The Andromedans make me mad. They make me want to get to the next jump gate, board a flight and knock heads. I was left gasping, my tongue out at the edge of the cliff askance at the abrupt end of 312 pages of heat, anger, agony and anxiety. It took a while before it sunk in that it was a story. It had come to an abrupt end. Now I know the meaning of cliff hanger! I am trying to uncurl my fingers, my muscles, and my mind. The Andromedans, the third in the Empire series holds you by the throat from page one and you are taken through at such a blistering pace, into the world of sci-fi and held by the throat until like Adrian you are left denuded of all emotions. At the end of the story I was left begging for more, angry with Elizabeth Lang for not finishing the darn book! I love Adrian Stannis, I even suspected if he was real I would have had a crush on him, and always imagined his reaction that if ever learnt that he would clip my wrinkled ears. That thought makes me smile at the power of the author in making such characters so rounded and compelling. There is however the portrayal in this particular series of Adrian as an object of admiration, exasperation Kali, I always saw as the saving grace of Adrian, her cool understanding of the human race or shall I say in her understanding of us. But there is the new revelation of learning she thinks us noisy. Wow. Ergh, excuse me Kali, was wondering if you were not a mite interested in Sester. Sester, who for me was a non person, annoying, frightening, and downright carries a label.”HANDLE WITH CARE” Just for a nanosecond, he was believable when he fell in love with Rena Dastrin, spring and dead winter affair. Elizabeth is one of my favorite authors, I always read with awe her ability to make fiction so real as for you to think she was reporting a real event that just happened in the neighbourhood. I would like to congratulate her on this one. It is a vast improvement on the series. I do have some questions though.
First of all, thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you liked the story.
1. The death of Venner seems tame considering his omnipotence in the Empire, is it to show the supremacy of the Andromedans?
It’s hard to answer that without giving away spoilers for the next book. Let’s just say that there will be a fourth and final book to the Empire series called The Vitarins.
2. Who actually is Sester? One senses there is much more to him .
There is certainly much more to Sester than meets the eye and we will be finding a lot more about him in the next book. In many ways, his life is, and always has been intertwined with Adrian and Argus.
3. Adrian showed almost the invincibility of the human spirit, but you seem to state in the way that the story has ended that , courage, loyalty and conviction though good qualities of the human psyche, may not win out as evil may ultimately win out. True?
I’m glad to say that while evil may take us to some very dark places, it will not, at least in my books, never entirely win out. In some ways, while the breaking of Adrian was horrible, it did have some benefits, although it may not seem like it. When the empire took Adrian as a child and moulded him into what they wanted him to be, he was never allowed to become who he could have been. What happens to him in The Andromedans, allows him to do that and we discover who Adrian is and always has been beneath that cold exterior.
4. The ultimate soldier Argus is proven at the end not to be a human being but an admixture of experiment and engineering, do you feel that the human being is too faulty?
The empire thinks that being human is not enough to fight the war and win so they try to ‘improve’ the original, making Adrian super smart but devoid of emotions and Argus a super soldier without a conscience, but in the end, what makes them strong is not these ‘enhancements’ but those characteristics which make them human, their capacity to love and their loyalty.
5. I have an anxious question, will Adrian be redeemed as a human being?
Stay tuned .
6. Andromedans contrary to impression are more evil than the Empire, so what is the raison d’etre for their war with the Empire? On a deeper scale the essence of this book paints a picture of Ultimate Chaos. Please enlighten
In this book we finally get to see the enemy, and while they may look different and have superior technology, their motivations are not unlike our own. I was inspired by an idea from a scientist (unfortunately, I don’t remember the person’s name) that aliens, if they existed and were more advanced than we are, that if they discovered our existence and saw what we have done to our own planet, they might think us a threat that they would not want to allow into the rest of the universe. That idea made me think of other things too, not just how we have used and abused our own world, but each other.
7. Kali as a protagonist for good has been ineffectual, preoccupied with Adrian could not use her potential gifts, did not save Adrian. Tell us why?
Kali has always been afraid of her own powers. She doesn’t want to make mistakes because she knows how much damage she can do. In some ways, she has always been afraid of herself, that darkness that makes her willing to do anything, justify any action as long as she feels there is a need. In any ways, she is a microcosm for the compromises that both the Empire and the Andromedans make in order to survive and do, what they think, is the right thing.
8. There is a dead hero Dain, a tantalizing Celia, and a Sam, in different formats, unfinished stories and mysteries to be explored, are you planning on unveiling them later?
We will find out a little more about Celia and Sam. As for Dain, as we get to know Argus, it is almost like knowing Dain because they are mirror images of each other. The humanity which made Dain strong enough to break the Empire conditioning is the same humanity that Argus is discovering, albeit reluctantly, about himself.
9. What is your next work in progress?
I am working on the fourth book, The Vitarans, and a new sci-fi/fantasy called Mrs. Beeston.
10. You are a very talented artist, and that is a gentler creativity, do you have conflicts of creativity sometimes?
I enjoy the different aspects of creativity, both in word and visual. The conflict comes when I never seem to have enough time for both.
11. The author sometimes mirrors himself/herself in one of the characters, which character speaks for you sometimes?
They all reflect different aspects of myself, except Sester. I don’t know where he comes from…though I do have a wacky sense of the ridiculous sometimes.
12. Which age will you recommend should read this book?
With the sophistication kids are exposed to these days, I would say at least young adult.
Thank you very much for sharing with us.
Thank you for allowing me to share the Empire universe. .
