Ask the Author: Rod Duncan
Answered Questions (13)
Rod Duncan
Hi Lisa. I have been a bit quiet online in the last couple of months. Partly that was the lockdown, and a hugely increased workload, as I and my colleagues figured out how to teach a university creative writing course from a distance without impacting on the quality of education we offer. And partly it's been because I'm been immersed in writing something new. I hope to finish the first complete draft in the next week or so. There will be a fair bit of editing to follow. And then... finding out if anyone would like to buy it. :)
Thank you for your kind comment about The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man. I have not abandoned Elizabeth. But after 6 novels in a row with her as protagonist, I needed to try a different voice and tone, at least for a couple of novels. But I do have the beginning of a plan for a novel that will bring the Gas-Lit Empire down at last!
Thank you for your kind comment about The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man. I have not abandoned Elizabeth. But after 6 novels in a row with her as protagonist, I needed to try a different voice and tone, at least for a couple of novels. But I do have the beginning of a plan for a novel that will bring the Gas-Lit Empire down at last!
Rod Duncan
Hi Kimberly,
Unseemly science is set in the opening decade of the 21st Century. I believe the year is 2008 - but I would need to check my notes to be completely certain.
Because of the establishment of the International Patent Office, the progress of science and technology has been held back. The world looks very much as it did in 1901 - though not precisely the same. There are no railroads, for example.
If you read on to The Custodian of Marvels, you will discover exactly what happened to push the world on this strangely unfamiliar course.
Best wishes.
Rod
Unseemly science is set in the opening decade of the 21st Century. I believe the year is 2008 - but I would need to check my notes to be completely certain.
Because of the establishment of the International Patent Office, the progress of science and technology has been held back. The world looks very much as it did in 1901 - though not precisely the same. There are no railroads, for example.
If you read on to The Custodian of Marvels, you will discover exactly what happened to push the world on this strangely unfamiliar course.
Best wishes.
Rod
Rod Duncan
Hi Lisa. Thank you for this. I don't see myself as having any prior right to interpret the stories. However, my view on it is as follows:
I see two ways of looking at this.
On the one hand, Elizabeth is being presented with the first example she has seen of a society in which women have real power. Whilst the society is extreme and unfair in its present form, she also understands that it is in flux and might become something more moderate and fair if it has time to develop. Against this she is balancing a monolithic hegemony of men over women in the rest of the world, which is also a kind of violence, and on a vast scale. That doesn't mean she would tolerate any injustice. But neither will she be happy to see this single possibility snuffed out.
On the other hand, her relationship to her own gender is unresolved. All her life she has been presented with two gender ideals, neither of which perfectly reflect who she is. She gets round this by adopting one mode or the other, depending on the situation. The Sargassans present differently, and she is fascinated by this. It opens up an area of thought that she has not really needed to face before. Thus, the destruction of the Sargassan world would also represent the destruction of a possibility of resolution for her in a central issue of her life. The series title - the Map of Unknown Things - has a specific plot meaning. But it also reflects the physical and psychological journey that she is going on.
The issues raised here remain in this novel unresolved. I don't want to pin down exactly how that is going to develop in the novels that follow. But you will hopefully be able to see it in a wider context by the end of the trilogy.
But like I said at the top - these novels are what they are. Different people will take them in different ways. And that is fine. My interpretation carries no more weight than anyone else's. Except in the sense that I am aware of some things that are going to emerge in the next two books.
Thanks again for the question.
Rod
I see two ways of looking at this.
On the one hand, Elizabeth is being presented with the first example she has seen of a society in which women have real power. Whilst the society is extreme and unfair in its present form, she also understands that it is in flux and might become something more moderate and fair if it has time to develop. Against this she is balancing a monolithic hegemony of men over women in the rest of the world, which is also a kind of violence, and on a vast scale. That doesn't mean she would tolerate any injustice. But neither will she be happy to see this single possibility snuffed out.
