The Blood Debt: Books of the Cataclysm Two
Page 46
Synod—The body of select, high-ranking Stone Mages that cast judgments every month from the city of the Nine Stars.
Ulum—One of the great cities of the Interior, in the Desert Port Region.
Void Beneath—The emptiness connecting all things, and into which the minds of Change-workers might disappear if they exert themselves too greatly. Even partial exposure to the Void may irreversibly corrode memory.
The world of Sal, Shilly, and Skender owes much to my upbringing in South Australia and the Northern Territory. I am grateful to those readers who noted the source of this inspiration in the Books of the Change and encouraged me to continue mining. I've always maintained that it's a rich vein, and I'm certain now that it won't run out any time soon.
Specific thanks to: Julia Gosling, Sara Henschke, and Robin Potanin for wanting more; Rebekah Clarkson and K*m Mann for encouraging me to write from the heart; Kirsty Brooks for lessons in sassiness; Greg Bridges for another window into wonder; my niece Jessica for a simple misspelling; my mother, Heather Williams, and my family in Cowell and Mt. Ghearty for their patience; Richard Curtis for persistence and continued friendship; Stephanie Smith for, well, the usual (and no less wonderful it is for being so!); and everyone at HarperCollins for doing all the hard work.
The quotes in the second interlude and “The Wall” come from “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, while the quote in “The Wake” is an excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe's “Eldorado.” I owe the former, and a great deal of inspiration, to Kim Selling, to whom this book is dedicated, with love.
Sean Williams
Adelaide, September 2004
Adelaide author (and occasional DJ) SEAN WILLIAMS has published twenty-one novels and over sixty short stories. A multiple winner of Australia's speculative fiction awards, recipient of the “SA Great” Literature Award, and New York Times bestseller, he has also written a sci-fi musical and the odd piece of bad haiku. You can visit his Web site at www.seanwilliams.com.