Ar's eyes sparkled a luminous purple. With a decisive nod, he took up his half of the net again, and matched Jael's efforts move for move - and together they reached out for the current that wound, silvery and long, before them.

Afterword.

I'd like to thank the people whose a.s.sistance and encouragement helped me down the long road that this novel has taken. It began as a novelette, "Though All the Mountains Lie Between," written for the anthologyDragons of Darkness , edited by Orson Scott Card. I must thank Jane Yolen for nudging me into writing the story in the first place, and Scott for his enthusiastic reception of it - as well as the editors ofThe Science Fiction Times for showing it first print.

Once published, the story wouldn't let me go. It tugged at me, whispering that it was not yet finished; it was a novel that demanded to be written. Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with another very long novel that took five and a half years to write, followed by several other books. But my editor, Jim Frenkel, had read my dragon story, too - and when I presented him with an outline for a novel, he seized upon it at once. And so began a journey of writing and rewriting (woven chronologically around the writing of several other novels), editing and rewriting, and further polishing, that took five more years before the book was finished. But now you have it in your hands, and much grat.i.tude is due Jim Frenkel for his endless probing of the foundations of the story and offering of suggestions. My agent Richard Curtis had his doubts, but he trusted me when I said it had to be done, and for that I thank him.

I also thank the cover artist, Jael (no relation to the protagonist), who, through a chance meeting at a convention, came to produce the painting that graces the front of this book. I offer, as well, a grateful tip of the hat to Janny Wurts, the ill.u.s.trator of the original story.

As always, thanks are due to the writing group: Mary Aldridge, Victoria Bolles, Richard Bowker, and Craig Gardner, for encouragement and countless helpful criticisms. And finally, to my wife Allysen, best reader and best friend, who always believed I could do it, even when my own confidence failed. I love you guys, and I couldn't have done it without you.

Biography

Jeffrey A. Carver

Jeffrey A. Carver is the author of fourteen popular and highly regarded science fiction novels, including the recently published Eternity's End. His books combine hard-SF concepts, deeply humanistic concerns, and a sense of humor, making them both compellingly thought-provoking and emotionally satisfying.

Other novels by Carver include From a Changeling Star, The Infinity Link, The Rapture Effect, and various novels of the Star Rigger universe, including Star Rigger's Way and Dragons in the Stars. Carver is currently at work continuing the saga of The Chaos Chronicles, a grand scope hard-SF series inspiredby the science of chaos. Science Fiction Chronicle named the first volume, Neptune Crossing, one of the best science fiction novels of the year, while Kirkus Reviews called Strange Attractors (Volume 2) "dazzling, thrilling, innovative." He is presently at work on Sunborn, the fourth volume of the series.

Carver has taught science fiction writing both through educational television and as the author of Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, a CD-ROM and web-based course that teaches the fundamentals of storytelling and writing. A native of Huron, Ohio, Carver graduated from Brown University with a degree in English. He has been a high school wrestler, a scuba diving instructor, a quahog diver, a UPS sorter, a private pilot, a freelance instructional and web designer, and a stay-at-home dad. He lives with his family in the Boston area, where he is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and The Authors Guild. For more information about the author, see his web site at www.starrigger.net.