Hey, just thought i’d let you know that I read that. I really liked it until it got near the end. I found myself unconciously “skimming” in the “preaching” part, kinda like I did during John Galt’s speech in Atlas Shrugged. I was about to say something else, but it would be a spoiler.
But it was a very enjoyable read.
I totally understand, and so do you. My goal with the first 2/3 of Alas was to create enough interest to cause the reader to climb up the tower with the narrator. Then it’s a classic (and intended) “bait and switch” over to the “why” or “message” part.
If I wrote a 3K word essay on “Why our civilization is failing and will crash,” nobody would read it. Hence the story. Thanks for reading it. The target audience is that group that would otherwise never, ever read that “why” message.