of exotic locales, to confrontation of repressed childhood
memories, and ultimately to the brink of madness. And what she discovers is
an alternate vision of reality that forces her to abandon an empiricist's view of
the universe for a new understanding that borrows equally from quantum
physics and mysticism.
Like any truly original work, it defies convenient labels or comparisons.
But if Richard Bach's Illusions had been written in consultation with
Steven Hawking and C. S. Lewis, the result may have been something like Deep
Structure.
Candy Davis, Editor, Editing International ____________
Da Vinci Code, move over for this sparkling, fast-paced tale of magic, mystery,
and intrigue. Dedicated epigrapher Gatsby Donovan trots half the globe to
uncover the secret of a set of glyphs that suggest a deep connection between
three major ancient civilizations. Gatsby moves from curiosity to terror as the
power behind the unknown symbols begins to manifest in her own body.
Lori Stephens’ great sense of storytelling spiced with humor effortlessly carries
the reader back to a time when Druids, Mayan priests, and Egyptian gods
shared the world between them and the spoken word held the power to move
even the earth itself.
“Do you ever wonder if there are some questions that science cannot
answer?” Gatsby wonders. The answer is definitely, “more things in heaven
and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Deep Structure takes flight
with the entrance of strange monsters, whimsical beings, and bizarre
phenomena. Glowing symbols appear and disappear at will by a curious
loophole in the known structure of the universe. Who is pulling the strings?
Perhaps Gatsby herself.
Surprise after surprise leads the discerning reader deep into the story as
Stephens paints a unique and fascinating picture on the larger canvas of
history. Was there a connection between ancient Egypt, massive Mayan
temples, and the origin of Stonehenge? Stephens offers the reader a unique
perspective on historical “coincidences” that uncover a mind-bending
dialogue between what we’ve long assumed to be three far-flung cultures.
Ms. Stephens’ extensive research and intuitive imagination bring to life the
magic of languages, both those ancient and those yet to be decoded, twining
them together with real physics and archaeology in a highly entertaining story
that echoes Shyamalan’s Signs and Gaiman’s Stardust.
Charles King, President, Cox-King International ____________
Stephens’s Deep Structure is an archaeology-meets-magic adventure in the
tradition of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, but with a much more human
protagonist, Gatsby Donovan (a thirty-something woman) and some marvelous
research on archaeolinguistics, ancient civilizations, obscure geography, and
more.
The initial braininess of the book is offset by Gatsby’s best friend, an oversexed
woman psychotherapist. There are some moments of pop thrown in to liven
things up; e.g., the ability of the protagonist to give people the finger and swear
a blue streak (not overused) are charming facets complimenting her
bookwormish personality. One older character starts out as a cliché
absentminded professor but becomes something much more, a lesson in how
looks can be deceiving.
There are some really nice, artistic turns of phrase in this book. Things intimate
to everyone — like what fatigue feels like, the goods and bads of working out in
a gym, how different smells make one react — are detailed with craft but
without conceit and make the characters feel human even when the storyline is
touching on ghosts and telekinesis.
The book is cinematic in some places, the way it reveals secrets, how it stages
observations by multiple characters. There are a few weaker moments when
you feel that the author is imagining an eventual screenplay instead of the
novel she’s writing, but these are few enough not to be distracting from what is
a truly fun read overall.
A valid complaint about most science fiction is that the science is so shoddy
there’s no suspension of disbelief to aid the fiction. Here, the science is more
than solid, and the reader is easily immersed in the adventure.
Kevin Joseph, Amazon.com ____________
Deep Structure is an introvert's adventure in which the thrills and chills are
driven by scientific and philosophical intrigue instead of murder and mayhem.
We need more thrillers like this.
Epigrapher Gatsby Donavan is a woman of science who, on the cusp of her
summer sabbatical, is challenged with deciphering a series of magical symbols
appearing in Egyptian and Peruvian ruins. Her quest for the truth leads her
from exploration of exotic locales, to confrontation of repressed childhood
memories, and ultimately to the brink of madness. And what she discovers is
an alternate vision of reality that forces her to abandon an empiricist's view of
the universe for a new understanding that borrows equally from quantum
physics and mysticism.
Like any truly original work, it defies convenient labels or comparisons.
But if Richard Bach's Illusions had been written in consultation with
Steven Hawking and C. S. Lewis, the result may have been something like Deep
Structure.
| Lori Stephens' Have You Seen the Garbageman? "I was particularly struck by the writing style of the story, which captured that vivid, going-for-the-jugular narrative I like so much in the work of Stephen King..." |
| — Randall Larson, Editor/Publisher, Threshold of Fantasy |
Deep Structure
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| Entire site and all contents copyright (c) 2009 Lori Stephens. All rights reserved. |