On the Threshold
by M. Laszlo
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GENRE: Historical Science Fiction
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BLURB:
Obsessed with learning the origins of the cosmos, the actual meaning of life, and the true purpose of civilization, a fine Scotsman named Fingal T. Smyth dedicates himself to the study of Plato’s most extraordinary ideas. Convinced of Plato’s belief that humankind possesses any and all innate knowledge deep within the collective unconscious mind, Fingal soon conducts a series of bold, pioneering occult-science experiments by which to resolve the riddle of the universe once and for all. However, Fingal forgets how violent and perilous the animal impulses that reside in the deepest recesses of the unconscious mind. And when Fingal unleashes a mysterious avatar of his innate knowledge, the entity appears as a burning man and immediately seeks to manipulate innocent and unsuspecting people everywhere into immolating themselves. Now, with little hope of returning the fiery figure into his being, Fingal must capture his nemesis before it destroys the world.
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EXCERPT:
Autumn, 1907: late one morning, some kind of torrid, invisible beast seemed to wrap itself all around Fingal T. Smyth’s body. Each one of his toes twitching fiercely, he exited the castle and scanned the distant, Scottish Highlands. Go back where you came from. As the entity wrapped itself tighter all about his person, Fingal blinked back his tears. I’m melting, I am. Aye, it’s the heat of fusion.
Gradually, the beast’s heartbeat became audible—each pulsation. At the same time, too, the illusory heat of transformation emitted an odor as of oven-roasted peppercorns dissolving in a cup of burnt coffee.
Over by the gatehouse, Fräulein Wunderwaffe appeared—the little German girl wearing a plain-sewn robe and square-crown bowler. In that moment, she no longer seemed to be a sickly child of seven years: her inscrutable expression resembled that of a wise, indifferent cat.
Perhaps even some kind of lioness. Fingal cringed, and he recalled a fragment of conversation from three weeks earlier.
“She suffers from a most unnatural pathology, an anguished, maniacal obsession with cats,” Doktor Hubertus Pflug had explained. “Ever since the poor girl was a baby, she has always regarded it her fate to one day metamorphose into a glorious panther, for she believes herself to be ein Gestaltwandler. Do you know this word? It means shapeshifter and refers to someone who possesses the power to take the form of anything in nature.”
The heat radiated up and down Fingal’s spine now, and his thoughts turned back to the present. Aye, it’s a change of phase. I’m melting into a chemical compound. Despite all, he greeted the girl and willed himself to flash a grin.
A Word With the Author
Can you describe your dream home?
A cottage beside an ocean beach where lots and lots of seagulls regularly congregate and call to one another.
If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?
Pancakes. They’re not just for breakfast. They also happen to be the perfect supper.
Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.
A young lady once wrote me to tell me that she really believed in me—that she really believed in what I’m doing. She understood that it was my purpose or fate to really try to find the meaning of things and to explicate that meaning via the written word.
Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?
The Wave, Arizona (the Coyote Buttes North area.) It would be great to live there and to imagine that the whole place is Planet Mars. Of all the possible settings in our solar system, it’s hard to imagine one more alluring than Mars.
Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?
Rose Newland designed my cover, and she does all the covers at AIA Publishing. It’s a good cover because it’s designed to appeal to humble people who like odd, kooky covers. If I ever do a second edition, I’ll probably do a different cover—perhaps a bit more understated. Still, it felt right to go with a more shamelessly commercial cover for the first edition.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
M. Laszlo is an aging recluse who lives in Bath, Ohio. Rumor holds that his pseudonym is a reference to Victor Laszlo, a character in the classic film Casablanca. On the Threshold is his first release with the acclaimed, Australian hybrid house AIA Publishing. Oddly, M. Laszlo insists that his latest work, On the Threshold, does in fact provide the correct answer to the riddle of the universe.
Buy link: https://aiapublishing.com/product/on-the-threshold-m-laszlo/
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
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