This book is an attempt to hide an ergodic narrative within self-contained and easy to understand short stories. Judge for yourself whether it is successful.
Inspired by the most pivotal and titular scene of the book, the cover depicts two recurring symbols, the ant and the stag, in gold foil. The light of the golden eyes reveal the ant. And the antlers pierce the insect's motivation, mounting it as warning and invitation with a golden fruit, ripe and ready to be picked.
Integral to decoding the deepest mysteries of the book, a beautiful romantic-style painting of a valley will cover the endsheets. It will be spread between the inside of the front cover, a title page in the middle of the book, and the inside of the back cover.
The first part of this tripartite painting, which will be displayed on this inside cover, will depict a thinning forest, stalks of maize, and termite mounds. Overseeing this landscape, a man will sit at a writing desk, monklike, quill in hand, the setting sun illuminating his manuscript.
This painting has not yet been made. If you are interested in this commission opportunity, please contact me. The current image displayed there is one of my own drawings. You can find more like it on my personal website and in the catalog.
Look through a window into an interconnected and mysterious world by reading these eleven short stories. Each individual story represents just a piece of the overall narrative. It is up to the reader to pull at threads and symbols until the hidden plot reveals itself.
Be warned, the text itself may not be sufficient to solve the mystery. The entire book as a unit must be synthesized, but there are some helpful hints in this website and this very description. A keen reader will be able to make this book much more than the sum of its eleven stories.
As you may have gathered, this is no ordinary novel. Hopefully you can put aside those expectations and view this work with clean eyes. If you enjoy puzzles and detailed worldbuilding, this book is for you.
The same painting that is partially shown on the front endsheet is displayed partially on the back endsheet. Again, I would happily welcome any interest in commissions for this painting. You can contact me if you are interested.
This endsheet will display the rightmost of the three panels of the painting, but I can’t describe it. Describing it could potentially spoil the progression of the book because it is only supposed to be understood once the book has been completely read.
While this cover clearly mimics the front cover, its meaning is more enigmatic. The structure of the front cover remains, but the symbols are not as easily parsed. What being’s eyes are we seeing? What is the meaning of the ship’s wheel? What are these strange horns?
Of course, puzzling out the answers to these questions is part of the fun of the book, and disclosing any more information here would defeat the purpose of reading it.
“In the Light of Golden Eyes” can apply to a number of different scenes in the book including the one that inspired the front cover. But what it means exactly is left somewhat up to interpretation even if all other mysteries of the book are revealed. It is a thematic device as well as symbol, so every reader might come away with a slightly different interpretation of what it means.
If you are interested in this project, feel free to contact me using the “Contact Me” page, especially if you are interested in commissions for the endsheet painting. The book has not yet been released anywhere, and I’m still not sure how or if I will publish it.
If you are interested in the aesthetics or the concept of this world I have built that houses these stories, you can see other material related to the world in my portfolio. You can find art, worldbuilding, and even network analysis. Of course, you can also read more about this project there.
