Once again, John Joseph Adams, without whom the book you hold in your hands and its predecessor would not exist. He believed in me, in this story and these amazing characters, and has been a pillar of support. By far the finest editor I have had the pleasure of working with over a long career. Looking forward to many more books together, John!
The rest of the team at HMH has been awesome. It takes a publishing village to raise a book as beautiful as this one, and I can’t thank them enough for their support and enthusiasm.
Hubris is what it takes to attempt a series this ambitious and complex.
Humility is what’s required to carry it from idea to final publication.
Everything I do, alone at a computer for long hours over long days and even longer months and years, is only the beginning of the process by which a book goes from my hands to yours. There are literally hundreds of people involved along the way, and every single one of you deserves my thanks. This is the best job in the world, and it wouldn’t be possible without you. Thank you for doing what you do to make books reach their readers. You are special, you matter, you are wonderful. Please keep doing what you doing!
My family is the foundation of my life, and I am only one small part of that matrix of love and solidarity. Unlike the cruel, often barbaric world of the Burnt Empire and its power-greedy demagogues, we are not supporters of patriarchal structures. I’d like to think that Krushita—or Krushni, or even simply Krush—better represents my true self, the self that lives with my wonderful, endlessly supportive, and giving family. They are my real world, my reality. The only reason I can vanish into the secondary world of an epic fantasy series for hours each day for decades is because I have them to return home to at the end. They make it all possible by making me possible.
Thank you, Biki, Yashka, Yoda, Helene, and the littlest one of us all, Leia. Love and only love forever. We go on.
Ashok Kumar Banker
Mumbai, India / Los Angeles, USA
December 31, 2019