Several people opened their homes for me and offered fantastic writing retreats. Claartje and Frans Hinnen in the Swiss Alps, whose chalet was covered in snow as I was writing about the Morose. Annelie Hendriks in Thailand, whose ceiling lizards tried to strike up a conversation each time I got stuck. Adelheid den Hollander in the Netherlands, whose garden toads I had to help cross the road each night. And my grandpa and grandma’s house in the Dutch woods. That house stood empty by then, but still I played boogie on the old piano every day, so my grandpa could tap along from out of the walls. I owe them all a lot.
Translating is a challenging and important job, and finding the right voice for Sam was even more challenging. We found it in Moshe Gilula. Moshe, your language rocks and swirls. Your creative solutions for tough linguistical problems are fabulous. It was a true pleasure to edit a translation that was so brilliantly good to begin with. Thank you—I foresee a long road ahead for us.
Good people read this book and made it better. Diana Sno, my Dutch editor, has the extraordinary talent to expose within one sentence why a scene works the way it does and what to change to make it stronger. Miriam Weinberg at Tor Nightfire and Oliver Johnson at Hodder & Stoughton read the English manuscript, gave valuable insights, suggested nuanced structural changes, and turned this book into an improved version of what it was. Ann VanderMeer worked tirelessly on getting the required permissions. I’d like to thank them all, along with all the great people on Team US and Team UK who turned this book into the beauty you’re holding in your hands. Special thanks go out to Hajnalka Bata, my Dutch publisher, who completely and unselfishly helped me through the long nights of editing in a language that’s not my native tongue.
Shout-out to the many friends I made around the world during the journey HEX has taken me on. Raquel and Bruna in Brazil. Lena in Ukraine. Emily in China. Iwona in Poland. Mike, Ann and Jeff, and Megan in the US. Also, shout-out to my international publishers, who have so expertly guided my work to readers in their respective territories, and who have so patiently waited for Echo. Joe Veltre and Gary Dauberman, thank you for your respective expertise and vision in bringing my work to the screen—it’s a helluva ride.
In July 2017, Pieter Grosfeld died. Aside from being my longtime friend and climbing buddy, Pieter was a beautiful and loving person. Not long before he died, I read the first one hundred pages of Echo to him. High up in the Swiss mountains, as we were spending the night in a bivouac, where we’d always tell each other our stories. I wish he were still there, so I could read him the rest. If anyone ever could sense the life in mountains, it was Pieter. I miss him every day. I dedicate this book to him.
David Samwel stood by me all those years, and that makes me the lucky one. Each and every day you amaze me again, David, and that’s the most precious gift people can give to each other. This book isn’t only about the mountains, it is also about love, and therefore I dedicate it to you as well.
Lastly, I want to thank you, my reader, wherever in the world you are. The bond between author and reader has always fascinated me. Without the reader’s imagination, an author’s words are dead in the dark. Only when you open their book do you make them come alive. It’s like a spell. And you spread that magic because you talk about the book, post about it, or give it away to someone. Your involvement has been invaluable for me these past few years, and I owe you all a thousand thank-yous. I can’t wait to meet many of you when I’m on the road again, and in the meantime, I’d love to hear if you enjoyed this book. You can let me know through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or my website. I read all your messages and try my best to answer as many as I can.
I promise: the wait for the next book is going to be much, much shorter. I conquered that mountain already. It’s called Oracle, and by the time you’re reading this, the translation will already be done and waiting to go to the presses.