Liminal (as Cameron Whiteside)
Part one of a trilogy, with Xen: The Zen of the Other being part two. The third and final part will appear in the future, titled Statio Numero. This trilogy is called The Liminal Cycle.
Available as a Kindle, print or audiobook
Archive.org ebook and audio versions.
REVIEWS
Quick read, Liminal by Joseph Matheny. Fun concepts and an interesting, pseudo-autobiographical piece from an underappreciated artist. IMO it gets better the more you know about Matheny’s background. – Al Dean
“This autobiographical novella could easily be compared to some of the best cyber-punk science fiction available to us. Over his journey, throughout this period of his life, Cameron is confronted by symbols from Ancient Mesopotamian and Buddhist theology, goth and punk subcultures, and anarchist traditions, all the while confronted by questions that are both strange and common to us all – “what is going on?”, “what is happening to me?”, “what do I trust as real?”, etc.”
From a review by Julian Langer, author of Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods and other great works.
Possibly the best story I’ve ever experienced. (not just read, as it is an Experience}. I tip my hat and bow.
“It was a lovely May Day gift receiving this book as part of an email giveaway. A quick enjoyable read with so many literary counter culture touchstones from Conrad to Burroughs. You can use this book as a shopping list or as a synopsis synchronizing us for the next step.”
“I made the mistake of reading Liminal before going to bed. It really influenced my dreams = every person and everything has a hidden purpose some of which you are in on and some not. After I had finished the “proposal” I saw my collection of laptops and pads as sinister apertures into a clinging needy system that only wants to do me good (your buying habits indicate that you’d probably like this new Wampus) at an indeterminate price (you’re basically nobody unless you own a Limulus D).
It’s a scary piece of writing. And a nice logo too: reminded me of my early algebra classes — draw a circle of radius R on the Cartesian X-Y plane in such a way that it encloses the origin but is not centered there.
What is the equation for this circle?
Where does this symbol come from?
A preview of a slice of madness.”
Reader/Winner of the print book giveaway
“Reading this is like learning to write with your non-dominant hand. It opens new pathways in the brain.”
The Weirdnet (@TheWeirdnet) April 28, 2020
“I shit you not, I’ve seen that sigil in Glasgow. Probably a few weeks before quarantine. Plus Cameron is a Scottish name so maybe they’re from here?
I’ll check it out and see it I can get pics of the symbol once lockdown is over, but I’m 100% sure it’s the same one.”
All of this is a strange combination of intriguing and silly, but that range is completely dependent on the weather and the time of day. Read those same words at night in a rainstorm, and you end up with a different emotion. That’s true of all fiction… or non-fiction masquerading as fiction… or fiction masquerading as non-fiction masquerading as fiction… My head hurts.
Joseph Matheny 