Destiny's Road

I turned in a draft of Destiny's Road in August 1996, four years overdue. I knew it was an ambitious project, and I flinched from it.

This book is for the people who waited, or advised me, or egged me gently On:

Marilyn, my wife, who reminded me of overdue contracts from time to time;

Tom Doherty, my publisher, who was quietly patient; my former agent Eleanor Wood, with no stake in the book, who waited with the rest;

Jerry Pournelle, my frequent collaborator, who made numerous valuable suggestions as did Robert Gleason, my frequent editor; and Michael Whelan who displayed his magnificent cover painting at the Chicago Worldcon five years ago. He has waited with no patience at all. Our landscapes no longer quite match... but the tree on the peak is his, and I snatched it up and made it the Destiny fool cage.

Thank you all.