Aetherial Worlds

Acknowledgments

My deepest gratitude to my lifelong agent, Andrew Wylie, and to Jacqueline Ko.

To my thoughtful and erudite editor George Andreou and his tireless editorial assistant Brenna McDuffie for their attention to every word.

To my dear translator Anya Migdal for re-creating my world in English, and to Alice and Anton for letting me borrow her.

To my beloved sons, Artemy and Alexei, for making me who I am today.

And last but certainly not least, to my eternal friend and sole advisor, Alexander Timofeevsky, for round-the-clock literary support.

The story “Aetherial Worlds” is dedicated to my friend John Shemyakin, with love.