In the Hall of the Martian King (35 page)

I need to acknowledge an error; many thanks to the about thirty people (so far) who have noted to me that the home-world of
the Rubahy cannot possibly have been orbiting Alpha Draconis, since in these books there is no faster-than-light travel (or
at least humans and Rubahy don’t have it), and Alpha Draconis is about three hundred light-years away, much too far. Special
congratulations to the person who didn’t want to be named who realized that, long ago when I was planning this series, I must
have misread the Greek letter sigma as an alpha; in fact, the Rubahy are from Sigma Draconis, a mere 18.5 light-years away.
I promise, young lady, that I shall get new glasses and stop having that third beer at breakfast. When you get to college,
don’t forget to correct your instructors at every opportunity; they’ll appreciate it at least as much as I do.

Meanwhile, for the rest of you, be sure to buy the previous two books in the series,
The Duke of Uranium
and
A Princess of the Aerie,
so that you can pencil in the necessary correction. The Rubahy are from
Sigma
Draconis. Really.

As usual, I’d like to thank the people who made a tough job easier: William Barton, from whom I borrowed the term “the Red
Millennium” for the 1450–2450 era; for the aftermath of a very different Red Millennium, you ought to read his excellent
Dark Sky Legion,
and while you’re at it, everything the man’s ever written.

Dr. Stephen Gillett, whose book
Worldbuilding
is the definitive treatise on the subject; technical errors in this book are almost certain to be caused by my misunderstanding
Steve, and whatever is accurate here, chances are his hand is in it.

Betsy Mitchell, for her guidance in the creation of this series, and her early perception of, and insistence on, good qualities
in the idea that I didn’t see myself.

Jes Tate, my research assistant, for her usual amazingly efficient and thorough research (the most amazing thing of all is
that it’s so usual). You can have your old job back anytime, kid.

Jaime Levine, my editor, for being always there and always incredibly patient, and for asking the sort of questions that cause
me to whack my forehead.

Devi Pillai, her assistant, for constant help with all sorts of annoying matters.

Nancy Wiesenfeld, the copyeditor, for cleaning up after me.

Ashley and Carolyn Grayson, my agents, for endless encouragement and for standing in my doorway as wolf-deflectors while I
finished the book.

John Barnes lives in downtown Denver and writes full-time. At various times he has worked full-time as a gardener, systems
analyst, statistician, theatrical lighting designer, and college professor. More than fifty entries by John Barnes appear
in the fourth edition of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. His most recent books include
The Sky So Big and Black, The Merchants of Souls, The Return
(with Buzz Aldrin),
Candle, The Duke of Uranium,
and
A Princess of the Aerie.

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