Liminal States

By: Zack Parsons

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 24 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The debut novel from Zack Parsons, My Tank is Fight! is a mind-bending journey through time and genres. Beginning in 1874, with a blood-soaked western story of revenge, Liminal States follows a trio of characters through a 1950s noir detective story and 21st-century sci-fi horror. Their paths are tragically intertwined and their choices have far-reaching consequences for the course of American history.

©2012 Zach Parsons (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Parsons's debut is a tour-de-force, a justifiably showy demonstration of the author's chameleon-like ability to write in several genres all at once, and it emerges as one of the scariest and bleakest tales I can remember." (Cory Doctorow, bestselling author of Little Brother)

Gideon Long fuck off challenge (impossible)

one good horse kick away from a better 20th century you asshole

real talk excellent book full of a terrible man

things get a tad confusing in the later chapters but if you keep reading it mostly irons out

parsons likes his gore and sometimes you gotta wipe the viscera out of your eyes to see where the story is going

tbh i realize it being up for interpretation is part of the point but it'd be fun to have some more explicit text about "trunk theory" when it comes up because i love that stuff

docked one star because the guy i hate didn't suffer enough but the fact that i hate his ass so much means this is a solid book

One of my favorite of all times!

Briilliatly written characters and a compelling story that is told in three distinct voices. I own this book on Kindle, Audible, and paperback so I can lend it to friends. It is a western, then a noir story, and then a science fiction. For me, the story contains a metaphor for something happening now, in July 2020. And this makes the story all the more terrifying to me. You results may vary, but I thoroughly recommend this book.

Great cosmic horror

This was a very well written three part book. The first part a western, the second a noir detective story, and the third a modern day cosmic horror. It definitely held my attention, and I would, if reading it, consider it a page turner. The narrator stumbles over a few words here and there, but overall does a decent job. This one sat in my wish list for a long time, and I was dubious about buying it. Don't do like I did. Buy it. Listen to it. Enjoy it.

Loved first 2 parts, liked the last part

The book is split into three parts. The first and second part were great. The third part was good, but didn't seem as great. Still enjoyed the whole thing but it took me twice as long to get through the last part as my interest faded some.

Crushingly depressing, yet enthralling

There's an art to creating characters that are memorable enough to care about while building a world that is uncaring, yet extremely interesting. Liminal States manages to tick all the right boxes while keeping a breakneck pace through 150 years of history and four genres of storytelling (spaghetti western, noir detective, dystopic futurism, and Lovecraftian horror). Zack Parsons is the most talented writer you've likely never heard of. This book is actually a fairly small part of a massive universe that Parsons has created that I hope will be further explored soon.

Captivating and original concept

I will say the first portion was my favorite and as it progresses it can be a little hard to follow but this is The Matrix of books. It will open your mind to things you could never begin to imagine.

Great world building, but the characters get lost

Really interesting premise, with a lot of cool world building, but I felt a little bit disconnected from main characters as they changed through the book's storyline. I really would get into a character, only to become less invested later on as the focus of the book changed.

Very interesting rule creation on how this world works though. also, the secrets of the book are given away at a very well-timed pace.

Overall, definitely worth a listen.