The Cold Commands

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In addition to the previously named giants whose shoulders I stood on for The Steel Remains, I now realize belatedly that both that novel and this also owe the following debts of inspiration:

To M. John Harrison for Viriconium and its denizens, in all their grubby glory.

To Steph Swainston for Comet Jant Shira (and his ice ax!).

To Glen Cook for the war-weary world-weary Black Company.

In the Realm of Editors, heartfelt thanks go to Simon Spanton, who waited patiently and graciously for The Cold Commands to take shape, longer than most editors would have without picking up an ax, and who never ground his teeth in my company even once that whole time (or at least not audibly).

Thanks also to Chris Schluep, Alain Nevant, Sascha Mamzcak, and all the other foreign editors who camped out with Simon under a sky full of deadlines burning up on reentry, and never flinched. And to my agent Carolyn Whitaker for her calm aplomb in helping me navigate some fairly choppy waters over the last year or two.

For hands-on cartographical help, rendered completely gratis, I’m very grateful to Ravi Shankar for lending gravitas to a geography I’d only ever considered in the vaguest of terms. The map he created has proved a major inspiration in building some of the fine detail in The Cold Commands.

Thanks also to JW and to MD for helping me keep it real.

Thanks to Virginia for keeping me real.

And thanks, finally, to all of you who waited so patiently for Ringil, Egar, and Archeth to return. Hope it’s been as worthwhile for you as it has for me.