Ask the Author: Kevin Rattan
Answered Questions (2)
Kevin Rattan
Hi Word Wizard,
Thank you for the questions. I'm afraid you're giving away a little too much in them.... I'll try to answer in ways that don't give away even more :-).
First, the title: there are 3 reasons for the title. There is the fading of Noyan's culture for one, the fading of any remaining idealism in the Commonwealth's spreading of their bi-tech for another, and one of the characters seems to grow during the story, only to relapse back into their former spoiled self at the end (his story is a coming-of-age story, where the ‘hero’ doesn’t). So, there are multiple New Dawns that Fade, one way or another.
--- Edit. I've messaged privately with Wordwizard to answer plot questions, so have removed spoiler answes from here, as GoodReads spoiler tags aren't working at the moment.
Thanks for reading it, and sending me your questions. I do hope you enjoyed it, even if you were left a bit puzzled.
Thank you for the questions. I'm afraid you're giving away a little too much in them.... I'll try to answer in ways that don't give away even more :-).
First, the title: there are 3 reasons for the title. There is the fading of Noyan's culture for one, the fading of any remaining idealism in the Commonwealth's spreading of their bi-tech for another, and one of the characters seems to grow during the story, only to relapse back into their former spoiled self at the end (his story is a coming-of-age story, where the ‘hero’ doesn’t). So, there are multiple New Dawns that Fade, one way or another.
--- Edit. I've messaged privately with Wordwizard to answer plot questions, so have removed spoiler answes from here, as GoodReads spoiler tags aren't working at the moment.
Thanks for reading it, and sending me your questions. I do hope you enjoyed it, even if you were left a bit puzzled.
Kevin Rattan
Hi Nellie,
Wow. I wonder where that print off originated. Was it part of the Whitewell Bottom Review website I put together, back when the Web was shiny and new?
I don't know if I even have that list anywhere — though I imagine I could recreate it, as there’s one bookshelf where I keep all my really essential books. It’s still got all the same ones on it, with few newcomers I’ve discovered over the 22 years since then.
However – I suppose GoodReads has become my place to list necessary books. I only list books I enjoyed, and I only rate some of those. Any book I give five stars here is pretty much guaranteed to be one of my Necessary Books. I imagine there are a few that weren’t on my original list as well, so it’s a pretty good proxy for a revised list.
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m glad you found my list useful. It’s strange to think of it still being out there, when the website itself probably didn’t outlive the century…
Cheers,
Kevin
Wow. I wonder where that print off originated. Was it part of the Whitewell Bottom Review website I put together, back when the Web was shiny and new?
I don't know if I even have that list anywhere — though I imagine I could recreate it, as there’s one bookshelf where I keep all my really essential books. It’s still got all the same ones on it, with few newcomers I’ve discovered over the 22 years since then.
However – I suppose GoodReads has become my place to list necessary books. I only list books I enjoyed, and I only rate some of those. Any book I give five stars here is pretty much guaranteed to be one of my Necessary Books. I imagine there are a few that weren’t on my original list as well, so it’s a pretty good proxy for a revised list.
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m glad you found my list useful. It’s strange to think of it still being out there, when the website itself probably didn’t outlive the century…
Cheers,
Kevin
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Nov 02, 2025 12:15PM · flag
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