The first inklings of a magic system based on dragon dung came to me as a teenage boy (sounds about right, huh?). It wasn’t until some fifteen years later that I found a character who I felt was capable of pulling off such an unusual magic system.
I recorded and dictated most of Nemery’s chapters while hiking the mountains of northern Utah. Pekal felt very real and majestic at times, and I could almost see the dragons through the aspen trees.
Big thanks to my family—my wife and two boys who live with a man every bit as intense and driven as Ard. Thanks to my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews for their huge support in my writing career.
As always, thanks to my dedicated agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, for her support in this project. I’d like to thank my editor, Bradley Englert, and the great team at Orbit. Thanks to Lauren Panepinto for the art direction, Ben Zweifel for the amazing cover art, and Serena Malyon for the map.
And thank YOU, reader! I loved writing this trilogy and the characters meant a lot to me. Linear time is valuable and I’m grateful for every minute you spent reading my books!