The trilogy of novels starts with Democracy of the Dead, a love affair and mystery about universities recreating the methods used in slavery to practice neo-colonialism.
The title of the book comes from GK Chesterton's 1908 book Orthodoxy. The liminal pursuits of Raeminster mirror methods used to enslave. Raeminster's earliest benefactor, Sir Thaddeus Whipple, was a merchant slave owner. The Vice Chancellor is happy to glorify Whipple in the name of progress and increased revenues.
Two senior academics meet under serendipitous conditions in Paris at the 2017 IAFS spring conference. Tom meets Ruth Tresbuoyant, Professor of Anthropology at at the University of Liminal Advancement in New Orleans. Ruth is carrying out research on engram cell activation using the bones of slaves salvaged from the Atlantic ocean.
Tom negotiates his truth through Ruth, a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has a surprising impact.
Along the way Tom has to negotiate deceitful Hard Knots back at Raeminster. These are senior executive management who are unrepentant. They fail to acknowledge the dangers their new liminal methods represent. The death of a black PhD student is just the start of questions Tom asks about Cryogenic Inflection & Dance (freezing naked dancers to get at the truth) and Olfactory methods (the re-purposing of buildings through smell).
Status: In final draft form.
Negotiating Deceit focuses on the internal management of Raeminster.
The VC, Professor Sir Derek Wayward, wants to secure the International Athletics Championships and is in the West Indies to sign a deal to host their training facilities. This is a fictitious world but reflects what can happen when VC's are unaccountable and practice deceit that wastes money and is exploitative of black culture.
Status: Currently writing draft.
It starts with a simple slap on but ends with a kick up the backside, but for who?
Tom is back with a story of tropes, stereotypes, cancel culture and Raeminster shenanigans as he helps to fight the venality of Raeminster's Hard Knots.
Status: Ideas and storyboarding in progress