Acknowledgements

Many thanks to those who read and critiqued drafts-on-their-way-to-becoming-an-actual-novel: my editor, Laura Peetoom; three generations of Egans – my parents, Kieran and Susanna, Michael, David, Janice, Joshua and Jordan; and my beloved stalwarts, Mick Hunter, Gillian Bright and Jonathan Service (Tian Xia’s own cartographer).

My love and gratitude also to the willing victims of my earliest attempts at world-building: David Egan, Nicole Bergstrome, Alison Yule, Christopher and Philip Sokolov. Fairies, witches, pirates, arduous journeys to the North Pole and beyond – none of it would have been much fun without you. Smooch.