Of course, there have been two people who were deeply consequential as first-readers for every single one of these books: Kevin Jewell and Miriam Robinson Gould. I’ve been incredibly graced to have their insight throughout this whole process.
This isn’t even counting all the people I’ve been privileged to talk craft with, and through those conversations, build long necklaces out of their pearls of wisdom. I could not, in any fair or accurate way, name them all, but I would like to single out my podcasting co-hosts Alexandra Rowland and Rowenna Miller. They’re brilliant and insightful and just a damned delight to talk to about the process of writing fantasy.
I can’t emphasize enough how much is owed to my agent, Mike Kabongo. He’s handled with grace and humor the arduous task of dealing with my constant harassment while shopping my work in the early days, not to mention just plain keeping up with me continually going, “OK, now here’s what’s next” at the, frankly, absurd pace I’ve been maintaining. Years ago, when he first read the then-too-short draft of Thorn of Dentonhill, he told me, “Clearly you are a writer I want to watch. Even if you decide I’m not the agent for you, do let me know when you hit the shelves, I want to buy something with your name on it.” That’s the kind of faith you want to see in a future agent.
Way back when I first started talking my Big Plan with Dan Fawcett, he said, “That’s fantastic, but for it to work, for you to be able to do what you want to do, you’re going to need the right editor and the right publisher.” Fortunately for me, Sheila Gilbert and DAW Books were very much the right editor and the right publisher. Were it not for Sheila—two-time Hugo winner for Best Editor, so very well earned—and her astounding faith in this work and my big plan, we wouldn’t be here. How absolutely blessed I am to have her at my back and in my corner, I cannot adequately express.
Everyone at DAW and Penguin Random House—Sheila, Betsy, Katie, Josh, Leah, Alexis—have been fantastic partners on this endeavor. Another person I should thank is Paul Young, who has done such gorgeous work on the covers for these books. I’ve always been thrilled to see his interpretations of each of these stories and characters, as well as Maradaine through his eyes.
Further thanks are owed to my parents, Nancy and Louis, my mother-in-law, Kateri, and my son, Nicholas.
And highest and first in my heart, my wife, Deidre. None of this, absolutely none, would have come about without her. Deidre has been a beacon of strength and support who has always believed that I could be successful as a writer. She has been an anchor in my life for the past fifteen years, giving me the ability to pound away at a keyboard day after day and making this book happen. But more importantly, she got me on task in the first place, moving me from being that guy who just talked about “writing a book at some point” to actually making all of this happen.
She’s the north star by which I can always navigate my way.
And, of course: you, with this book in your hand. It’s for you, and I am so very grateful to have you join me on this adventure, and everything still to come.
Chronological Note
THE THORN OF DENTONHILL (Maritan 7th–14th—mid-spring)
Veranix Calbert, magic student at the University of Maradaine and circus-trained acrobat and archer, waged a vigilante war against Willem Fenmere’s drug empire. He stole two magically empowering items, learned about missing children in Dentonhill, fended off assassins, and stopped Lord Sirath and the Circle of the Blue Hand in their nefarious magical plans, earning the sobriquet, “the Thorn.” In his final moments, one of the Blue Hand mentions having failed “the Nine.”
A MURDER OF MAGES (Maritan 19th–22nd—mid-spring)
Satrine Rainey—wife, mother, and retired spy—faked her way into an Inspector Third Class position with the Inemar Constabulary, and was partnered with Minox Welling—outcast and an untrained, Uncircled mage. Together they investigated the ritual murders of several mages—especially from the Firewings—that used strange magic-draining spikes, until Minox was nearly the last victim. Satrine rescued him, but his arm was broken by the spike. The killer mentions having taken the spikes from “the Brotherhood of the Nine.”
THE HOLVER ALLEY CREW (Maritan 27th–Joran 5th—mid-spring)
Asti and Verci Rynax—a broken spy and a brilliant gadgeteer—lost their home and shop to the Holver Alley fire, and gathered a crew to steal a statue for an unnamed buyer. They learned the fire was set on purpose, and have their revenge on the man who arranged the fire, only to learn he was part of a larger plot.
THE WAY OF THE SHIELD (Joran 10th–15th—late spring)
Dayne Heldrin—Second-year Candidate for the Tarian Order—returned to Maradaine and befriended Tarian Initiate Jerinne Fendall. Together they helped foil a plot against members of Parliament, captured failed Spathian Tharek Pell, and were publicly lauded by The Veracity Press. They didn’t know that a deeper conspiracy drove that scheme, run by the Grand Ten—power players of Maradaine, including Tarian Grandmaster Lon Orren, Dayne’s beloved Lady Mirianne Henson, and Major Silla Altarn of Druth Intelligence.
THE ALCHEMY OF CHAOS (Joram 18th–22nd—late spring)
Veranix dealt with an alchemical prankster seeking revenge on campus, multiple assassins, and final exams, and shattered the fragile alliance between Fenmere, the Red Rabbits, and the alchemist Cuse Jensett. Veranix also found a savior and ally in Reverend Pemmick of Saint Julian’s Church.
AN IMPORT OF INTRIGUE (Erescan 13th–15th—early summer)
Minox and Satrine investigated the murder of a Fuergan lavark in the Little East, which led Satrine back to an old rival, Pra Yikenj of
