In the Lion's Mouth
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Nanoparticles assembling into complex arrays at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2009/10/22/new-route-to-nano-self-assembly/
A University of Illinois polymer with self-sensing properties that can react to mechanical stress: http://news.illinois.edu/news/09/0506polymers.html
Raytheon HEALICS Technology incorporates self-healing into a complex system-on-chip (SoC) design, providing the capability for the chip to sense undesired circuit behaviors and correct them automatically: http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1410&pagetemplate=release
7. Teasers and dazers. At Old Dominion University, nanosecond long, high-voltage pulses that punch holes in cell membranes could be used for a Taser-like weapon that stuns targets because the pulse temporarily disables human muscles: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16706-shocking-cancer-treatment-may-also-yield-weapon.html
8. I-ball. Thrown cameras with image stabilization have been developed in the United Kingdom: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10101293-42.html
Shadow culture is based loosely on the decadent Franco-Burgundian knighthood of the fifteenth century, the main source for which is Johan Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages. Many of the anecdotes, events, and poems are based on actual anecdotes, events, and poems of that era, including the sudden passions of cruelty and sentiment. Extravagant oaths, such as Manlius’s pledge to eat standing up until he had bested Epri, are typical of the era. And in fact, a Polish knight admitted into the Chivalry of the Passion by Philippe de Mézières took just that oath. The pasdarm on Ashbanal is derived from the pas d’armes la fontaine des pleurs, l’arbre Charlemagne (“The Fountain of Tears, the Arbor of Charlemagne”), fought in 1449/50. The ceremonial chains the combatants wear reflect those worn for the combat of Jacques de Lalaing and Jean de Boniface, 1445.
ALSO BY MICHAEL FLYNN
In the Country of the Blind
The Nanotech Chronicles
Fallen Angels
(with Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle)
THE FIRESTAR SERIES
Firestar
Rogue Star
Lodestar
Falling Stars
The Forest of Time and Other Stories
The Wreck of the River of Stars
Eifelheim
THE SPIRAL ARM SERIES
The January Dancer
Up Jim River
In the Lion’s Mouth
This is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
IN THE LION’S MOUTH
Copyright © 2011 by Michael Flynn
All rights reserved.
A Tor® eBook
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2285-2
First Edition: January 2012
eISBN 978-1-4299-2355-2