The point of Superintendent and related writings was certainly not to settle a conversation, but to start one. This is one of the places that conversation occurs. Please contribute your thoughts about the story, blog posts, issues raised and related topics. Your thoughts are what this is all about.
To me reading through this book brought to mind the old saying: “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” But what you realize as you’re reading through, is that those who want to enact change, those that truly want to improve the system, often have very little actual power or ability to do so. No matter how small the task, it is effectively squashed before it can even get started, often because that’s “just the way things are done.” Past mistakes get repeated, because they become unquestioned policy. And by the time someone comes back to question it, it’s effectively too late to make any real changes.
So what inspired you to write this particular book?
Thanks for the question. I think I fell in love with the time as much as the place from which this book was drawn. It provided such a workable laboratory for the social points which could be brought out. And the setting itself was gorgeous: endless savannahs, an understaffed imperial force of misfits, natives both beautiful and terrible at once. I had to sheer away any remaining reflexes having to do with race, color, nationality, etc. Hence, the decision to project this place into the far future, obscuring all of these factors. The forces which lie beneath these symptoms were what I wanted to get at. But also to let the reader find their own life in this exotic, exciting setting. As dramatic as the setting is, I think it’s important to all of the above that the reader be able to slip in and feel somehow at home there. That whole concept was what started the ball rolling; I hope you enjoyed the result.
I loved how quickly the book arrived once I ordered it. Then I jumped right into it. I was immediately transported into another reality. I loved your ability to create scenes and snappy dialogue. Your wordcraft sometimes stopped me cold, and I would have to re-read a sentence because it was so well written. I very much like how you draw from historical precedent for your futuristic cultural milieu. It really gave a sense of authenticity to the tension and events that propel the story. Is another book in the works?
Thanks very much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’d say another installment is out there in the future, though right now I’m taking a bit of a vacation. I’ll be back at it soon!