On the other hand, her relationship to her own gender is unresolved. All her life she has been presented with two gender ideals, neither of which perfectly reflect who she is. She gets round this by adopting one mode or the other, depending on the situation. The Sargassans present differently, and she is fascinated by this. It opens up an area of thought that she has not really needed to face before. Thus, the destruction of the Sargassan world would also represent the destruction of a possibility of resolution for her in a central issue of her life. The series title - the Map of Unknown Things - has a specific plot meaning. But it also reflects the physical and psychological journey that she is going on.
The issues raised here remain in this novel unresolved. I don't want to pin down exactly how that is going to develop in the novels that follow. But you will hopefully be able to see it in a wider context by the end of the trilogy.
But like I said at the top - these novels are what they are. Different people will take them in different ways. And that is fine. My interpretation carries no more weight than anyone else's. Except in the sense that I am aware of some things that are going to emerge in the next two books.
Thanks again for the question.
Rod
Rod Duncan
Hi Elaine. Thanks for the interesting question. The parameters of the alternate history come from the place/date where it branched off from real history. I don't want to say too much about this because you will discover it as you go through the books.
Knowing the precise date where the change took place, I know that everything invented before then must exist in the world of the books. But everything that came afterwards would only exist if the Patent Office regarded it as beneficial to the general good. (There is more detail I could put in here, but again it would be a spoiler.)
Then, I need to understand the Patent Office philosophy - what inventions would they be likely to ban?
The technology of this fictional world all derives from that process. I don't try to match the technology to any kind of steampunk or Victorianesque ideal. But that is the general aesthetic that emerges.
Knowing the precise date where the change took place, I know that everything invented before then must exist in the world of the books. But everything that came afterwards would only exist if the Patent Office regarded it as beneficial to the general good. (There is more detail I could put in here, but again it would be a spoiler.)
Then, I need to understand the Patent Office philosophy - what inventions would they be likely to ban?
The technology of this fictional world all derives from that process. I don't try to match the technology to any kind of steampunk or Victorianesque ideal. But that is the general aesthetic that emerges.
Rod Duncan
How a strongly dyslexic child grew up to be a novelist. It doesn't feel like a mystery to me. But I think I would have to write really well to convince some of my teachers that the story was believable.
Rod Duncan
I find 'who is your favorite' questions difficult to answer. It is entirely contextual. So instead, I will suggest a couple that I enjoy reading: Irina and Arkady in the Gorky Park novels. Or rather, Arkady and that bit of his mind in which he keeps his understanding of Irina.
Rod Duncan
Here is the link to the Kindle version of Custodian of Marvels. You will see the paperback listed on the same page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Custodian-Ma...
If you feel like popping up reviews of the books after you have read them, it is always very much appreciated. And in any case, do let me know how you get on with them. :)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Custodian-Ma...
If you feel like popping up reviews of the books after you have read them, it is always very much appreciated. And in any case, do let me know how you get on with them. :)
Rod Duncan
Hi there. Thank you for your kind words about The Bullet Catcher's Daughter. I had a glance at your profile and understand you are in Australia. I'm sorry it has been difficult to find the novels over there. But they should be available. I had a quick look, searching on the Amazon Au website, putting in the name of the novel followed by the word 'kindle' and came up with these links: https://www.amazon.com.au/Unseemly-Sc... and https://www.amazon.com.au/Custodian-M... Do those links work for you? I don't fully understand the way the different national websites for Amazon interpret searches from different regions. But hopefully that will do it. Please let me know how you get on with searching for them.
Rod Duncan
Hi there Wordsmith.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the first three. Feedback like that makes the whole process worth it.
As for your question - I am presently writing a novel that follows on from where we left off at the end of The Custodian of Marvels. I think that will be presented as book 1 in a new trilogy rather than book 4 of the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire. I put a snippet from it on the Gas-Lit Empire Facebook page, here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
Thanks for the encouragement.
Rod
I'm so glad you enjoyed the first three. Feedback like that makes the whole process worth it.
As for your question - I am presently writing a novel that follows on from where we left off at the end of The Custodian of Marvels. I think that will be presented as book 1 in a new trilogy rather than book 4 of the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire. I put a snippet from it on the Gas-Lit Empire Facebook page, here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
Thanks for the encouragement.
