Acknowledgments

When your debts run as deep as mine, there’s the tendency to say, “You know who you are,” but when you’re dealing with something of this magnitude, that doesn’t quite cover it.

For all their guidance, inspiration, and encouragement all along the way, I owe much appreciation to my agent, Phyllis Westberg at Harold Ober Associates, my editor, Shelly Shapiro, along with Erich Schoeneweiss, Keith Clayton, and the rest of my Del Rey/Random House family.

At Lucasfilm, major kudos to Sue Rostoni and Leland Chee for saving my bacon within the universe of continuity and the Holocron. And of course, to George Lucas, for knocking my socks off when I was seven years old and instilling a sense of awe from which I never recovered.

I want to extend a special thanks to the 501st Legion, whose generosity and commitment made the Death Troopers book tour unforgettable—especially the Southern California Garrison, the Golden Gate Garrison, the Cloud City Garrison, the Midwest Garrison, the Bloodfin Garrison in Indianapolis, the Great Lakes Garrison, and Garrison Carida in my own backyard—you guys rock. And an extra loud shout-out to the Empire State Garrison, who came to Manhattan on a hot summer day to shoot Del Rey’s Death Troopers trailer and didn’t forget the blood … or the beer.

To everybody who came out to say hi on the tour, or plunked down your money to buy any of my books, thank you. Without you, this whole enterprise would start and end on my desktop.

As always, I have to reserve my greatest thanks for my family: my amazing kids, and my wife, Christina. Your love, encouragement, and profound sense of the ridiculous are constant reminders of the everyday magic, which is the most important kind of all. A guy couldn’t ask for more.