by Michael
Speaking of recording, Tim Gerard Reynolds returns once again to add his amazing talents to the narration of the audiobook. I’m sure everyone already knows how much we love Tim. We talk about him all the time! When Robin and I went to New Jersey for the first three days of recording, we met Frank Lopez, recording engineer extraordinaire. This is our first time working with Frank, and we certainly hope he can return for future books, as he was terrific. And, of course, I want to thank Kristin Lang (Senior Director, Acquisitions & Content Partnerships), who shepherds all of our titles through Audible. She is our point person with the entire Audible team, and the promotional plan that she and the marketing folks have put together will surely get this title noticed.
If you are a print reader (and you purchase your hardcover or paperback through the retail chain), then you can thank Shawn Speakman and his company Grim Oak Press. Together they make it possible to get my physical copies into bookstores. Shawn is a true innovator who is revolutionizing how writers and publishers work together. Here’s hoping that what he’s doing for me can be utilized by others in the future. I think it will be good for Shawn, fellow authors, and the publishing industry as a whole.
And speaking of printed books, let’s not forget the more than 3,600 people who took a leap of faith and supported this book sight unseen, making printed versions a reality. These gracious men and women either backed the Kickstarter (3,107 people), placed a pre-order through the BackerKit online store (127 people), or wrote to Robin for a “manual add” (393 people). At the time I’m writing this (early-December 2019), they contributed more than $142,000, which not only paid for the printing, but they also provided a nice-sized advance (something I wouldn’t usually get now that I don’t publish through traditional means). You can find the names of many of these people in the Kickstarter Backer section.
Wide distribution and Audible’s marketing will certainly help to get the book noticed, but we all know that what people look at first is the book’s cover. If my baby were ugly, few people would give it a chance. Thankfully, I don’t have that problem because the cover was once again created by the incomparable Marc Simonetti—who continues to be a treasure of the fantasy community. I marvel at every creation he produces, and his coffee table art book, Coverama, remains one of the few things I’d grab up if my house caught fire. Thank you, Marc, for your continued hard work.
And while a beautiful cover will get people to pick up a book, typos can make someone toss it aside. Yes, Laura and Linda did the vast majority of that cleanup work, but even the most eagle-eyed can’t find everything. Plus, there are the little boo-boos that Robin or I incorporated as we pulled everything together. So, I’d like to extend my thanks to two additional groups of people. First, I’d like to thank the early Kickstarter readers who reported typos as they gobbled up the story. And second, I’d like to thank my gamma readers who are my last line of defense on such matters. These are people who proofread the book just before it hits the press. Some of the gamma readers included Sundeep Agarwal, Dee Austring, Tim Cross, Mike DePalatis, Christopher Griffin, Audrey Hammer, Steve Kafkas, Mark Larsen, Alex Makar, Chris McGrath, Ganesh Olekar, Tracy Newman, Julian Portillo, Doug Schneider, and Jenn Strohschein.
Whew, I told you I had a lot of help. Each of these people has devoted their time, talent, and in the case of the Kickstarter backers, their hard-earned cash to make this release what it has come to be. Robin and I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to every one of them.
Just one last thing, and then I’m done. An acknowledgments section is about naming those who made a book possible, and for thanking them for their efforts. So, I can’t leave without including you, dear readers, for picking up a copy of my books, writing reviews, and telling others, “You must read this!” You’ve helped this series soar to heights I never thought possible. For instance, did you know that both Age of War and Age of Legend hit the New York Times Bestseller list? And three books of this series became USA Today bestsellers. But even more gratifying than those prestigious accolades is that all books in this series have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards. That is particularly special to us because it’s the only major book award decided by readers, and you are the only judge and jury that Robin and I care about. We appreciate your faith in us and the books, and in return, we’re dedicated to making sure that each title we release is worthy of your time. In other words, we’ll keep the books coming, and we hope they’ll continue to meet with your approval.
Kickstarter Backers
Our eternal thanks go out to the following people (and to those who chose not to be recognized publicly), for being patrons of the arts and making the hardcover edition of this book possible by pre-ordering through our Kickstarter project.
