Acknowledgments

Around this time last year, I wrote that “books are magic because people are magic.” This is as true today as it was then, but I also understand now, with deeper clarity, that magic isn’t easy. It takes more than an incantation, a sprinkle of fairy dust, and a little hand-waving to make a book. It’s a Herculean feat, a labor of love, a headache, and an incomparable joy, and this book wouldn’t have made it into the world without the time, skills, and continued support of a vast community of people whom I could not thank enough in a hundred pages, much less four. The fact that I even have the pleasure of writing this, right now, as we near the end, is both a privilege and a gift. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

To Barbara Poelle, the fiercest agent-warrior I could have ever hoped to work with (for?)—thank you a thousand times for your panache, your wit, and, despite what I said above, some arcane quality I still can’t explain as anything except “agenty-magic.” (This is why I do the things.) Thanks also to Brita Lundberg and everyone at IGLA—I am so grateful to be one of your authors.

To Stacey Barney, who still shouts and backs away at the faintest suggestion of spoilers—please accept my deepest thanks for your insight, your patience, and your faith. You are an artist with a flawless vision and a sharp pen. It is a true honor to be working with you.

Immense gratitude to all the talented people who worked so hard on these words and the design of this book. Thank you to Chandra Wohleber—I always look forward to your copy edits with glee—and to Clarence Haynes for your keen eyes. To Cecilia Yung, Marikka Tamura, and David Kopka, who take on all my wild ideas with courage and style—thank you for turning this story into a precious, multifaceted object brimming with treasures. I am repeatedly impressed with your inventiveness and your attention to all the details that anyone else would overlook.

To the cover design team, Deborah Kaplan, Kristin Smith, and Yohey Horishita, who have outfitted this book with such an arresting exterior—you have outdone yourselves. Thank you. Special thanks to Kristin for every revision and for every extraordinary piece of detective work.

To all the members of the incredible team at Putnam and Penguin—thank you for accepting me into the Penguin family and always making me feel so welcome here. I am especially grateful for Jen Loja, Jen Besser, David Briggs, Emily Rodriguez, Elizabeth Lunn, Cindy Howle, Wendy Pitts, Carmela Iaria, Alexis Watts, Venessa Carson, Rachel Wease, Bri Lockhart, Kara Brammer, and all the amazing hardworking folks from Sales, Marketing, Publicity, and School & Library whom I’ve met over the past year and whom I’ve yet to meet. Extra buckets of gratitude to Kate Meltzer for your endless patience with me, and to my publicists Marisa Russell and Paul Crichton, who manage a million spinning plates with so much aplomb.

Many, many thanks to Kim Mai Guest, Arthur Insana, Orli Moscowitz, and the lovely people at Listening Library and PRH Audio, who turned a book about storytelling into a magnificent storytelling experience.

Overflowing amounts of gratitude to Heather Baror-Shapiro, who has brought Sea of Ink and Gold to so many new lands and new languages, and to my foreign publishers, who have poured so much enthusiasm into this series, spreading the words to readers across the world.

To my earliest readers, Diane Glazman and Kirsten Squires, thank you for braving the sulfurous fires of my first drafts and helping me pull a story from the flames. Thank you to Jess Cluess and Emily Skrutskie, who valiantly rode in to herd my most stubborn and meandering subplots back into line; to Kerri Maniscalco, my beautiful friend with whom I am so grateful to share this wild ride; and to Renée Ahdieh for taking the time to tell me yet again to turn up the romance. Thanks to Mark O’Brien, Mey Valdivia Rude, K. A. Reynolds, Mara Rutherford, Gretchen Schreiber, RuthAnne Snow, and Nick Oakey-Frost for helping me breathe life into these characters. They are deeper, sharper, and more complex because of you. Special shout-outs to Parker Peevyhouse and Jonathan Vong for taking my panicked phone calls about increasingly complicated Easter eggs and patiently spending the wee hours of the morning trying to solve my impossible puzzles.

To my friends and family, who have shown up in truly magnificent ways this past year—I am constantly astounded by and grateful for your support and your love. Thank you for coming to my events, talking up my book to your friends and coworkers, posting bookstore sightings of The Reader on Facebook and Twitter, and generally going out of your way to be the awesome people who have shaped my life into what it is today. Additional gratitude to Tara Sim—the Tony Stark to my Pepper Potts—and to the Table of Trust.

To Mom and Auntie Kats, who have always been my heroes—your hard work and your selflessness are inspiring. Thank you for feeding me when I was sick, watching the dogs when I was traveling, and supporting me in a thousand small ways for which I can never thank you enough.

And to Cole, who has more patience and good nature than I could ever hope to match—thank you for being there every time I need to laugh, rant, cry, nap, brainstorm, and celebrate. This journey would not have been possible without you—my referent, my anchor, my home.