Rod’s answer to “Having read Fall of Gas-Lit Empire & QAC, I thought I "knew" Elizabeth, but I had a hard time with …” > Likes and Comments

Rod- Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I very much wanted to hear from you because readers do tend to interpret based on their own experiences and outlook. I was happy at the end of the Gas-lit trilogy to think that Elizabeth would be getting her freedom in the next series on her own terms, and so was thrown off at the appearance of her being seduced by the "free" society of the Sargassans. In my view, tyranny is typically replaced by tyranny in another form with an ends justify the means sort of rationalization. Because I, as a reader, see that as a vicious cycle that doesn't in the end serve justice, I selfishly want Elizabeth to immediately strive for something better. Elizabeth’s love for Tinker and John Farthing I thought would (should?) make the Sargassan vision of utopia unappealing and not something that she could embrace at the cost of the other aspects of her life. I think I am making the mistake of wanting immediate resolution and disregarding the process that it takes to get to a resolution – however it may turn out for Elizabeth. Maybe I just need to be patient! But in the end, this is just one of the reasons that I do so enjoy your books. They are not only fun adventures into an alternate history, but ones that make you think on many levels on a variety of different issues. I am eagerly awaiting book 2 to continue the journey. Thanks again.

Thanks Lisa. I appreciate your encouragement. I do think this trilogy is potentially more 'difficult' in some ways. The answers are not quite so easy. Hopefully the end will justify those barriers.