by Brian Nelson
Enormous thanks go out to my family—Mom, Dad, Diane, Erika, and Philip—most of whom read early versions and, more importantly, were unstinting in their love and support.
Two authors who provided the seminal material for my research into advanced technology and who deserve my sincere thanks are Bill Joy and K. Eric Drexler.
Thanks to Ray Hu for being my translator.
My heartfelt thanks to Andrea Cavallaro at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, who fought hard to get this book published and found the missing piece of the puzzle. I will always owe you big.
Generous thanks to the team at Blackstone Publishing, including my editor, Michael Carr (a man who knows everything about everything), Lysa Williams for believing and also for continuing to give great advice during the editing process, Sean Thomas for his brilliant art, Ember Hood for her fantastic copyediting, and Josie McKenzie for guiding the whole process from acquisition to bookshelf.
To Natalia, mi vida, my wonderful wife, who did a great deal of editing on the bus to work. Thank you for the unending faith. Without it and without you, I would have faltered long ago.
Final thanks go to my two sons, who spent most of their young lives trying to sabotage my writing schedule but who ultimately made the story better by giving it a leitmotif that I didn’t even see until the very end.