ef deal – Liminal Fiction

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Author Spotlight: Ef Deal

February 3, 2025 by scott

It’s the Daily LFS – Lim Fic Spotlight from the Liminal Fiction website. Today: Ef Deal Sci-Fi Ef Deal’s short fiction has been published in numerous online zines and anthologies as well as in F&SF. Her short story Czesko was given honorable mention in Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ef has been … Read more

Word Count: Click here to reveal80000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: What if there were a place that nobody else knew about – a secret place – where everyone was queer?” That’s the question Guy, an elderly, lonely gay anthropologist asks Richard, his young psychiatrist, as he searches for his tolerable truth. During each session, Guy tells Richard a story in which he survives the sinking of a cargo ship and is washed ashore on an uncharted tropical island along side the ship’s first mate, Luca. There, the two young men discover a world counter to everything they have ever known – a complex society in which almost everyone is homosexual and sex is considered the most basic form of communication. In his naive, awkward way, Guy attempts to integrate himself and win the love of a local man but first he must undergo a brutal initiation ritual, endure a crazed shaman, and swim across shark-infested waters. Meanwhile, Luca, who is unable to accept his sexuality, becomes obsessed with being rescued and degenerates into drug dependency. When Luca attempts to steal a large stash of gold salvaged from an old Spanish galleon and leave the island, Guy is forced choose between staying with the man he loves, or saving the life of the man who saved his. For more than 40 years Guy has been consumed by his longing to return to the island and recapture what he believes he has left behind. Although enthralled by his tale, Richard must be constantly wary of Guy’s attempts to manipulate him and meddle in his personal life, threating to upend his own sense of truth, leaving him to question if there could really be such a society, or does it only exist within the fantasy of a lonely old gay man? Rich with legends inspired by ethnography, this is a story within a story; the two collide when the depth of Guy’s subterfuge is revealed.

Join Our List, Get Free Books!

First name

Last name

Country

eBook Format epub (kindle, barnes & noble, kobo) pdf (generic)

Privacy By clicking here, you agree to our terms and privacy policy

To view our privacy and other policies, Click Here

LimFic & Author Newsletter Lists Consent Yes, please add me to the LimFic.com Newsletter list. I understand I will also be added to the email lists of authors sponsoring this month's giveaway, but not with anyone else. I can unsubscribe at any time. No, I don't want to be added to the LimFic.com/Author Newsletter lists.

Clicking subscribe will add you to the LimFic.com newsletter email list and to our participating author lists. We will send you the books at the start of next month.

* = Required Fields