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Colin A. • Husain A. • M. C. Abajian • Terri Abbett • Holly Buell Abbott • Winston Percy Abbott • Chuck Abdella • Julian Abernethy • Shilpa Anna Abraham • Brian Abrams • Thérèse Abrams • Andrij Abyzov • Iris Achmon • Andy Adams • Colin Adams • Frederick Adams • Helen Adams • Matt “Bubba Moose” Adams • Rob Adams • Sam & Skylar Adams • Szilágyi Ádám • Iain Addienll • Michael & Heather Adelson • Anna Adler • Daniel Adler • Scott Adley • Lee A. Adolfson • Sandu Elena Adriana • adumbratus • Aerronn & Rae • Svetoslav Agafonkin • Kawika Aguilar • Emely Aguino • Eddy Aguirre • Matthew Aguirre • D. Ahlrich • James & Diana Aiken • Garrett Aikens • Geoff Akens • Leila Ako-Adjei • Samir Ako-Adjei • Alfonso Albarran • Dan Alber • Dan Albrent • Turned Alchemy • Andrew Alderman • Alex • Jason D. Alexander • K. C. Alexander • Scott A. Alexander • Heather Aley • Kristel Alger • AliiKatt • Misha Ali • Seth Alister-Jones • Harrison Alldred • Caitlin & Liam Allen • Cody L. Allen • Julie Marie Allen • Laura Allen • Stuart Allen & Lorri Stone • Sami Almudaris • Nardeen AlSaffar • Emilia Alston • Marcos Alvarado • Alyksandrei • Benjamin Ames • Amokima • Anamue • Anand • Jan Anderegg • Brian Anderson • Carol Beth Anderson • Chris Anderson • George Anderson • Julie Anderson • Kris Anderson • Matthew & Alex Anderson • Milo I. Anderson • Nathan Alan Anderson • Richard Anderson III • Sadie Anderson • Sean Anderson • Sean L. Anderson • Tyler Andor • Andrea • Becky Andreasen • David Andre • Dennis Andrews • Joey Andrews • Androsso • Jocelyn Andruko & Mitchell Farmer • Andy • Angela • Rachel Angle • Jaime Anglin • Jacek Aninowski • Chrissy Anjewierden • Catrina Ankarlo • Stephanie Annee • Lara Antonuk • Renam Antunes • Summer Applebaum • Paul Aquino • Nandinho Araujo • Ricardo Araujo • Maryrose Arcuria • David Arcuri • Tamara Arens • Sue Armitage • Mary-Helen Armour • Carl Mya Armstrong • Matt Armstrong • Cassie Arneson • Aubrie D. Arnold • Quint Ashburn • Ashton • Dagny Athena • Angela Atkinson • The Atkinson Family • Brent Auble • Jon Auerbach • Marco Auger • James R. Aurandt • Devan Ausiello • Karla Ausland-Bjerkely • Stephanie Austin-Ellis • Matt Avella • Marcus Avery • Alice Aviles • Manpreet Kaur Awasthi • R. J. Aytes • Arya Azarshahy • Andrew Azzinaro
— B —
Alex B. • Ariane B. • Glen B. • Hamza B. • Hector B. • Marius B. • Maura B. • R. J. B. III • Richard B. • John Bachmann • Nathan Bacon • Woodcrow Bacon • Anurag Bagri • Jacob Bahr • Chris Bailey • Michael Bailey • Asher & Teagan Baima • Charlie & Sarah Baker • Gary Baker • Jeff Baker • Blake Baldwin • Don Baldwin • Joseph Baldwin • Rob Ballew • Tyler Ballew • Meghan Ball • Nic Baltas • Ben Balzarini • Bamesinator • Maciej Banasiak • Donovan Banh • Preston Bannard • Tony Baraconi • Callum Barber • Joshua Barber • Heather Barcomb • E. Bårdsen • Caldwell Barefoot • Yasmine Barghouty • Logan Barker • David Barkman • Aaron & John Barlow • Ed Barmettler • Bryan M. Barnard • David Barnard • David Barnett • Johnathan Barnett • Josh Barratt • Christopher Barr • Nolan Barrett • John & Lori Barron • Jan Barthold • Michael Jonathan Basaldella • Emily Bass • David Bassler • Alyssa Bastug • Wes Batcheller • Dotsy Bate
