We owe a debt of gratitude to the experts who gave up their time to help us get the details right. Thank you to Ben Ellis for checking our physics and making sure things only went wrong in the ways they’re supposed to. To Yulin Zhang, for generously sharing his Chinese upbringing and his culture—your thoughtful comments were invaluable. To Eamon Kenny, for guidance on radio transmissions and the blocking thereof. To Steve Tuck, for helping destroy things. To Josie Spooner, for early advice on ecosystems and the creation thereof. To Dr. Kate Irving, for medical advice, critique, and twenty years of the deepest friendship—here’s to twenty more.
Many thanks to Niall O’Leary and Will O’Shea for getting us started with our Irish, and go raibh maith agat Pól Ruiséal, Stiúrthóir, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh (many thanks to Pól Ruiséal, Director of the Centre for Spoken Irish, University College Cork) for very generous help with the Irish in this book. In relation to all the wonderful advice we received, any errors are, of course, our own.
Josh and Tracey, and all the Adams Literary Team—we couldn’t do you justice with pages and pages. We couldn’t do this crazy thing without you, and we wouldn’t want to. You are our rocks. Thank you.
To the many wonderful people at Hyperion we’ve had the chance to meet, as well as those we haven’t, who work so hard in every department, our heartfelt thanks. Emily Meehan and Laura Schreiber, thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into making This Shattered World the best it can be. Jamie Baker, thank you for going above and beyond! To Kate Hurley, our copy editor, thank you for putting up with our irrational love of em-dashes and commas. Whitney Manger, thank you for another incredible cover.
To the wonderful Allen & Unwin team, as if one home wasn’t enough, you gave us a second. Thank you so much for welcoming us into the family! We brought cake.
To the wonderful readers, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and bloggers we’ve met since the launch of These Broken Stars, thank you for your support. It’s been a privilege to meet and correspond with so many of you.
To our friends, who are always patient, always supportive, and often slightly amused—lots of love. To our wonderful support networks: the Chocolate Lounge girls, the Roti Boti ladies, the FOS crew, the Plot Bunnies, the Pub(lishing) Crawl gang, the League, the Luckies, the TJ/NoVA crew—we couldn’t get by without you.
As much love as ever to Michelle Dennis, for reading, and reading again, and always being there. To Kim Nguyen, thank you for all your design magic, as well as your treasured friendship. Thank you to dear friends Kat Zhang, Olivia Davis, Marie Lu, Beth Revis, Marion Cole, and Jay Kristoff for critique, support, and too much awesome to be confined to one page.
As always, our families are at the heart of it all. Thank you for your love and support, which mean the world to us (and for telling everyone you know to read our books). Our storytelling began with the books you gave us, the stories you told us, and the games we played with you.
Brendan, whether you’re reading one more time, listening to one more slightly disturbing video call about death and destruction, or doing any one of the thousand things you handle with such grace, calm, and good cheer—thank you doesn’t cover it. You are the reason this book is out in the world.
And finally, reader, our heartfelt thanks to you, for joining us in the worlds we love to build. We hope you enjoyed Avon…and we’ll see you on Corinth!