I am especially grateful to them because I turned in this book rather later than I intended to—the second book in a row I have done that for—and no doubt tried their patience in having done so. To each of them I can only say that I am heartily sorry to have been a pain in the ass for a second time in a row. I did have plans to get this in early. Also, if I turn in a third book late, I think it would be fair if everyone involved in the production of the book gets to punch me hard in the arm.

(As a side note, and this is not an excuse, but holy buckets, did the 2016 presidential election make it hard to focus on writing a novel, because I felt like I needed to check in every five minutes to make sure we didn’t find a way to blow ourselves the hell up. I’m writing these acknowledgments in October of 2016, so the outcome of the election is still in doubt, and I’m still worried about everything ending in fire. But at least now I don’t have to try to write a novel around the worry, too.)

(As a second side note, I will also note that the title of this book—The Collapsing Empire—was not intended as a commentary on the current state of the United States, the UK, or of Western Civilization in general. I thought it up years ago. It just happened to look like commentary because, let’s face it, 2016 was a historically fucked-up year, and I can only hope 2017 is going to be better. Because if it’s not, it really is time to head to the bunkers with our barrels of beans and rice.)

Coming back to acknowledgments, I’d like to give thanks to Ethan Ellenberg, my agent. I always give thanks to Ethan, but at the moment I’d like to give a special moment of appreciation. As some of you may know, this book represents the first book of a ridiculously excellent multibook, multiyear contract with Tor, which I was extraordinarily happy to get (Hey! I get to write novels through 2027 at least! That’s pretty good!), and which Ethan was an exemplary shepherd of during the negotiating process. I got very lucky when he became my agent, and I’m grateful with every book that he does such a fine job for me. Thanks also to Bibi Lewis, who handles my foreign language contracts; to Joel Gotler, my film/TV agent; and to Matt Sugarman, my entertainment lawyer. In other news, I am now a person who has lots of agents and lawyers. I know, I think it’s weird as well. Finally, a big wave of appreciation to Steve Feldberg at Audible, who handles the audio versions of my work.