Rod
Rod Duncan
Hi Kait,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.
I try to not read anything similar in genre to whatever I am writing at the time. I am too easily influenced and fear that the narrative 'voice' of the book would pull me away from the voice I have set about using.
Having said that, I think you will see general influences from crime fiction and science fiction in this series. The self-deprecating, wry 1st person narrative of private investigator novels is there (early Val McDermid, Janet Evanovich, Raymond Chandler). But also elements of the more muscular 3rd person thriller (Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Harris, Peter Hoeg ). For world building within an alternate history, I am probably influenced by Mervyn Peake as much as anyone. As for the period aesthetic - Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Jerome K. Jerome.
But I have to say that I am heavily influenced by film also.
Now - I have just spilled a cup of tea over myself, so have to leave it there while I clean up!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.
I try to not read anything similar in genre to whatever I am writing at the time. I am too easily influenced and fear that the narrative 'voice' of the book would pull me away from the voice I have set about using.
Having said that, I think you will see general influences from crime fiction and science fiction in this series. The self-deprecating, wry 1st person narrative of private investigator novels is there (early Val McDermid, Janet Evanovich, Raymond Chandler). But also elements of the more muscular 3rd person thriller (Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Harris, Peter Hoeg ). For world building within an alternate history, I am probably influenced by Mervyn Peake as much as anyone. As for the period aesthetic - Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Jerome K. Jerome.
But I have to say that I am heavily influenced by film also.
Now - I have just spilled a cup of tea over myself, so have to leave it there while I clean up!
Rod Duncan
Hi there. Sorry for the LONG delay in answering this! I only just noticed it. Please forgive me.
The world building for the Gas-Lit Empire goes on as I write more. The more you write about a character the more you understand him or her. In the same way, I am finding that the more I write in this alternate history, the more I come to know it.
For example, a question came up the other day: does the book Pride and Prejudice exist within the Gas-Lit Empire, and if so, how is it regarded? I started by considering the date of publication. It is close enough to the point at which the history bifurcated from our own time line, that it would certainly have been written in the fantasy world. But then what happened? There are aspects of P&P that would be against the ethos of the Republic. But frowning on it would only make the people of the Kingdom more keen on it. Thus, the rivalry of the two nations would have polarised their attitudes to it.
In considering the question, I have learned more about the Gas-Lit Empire. And so it goes on. I continue to add to the world with everything new I write.
But with all that going on, I have not yet had a chance to add to the online version found a www.gaslitempire.co.uk Hopefully I will be able to find some time for that soon. But since I am now working on the third novel in the series, I find myself quite busy.
The world building for the Gas-Lit Empire goes on as I write more. The more you write about a character the more you understand him or her. In the same way, I am finding that the more I write in this alternate history, the more I come to know it.
For example, a question came up the other day: does the book Pride and Prejudice exist within the Gas-Lit Empire, and if so, how is it regarded? I started by considering the date of publication. It is close enough to the point at which the history bifurcated from our own time line, that it would certainly have been written in the fantasy world. But then what happened? There are aspects of P&P that would be against the ethos of the Republic. But frowning on it would only make the people of the Kingdom more keen on it. Thus, the rivalry of the two nations would have polarised their attitudes to it.
In considering the question, I have learned more about the Gas-Lit Empire. And so it goes on. I continue to add to the world with everything new I write.
But with all that going on, I have not yet had a chance to add to the online version found a www.gaslitempire.co.uk Hopefully I will be able to find some time for that soon. But since I am now working on the third novel in the series, I find myself quite busy.
Rod Duncan
Thank you Maryanne. I agree. Steampunk is a rich area for creative people in many fields. Book two should be out next year. I hope you enjoy that also. :)
Rod Duncan
I used to go gold panning. It involves a sore back and lots of standing around in cold water. But it is never less than thrilling. Writing a novel is much the same. The hope and expectation of discovery keeps me going. In terms of the question - it inspires me to write.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Jul 23, 2020 01:11PM · flag