Book Review: On the Threshold by M. Laszlo

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.

Welcome to the December 18th stop on the blog tour for On the Threshold by M. Laszlo with Goddess Fish Promotions and welcome back to the blog, M. Laszlo! Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, more reviews & guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

On the Threshold
by M. Laszlo

Published 9 February 2024
AIA Publishing

Genre: Historical Science Fiction
Page Count: 342
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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.

My Review

My Rating: 3.5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐🌓
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I was granted complimentary access to On the Threshold by M. Laszlo as part of my participation in a blog your for this title with Goddess Fish Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

I really enjoyed reading all of the first person/inner monologue sections from protagonist Fingal, both for his fascinating interests and drive and for his charmingly amusing Scottish turn of phrase. The synopsis promises such a unique and interesting story, and combined with the eye-catching cover art, I just had to give it a chance. I do say it gets there in fulfilling the promise of the synopsis, but as other reviewers have noted the story does take quite a while to get there. I feel like the big name SFF authors I like to listen to for writing advise would have flipped through this as a manuscript and immediately started talking about pruning the cast and POVs.

This book is truly original, and that alone is quite praise worthy these days. It’s poetic, too, in a bit of a chaotic way. I wish I could have read it as a beta reader rather than a post-publication reviewer, so that I could ask questions that might have influenced clarity in a further draft. It does leave me interested in revisiting this author’s new work in the future, and I would recommend this book to fans of the subgenre who have the patience see the plot through.

About the Author

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. 

Giveaway Alert!

M. Laszlo will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

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