Home » Reading & Literature » Science Fiction & Fantasy » Interview with Teresa Edgerton Part 1

Interview with Teresa Edgerton Part 1

© Debbie Ledesma

In Goblin Moon and its sequel, The Gnome's Engine, I was to some extent reacting against all these high fantasy heroics. I wanted to do something very different. At the same time, I wanted to write a homage to all the swashbuckling historical adventures I loved so much when I was growing up. I set these books in a quasi-18th century setting. The hero, Francis Skelbrooke, is much darker in character than any of my other protagonists. As I wrote the books, I found him doing things that even surprised me. He became dangerous and unpredictable, slightly deranged. Oddly enough, readers loved this. I created a world and a society for him to live in, a setting that was just as dangerous and off-kilter as he was. And because the Duchess, his antagonist (though she might just as easily be the heroine of another story), is a half-breed Fairy, I was able to answer some of the questions that constantly came up when I was reading fairy tales, questions like: Why do Fairies want to be godparents to Human infants in the first place? Why do the Fay always take such an extreme and disproportionate revenge for even the tiniest insult or slight. The answers were: Full-blooded fairies take little or no notice of Humans at any age, but the hybrids, like the Duchess, not being very fertile themselves, tend to be obsessive about other people's children. And Fairies are incapable of forgetting an insult, they simply can't rest until they take their revenge, but there are certain rules that have to be followed, the whole process can be incredibly complicated and it can take years to fulfill all the conditions. By the time they are finally able to act, they are out for blood. Because the books are so off-beat, they are not just to everyone's taste, but they did inspire a devoted following.

I've returned to the 18th century setting with The Queen's Necklace, but it's a different world, a different history. Goblins ruled the world for five thousand years. They created fantastic devices which allowed them to manipulate minds and to control the forces of nature. Fifteen hundred years ago, Humans rebelled, overthrew the Maglore Empire, and recreated civilization almost overnight. They made some mistakes -- the worst one being that they continue to rely on these same magical devices, though they don't entirely understand them -- mistakes that are about to cost them very dearly. Particularly because the Maglore, the ruling Goblins, have not forgotten that they once held all the power, and they want it back! It's a big, complex book, with elements of court intrigue, romance, and adventure. The setting is very baroque, rather bizarre, even grotesque, with secret societies and political conspiracies around every corner. Some of the scenes take place in a madhouse.