True Confession

I had an interesting experience of reading recently. It was a second book in a planned trilogy when I pre-ordered it, but by the time it reached me, it was the conclusion of a duology. At first I didn’t realize. I just thought the ending was weirdly rushed. Plot arcs I expected to carry into a third book were cut short, and a hopeful ending felt forced.

Then I read the author’s note, and I understood.

When she started writing the first book, the author said, she was making dark predictions about the kind of future before us if fascism is not rooted out. After that book was released and while she was writing the second, the fascist tactics she had predicted began to happen in real life. She had thought she was being extreme, for cautionary purposes. It it turned out her predictions were mild compared to the actual events.

Watching things unfold was so upsetting that she had to end the series prematurely.

A lot of us can probably empathize with that. After the past five or six years, we may all feel a bit traumatized. Any author or other creative professional who attempts to address these events may feel overwhelmed. We need to be in the present in our own lives and coping with the reality.

What’s unusual, to me, is that the author actually made that decision instead of plowing through a third book anyway. There may be career implications, as she was contracted for three books and only delivered two. I’m sure she can manage, though. She’s a highly esteemed professional. It was just interesting to hear of the events that shaped her storytelling.

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