s • Susan Bates • Aaron Batey • Berta Batzig • Marc Baudry • David Bean • Tyke Beard • Kuma Bear • Abby Beasley • Dana Beatty • Craig Beaumont • Mark D. Beaumont • Brian Becker • Felix, Niquela & Christian Becker • Nicole A. Becker • Brent Beckman • Anne Beckmann • Nate “The Kaiser” Beck • Maile Beckwith • Danielle Bednar • Cheryl Beebe-Skynar • Algernon Beechworth • Momtaj Begum • Alex Bekerian • The Belden Family • Chuck Bell • Douglas Bell • Jessica Bell • Emily Benger • Michelle Beninati • Henry Benn • Erin Benson • Shane Benson • Dirk Berger • Larry Berger • Justine Bergman • Scott Berman • Mary Catherine Bernadette • Ben Berndt • Clare Bernier • Evy Bernier • William & Sydney Berroteran • Alexis Briel Berry • Scott Berry • The Berrys • Meredith Bertschin • Taylor Besenski • Peter Bess • Nathan Best • Annette Bettencourt-Ouellette • Oliver Beuchat • Rati Bhargava • Deven & Krish Bhatia • Bhill • Maria Bianchi • Nate F. Bibens • Seth Biber • S. Bickersmith • Anthony Bickerstaff • Ralph Biddle • Bigbogie • Justin Biggs • Bill • Christian Billen • Adam T. Billups • Chris Bilodeau • Sarah Birchard • Rochelle Bird • Christopher Birkheimer • Jodi Bishop • Joshua Bishop • The Bitterman Family • Jessica Björklund • Ross Bjorklund • Airon Black • Mary Black • The Black Roths • Samuel Robin Blackwell • Benjamin Blakeslee • Jacob Blank • Laly Blasco • Judith Blatt • Karin & Dietmar Bloech • Ben Blount • The Blount Family • Ser Ian Arthur Blum • Tylor Blythe • BMR • Liz Boatwright • Angelique M. Keppler Bochnak • Billie Bock • Jeff Bogzevitz • A. J. Bohne • Nicholas R. Boileau • Mircea Boistean • Matthew Boley • Lucas Bombardier • Nancy Bonanno • Eric Bonilla • Jasen Boothe • Mark Booth • Tom Borealis • Borehams • Rikke Borgaard • Halli Borgfjord • Andy Bosher • Becky Bosshart • Riaan Botha • Nick, Sue & Arielle Botta • Elizabeth Bougie • Kris Boultbee • Andy Bowden • Chad Bowden • David Bowden • Jason Bowden • Elise “The Cat” BowerCraft • The Bowersox Family • Robert Bowling • Kayleigh Bowman • Leo Matthew Boxley • Carol Boyd • Chris Boyd • Christine Boyd • Justin Boyd • McKayla Boyd • Timothy “Doc” Boyd • Michael Boye • Kevin Boyer • The Boz • Iain Brabant • Brad • Angela Bradley & Kevin Enax • David M. Bradley Jr. • Joe Bradley • Orin R. Brady • Sandy Brady • J. Leigh Bralick • Amanda Brandt • Brad Branstetter • J. Branstrom • The Brass Family • Lauren Bratt • Amy Braun • Neil Breault • Milou Breedveld • James Stewart Breen • Ethan & Ben Breese • Liva Brekka • Alexander Brener • Steve Brenneman • Carmen Brenner • Hannah Bridge • Joaquin Bridges • Sarah Bridges • Shane Bringhurst • Ashley Britten • Svemir Brkic • Julien Brochet • Sébastien Brochet • Mary Brockmyre-Martin • Kelly Diana Brogdon • Frank Broussard • Rachel Brousseau • Chris Brown • Christina & Terry Brown • Curtis Allan Brown • Dustin, Amy, Owen, Molly & Baby Brown • Jordan Brownfield • Forrest Brown • Joe “BrownSloth” Brown • Kevin R. Brown • Michael Brown • Miranda Brown • Steven M. Brown • V. Brown • Rose Broyles • Jana Broz • Sara Brunson • Joanna Brzeska • Ryan Buchanan • Danielius Buckus • Bucky • Amit Budhu • Laura Warren Buehler • The Bugge Family • Stephen Burchfield • Randy Burdick • Elwood Burgess • Micah B. Burke • Rob Burke • Robert E. Burke • Kylie Burkot • Jennifer Burns • Jeri Burns • Phil Burns • Meghan Burrell • Benjamin Burroughs • Cassandra L. Burton • Brandon Busby • Jenny Busby • S. Busby • Dave Bushnell • Nathan Bussey • Janet Butler • J. L. Butler • Laura Butler • Megan Butler • Kevin Butrick & Elena Tenchikova • Nicholas Buttram • Alexandru Butuza • Joris Buys • Guy Byars • David Bybee • Kenneth L. Bynon • Tanith Bynon • Nicole Bywater
