Title Page

orbitbooks.net

orbitshortfiction.com

Welcome

Begin Reading

Table of Contents

A Preview of The Iron Wyrm Affair

Newsletters

Copyright Page

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Dedication

To the women who in one way or another supported me
through an immensely difficult drafting process.
This book is dedicated to you, sisters all.

To quote writer Tricia Sullivan: We have to press on.

Acknowledgments

Katharine Kerr suffered through more versions, false starts, detours, and backtracks than I really have a right to inflict on anyone. This book could not have been written without her patient encouragement.

Sherwood Smith, Michelle Sagara, Karen Miller, Fragano Ledgister, Shweta Narayan, Nathaniel Smith, Dani McKenzie, Mark Timmony, N. K. Jemisin, Alyssa Louie, Raina Storer, Cora Kaichen, Alexander Rasmussen-Silverstein, and Jennifer Flax all offered comments on early drafts. Laura Kinnaman mentioned woolly rhinos. Elizabeth Bear kindly gave me last-minute climbing advice. I am indebted to Dr. Kurtis Nishimura for his expertise in physics and his skill at brainstorming “alternate physics”; this trilogy became much more interesting because of his contributions over several lunches at my favorite casual restaurant in Honolulu, Kaka‘ako Kitchen. I would also like to thank my editor, Devi Pillai, for her wise patience and piercing insight, and Susan Barnes for the details.

As always, my spouse, Jay Silverstein, did his best to support me through a grueling writing process. Thanks also to my children, Rhiannon, Alexander, and David, for sharing the initial inspiration with me and letting me run with it.

Author’s Note

The Spiritwalker books take place on a different Earth, with magic. This is a fantasia of an Earth that might have been had conditions included an extended Ice Age, the intelligent descendants of troodons, nested planes of interleaved worlds, and human access to magical forces that can either reverse or accelerate the normal flow of entropy.