by Brin, David
Riding through a night washed with exotic moonlight, surrounded by curious beings and a culture unlike any he had ever known, he now laughs aloud, ecstatic to be able to do this simple thing. This one, cherished act.
My . . . name . . . is . . . Emerson.
The End of Part One
Acknowledgments
For those familiar with my other work, this volume may seem a departure from my normal custom of trying to write novels that stand on their own. That was my intention this time, but the story kept growing, evolving beyond even the length of huge tomes like Earth and Glory Season, leaving me no alternative but to "go the trilogy route." There is no shame in the practice-trilogies have their own lavish, wide-screen, Technicolor attraction. But in future I trust that I'll plan better.
I hope to bring out volumes two and three promptly.
I'd like to thank the following people for helping with their comments and criticism to make this complicated story work, among them--Gregory Benford, Anita Everson, Joy Crisp, Mark James, Dr. Bruce Miller, Jim Richards, Prof. Jim Moore, and Dr. Steinn Sigurdsson. Also, my gratitude to members of SPECTRE, the Caltech science fiction club: Aaron Petty, Teresa Moore, Dustin Laurence, Damien Sullivan, Micah Altman, John Lang-ford, Eric Schell, Robin Hanson, Grant Swenson, Ruben Krasnopolsky, and Anita Gould. Special thanks are due Stefan Jones and Kevin Lenagh for helping enhance and embellish my poor efforts. My deep appreciation also goes to Jennifer Hershey, Ralph Vicinanza, and Cheryl Brigham, for their dedication and wisdom.
David Brin, March 1995
In Memory of Dr. James Neale, Kiwi third-baseman, healer and friend.
About the Author
DAVID BRIN is the author of eleven previous novels, Sundiver, The Uplift War, Startide Rising, The Practice Effect, The Postman (which was adapted for film by Warner Brothers), Heart of the Comet (with Gregory Benford), Earth, Glory Season, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach, as well as the short-story collections The River of Time and Otherness. His most recent work of nonfiction is The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? He has a doctorate in astrophysics and has been a NASA consultant and a physics professor. He lives in southern California, where he is at work on his next novel.