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Amy C. • Beverly C. • Carley C. • Erin C. • Nikaya C. • Courtney Cabaniss • John Gerald Cacas • Brandy C. Cacciamani • Josh Cain • Linda Rae Calamaio • Hilary Caldwell • Kristen Caldwell • Joshua Callahan • Callie & Cory • Tatiana & Chancie Calliham • Clay Calvert • Ross Cameron • Sarah Cameron • Dustin & Katie Campbell • Miki Campbell • Rob Campbell • Trevor Camp • Clinton Canady IV • Kevin Candiloro • Candy & Justin • Clay Cannon • Sean Cannon • Eric Caraboolad • Jennifer Caracappa • Marnilo Cardenas • Alicia Cardillo • Alfredo R. Carella • Carolyn J. Carideo • The Carklin Clan • Steven & Elizabeth Carley • Victoria Carlini • Richard Carlock • Stephanie A. Carlson • Ty Carl • Dane Caro • Allison Marie Caron • Alex Carpenter • Jodi Carpenter • Joseph H. Carpenter, IV • Inés Carradice • Jasun Carr • Jeffrey D. Carr • Robin Carroll • Alex M. Carter • Brandon Carter • Carolyn Carter • Jennine S. Carter • Mark Allen Carter • Michael Caruso • Tricia Cascio • Beth Case • Brian Casey • Sarah Casey • Amanda Cassuto • Gonzalo Castro • Joseph Castro • Victor Cata • Tammie Causey • John Cave • Tim “Starmarc” Caves • Mícheál Ó. Ceallaigh • Michele Ceballos • Lawrence A. Cerniglia Jr. • David Lars Chamberlain • Laura Chamberlain • David Chanda • Monica Chandler • Paul & Shirley Chandler • Douglas Chan • Jaime Chan • Kevin Chan • Rawee Chanphakdee • Tony Chan • T. S. Chan • Bernardo Chapar • Maya Chapman • The Charles Twins • Jordan Charlton • Neville R. Charlton • Tom Chartier • Treana & Max Chartier • Jeff Chasin • Owen & Bryce Chasteen • Anthony Chatfield • John R. Chauhan • Jesse Chavez • Brent Chelewski • Yu-Wen Chen • Reagan Chesnut • Kristopher Childress • Noel Chin • Chip-N1MIE • John Chipman • Leigh Chittum • Jennifer K. Choi • S. J. Chopping • Chris • Hans Bredgaard Christensen • Dylan Christian • Megan Christiansen • Mikaela Christiansson • Christina • Derek Christman • Christopher • Olivia Christopher • Christy, Jollin & Abby • Maria & Sara Christy • D. Chritchley • Michelle Chrpa • Chuck • Shanna Chugg • Cindeelou • Kevin Cinq-Mars • Jasmine Clancy • Brandi Clark • Chris Clark • David Clark • Georgia Clark • Jenelle Clark • Michael, Ella & Sophie Clark • David Clayton • CleanerSprout • Alex Clement • Joshua Cleveland • Francis & Charles Clifford • Greg Clinton • Michael Clougherty • Richard Clouston • Mike Cluff • CMHMZ • Peter Coates • Mike Cochran • Lisa Cockrell • Kevin Coggins • Ben Cohen • Larry Coker • Ryan Colbeth • Mathew Colburn • Ab Colby • Jason S. Colby • Jenny Colby • Misti Colcleaser • Antonino Cole • Ashton Cole • Ryan Cole • Susan Collingwood • Justin Collins • Lawrence Collins • Richard Collins • Todd Collins • Todd M. Colucci • DeWillo Elisabeth Colvin • Matthew & Robin Colwell • CompuChip • Conflux • Benjamin Conrad • Susan Contreras • Ed Cooke • Elise Cook • Richard Cooke • Christine A. Cooney • Jessica Cooperman • Michelle Cooper • W. Cooper • Anke Corbeil • Ashley Corbeille • Sarah Corbeil • Jonathan Cordell • Jorge Cordero Martínez • The Corey Press • Mark Corsi • Arletta Kelley Cortright • Kelley Cortright • Olivia Corvec • Rin Corvetti • Anthony Cossio • Adrian Crawley-Da Costa • Ricardo Costa • Tyson Y. Cote • Brandon A. Cottrell • Haiyden Cottrell • Rachel Anne Carlson Cottrell • Larry Couch • Damon J. Courtney • Stephanie L. Couturier • Donna Coviello • Paul Coward • Jonathan Cowles • C. J. Cox • David Cox • Leo Coyle • Travis Coy • Brian Crabtree • Tim Crandall • Anya Crane • Jeffrey Crane • Jeremy Crane • Clayton Cravath • Belinda Crawford • Chris Creech • Ben Crew • Shawn Crimmins • R. P. Crisp • Nathan B. Crocker • Kevin Cronic • Peter K. Crookes • Michelle Crosby • P. L. Cross • Tim Cross • R. L. Crothers • Andrew Cruise • David Crumbley • Aaron “Crumpy” Crump • Cygnus Crux • Culagh • Mark Cummings • G. L. Cunningham • Vincent Thomas Cunningham • Sam Curran • Glenn Curry • Lesley Curvers • Mary Cusick • Andrew Cutler • Nate Cutler • John Cutright
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Brett D. • Dave D. • Dawn D. • Karen D. • Lauren D. • Leolani D. • Mikee D. • Yung J. D. • Giuseppe D’Aristotile • Sapphire D’Chalons • Isabel d’Etigny • Brian Dabbs • Katerina Dadakova • Rachel Daeger • Ahmed Daher • Daimadoshi • Sean & Katrina Dalton • Dani Daly • Elizabeth Daly • Leon Daly • Joel
& Dianna Damir • Stephen Damon • Dominik Daniel • Danilo & Trine • Joshua Danish • Patricio Danos • Darek • Darren • Jennifer Dath • Daniel C. Daugherty • The Dave • Harry David • Chad Davidson • Boyd Davis • Colton M. Davis • J. Davis & Family • Joanna K. Davis • Leslie A. Davis • Lori Davis • Rocky A. Davis • Luke Davitt • David A. Dawson • Josh Dawson • Dino Dayao • Wendall Dayley • Kim Daymond • Justin Ć de Baca • P. H. A. de Bekker • Bob, Merilin & Kirsi de Brabandere • Chris de Eyre • Marcel de Jong • Daniel de la Torre • Gerber de Lange • Jeffrey de Lange • Elodie de Peretti • Wendy de Peuter • Dénes Deák • Stuart Deakin • Joseph Dean • Deborah • Kyle Debuck • Rhel ná DecVandé • Emmeline DeGolier • Jean Dejace • Jennifer DeLeon • Marci DeLeon • Mark W. Dell’Orfano • Scott Dell’Osso • Brian Christopher Dell • Terry Dellino • Sheldon & Brittani Dement • Jessica Demers • Diane S. & P. J. Dempsey • Andrea Denekamp • Stephen Denney • Ollie Denning • Paul Dennison • Ryan Depuy • Max Dercum • A. Derda • James Michael Derieg • Deryk, Crystal, Sabryn & Seymoure • Joe Desiderio • Tim J. De Silva • RaeAnn Desmarais • Alexandre Dessureault • Prasana Devanand • Peter Devine & Gina Jiang • Robert DeVoll • Andrew DeVore • Emmanuel Dexet • Chris Dhanaraj • Patricia Diani • Paul Diaz • Tobias Dickbreder • Jeffrey Dick • Simon Dick • Anthony DiCostanzo • Ethan Dietz • Bret Dillingham • Dina • Crystal Dinh • Betsy Dion • Chad Ditter • Lewis Dix • dmsaelee • The Doan Family: Randy, Marla, Colin & Evan • Andrew Dobry • Aileen M. Dodge • Michael W. Dodge • Christopher Kenneth Doelker • dogpoop • Andrew Doherty • Gregory Dollins • Miguel Domingo • Donna • Máire Donohue • Ben Donovan • Martin Dotzauer • Shannon Douglas • Kevin Dougwillo • Jacob Doukas • Zathras do Urden • Nate Dowd • Michael “Infael” Dowds • Alycia & Jesse Doyle • Mary Kate Doyle • Thomas J. Doyle, Jr. • Grandpa Dragon • Maxine Drake • Weston Dransfield • E. L. Drayton • Drew • T. J. Driver • Tara Drost • Tina Druce-Hoffman • A. F. Dudley • Maleh Duenas • Colm Duffy • Lisa M. Dugan • Lauren Duggar • Duke • Mengmeng Du • Michelle P. Dunaway • Christyn Dundorf • Dunlap • David Dunn • Alexander Dupuis • Eric Durfee • Vince Dutra • Lana Dvorkin • Anna Dy