Every world has a doorway. Most people just never learn where to look. Eighteen-year-old Ceph has been bound to serve the Crown since birth. Trained in elemental magic, all he wants is to survive unnoticed. But when a new, rare elemental power manifests, drawing the attention of a ruthless king, Ceph's plan to remain in the shadows is shattered. Across a rift in time and space, seventeen-year-old Nix feels more alive while dreaming than she does when she's awake. When her dreams begin to bleed into reality, Nix is taken captive by a shadowy research institute determined to unravel the mystery of her rare abilities. As the lines between dreams and reality blur, Nix and Ceph's worlds collide. Secrets buried across timelines come to light, leaving the fate of two realities hanging in the balance. The Liminal Room is the first installment of a gripping new genre-bending sci-fi fantasy trilogy where elemental magic, lucid dreaming, and alternate timelines collide. Told through dual points of view, the story weaves together science fantasy and portal fiction to explore power, identity, and the quiet terror of being controlled by something you never chose. With undiscovered powers, political control, and morally gray forces shaping every choice, the first book in the Phoenix Awakening Trilogy delivers high-concept worldbuilding wrapped in a dark, liminal atmosphere-a perfect choice for YA and new adult readers drawn to emotionally driven speculative fiction that blurs the line between dreams and reality.