Acknowledgements
Once again I am grateful to Toni Weisskopf and all the other fine folks at Baen for their support of, assistance with, and faith in Hanuvar, and to loyal friends and family for their help in honing this book. Sydney Argenta, Chris Willrich, Kelly McCullough, and Bob Mecoy provided their usual insightful guidance, suggesting many fine lines and solutions to plot knots, and John C. Hocking and Darian Jones proved ever-reliable sounding boards, thread tweakers, and MacGuffin innovators. Scott Pearson and Joy Freeman provided crucial last minute assistance, as did the clear-eyed Bruce Wesley and the supremely patient Leah Brandtner. The incomparable Shannon Jones pulled me back from staggering into dozens of pits of my own design. Again and again she noted points that lacked clarity or that required deeper consideration and better wording, and put in long hours of careful study into every moment of Hanuvar and Antires’ exploits. I shall forever be thankful to her for the love she has shown this work.
Some of you likely noted similarities between Calenius and the singular creation of the brilliant Karl Edward Wagner. I hope that Mr. Wagner would have enjoyed this homage and not found it too far beyond what he might have imagined for his own character.
My other book dedicant was neither a master of horror nor a writer and editor of heroic fiction. And yet Mary Dolan left a mightier imprint upon me than KEW. Her single book—slightly altered upon rerelease under a different title—remains my favorite fictional depiction of Hannibal of Carthage. (George Zebrowski’s short story, “The Number of the Sand,” is a close second.)
Ms. Dolan fully perceived the kind of mind and personality that can occasionally be glimpsed behind the historical accounts, and then presents Hannibal with such clarity we seem momentarily to be in his company. If Hannibal of Carthage (also reprinted, confusingly, and with an inaccuracy in its title that I can imagine irritated Ms. Dolan, as Hannibal: Scourge of Imperial Rome) is not entirely successful as a novel, I can’t fault her book overmuch, for the moments with Hannibal elevate the rest. I admired many fine phrases throughout the text, and even adapted one of them—“learn how to please yourself and let others envy your happiness”—into advice Izivar offers Enarius.
If you ever wish to have some insight into what Hanuvar’s campaign against Tyvol might have been like during the Second Volani War, Dolan’s novel, Harold Lamb’s biography of Hannibal, and the equally fine biography of Hannibal by Ernle Bradford would get you a lot of the way there.