Stellan bent down beside the petrified body, seeing the line of a noble brow in the rock, the line of ragged Jedi robes. He reached out a trembling finger and brushed what had once been Loden Greatstorm’s cheek. The face collapsed in on itself, the entire husk crumbling to dust before his eyes, and for the first time since he was a child, Stellan Gios was afraid.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thirty years ago, two books blew my mind. The first was Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy, published by Dark Horse Comics, while the second was Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, published then by Bantam Spectra. I remember seeing them in the stores and not quite believing my eyes. Here were new stories set in my beloved Star Wars galaxy. Both took me on a journey that led me ultimately to write this book, so first and foremost I want to say thank you to those pioneering creators. Without you building so wonderfully on George Lucas’s original vision, we wouldn’t be here working on The High Republic three decades later.

Which brings me to The Rising Storm. There are so many people to thank, primarily Michael Siglain, Lucasfilm Publishing’s creative director and Project Luminous’s very own Nick Fury. Thank you for inviting me on this adventure of a lifetime and for guiding our ship as we navigated this new corner of the galaxy. Thanks also to my fellow Lumineers—Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, and Charles Soule—and also the creators I’ve been working with on my other High Republic projects: Ario, Mark, Ariana, Annalisa, Mark P, and Tom over on the Marvel series, and Rachael and Guido on Monster of Temple Peak, all of whom coped with me when I was juggling novel, comic series, and graphic novel and who also added their own voices to this period of galactic history.

Then there are my editors at Del Rey, especially Tom for being the best sounding board and helping me find solutions to knotty problems, plus, of course, Elizabeth and Alex, who asked the right questions at the right moments. I can’t wait until we’re all at a convention again. I miss you, my friends.

Thanks also to Kasim, my editor at Del Rey UK (hey, I needed a shout out for the GB contingent of Star Wars publishing), and to our copy editor, Laura, for making sure everything lined up and for making me look good!

Of course, The High Republic has truly been a team effort from the beginning, and I need also to extend my heartfelt thanks and admiration to Lucasfilm’s wonderfully supportive Story Group: to Pablo, Emily, Kelsey, Jason, and Matt (see Matt, I can write a Star Wars without Ewoks or green bunnies!), to James for his constant enthusiasm and to Jen for reminding me on more than one occasion that I wouldn’t have an artist to provide character descriptions!