Austin Aslan - The Islands at the End of the World

Thank you, Julie Just, my agent, for loving this book so deeply and for fighting for it every step of the way. And a special shout-out goes to Shoshana Shoenfeld for making sure Julie saw my query.

Wendy Lamb, my publisher and editor, I am especially indebted to you. Thank you for everything, for believing in me, for being patient, for sharing your unparalleled gifts, for loving Hawai`i, and for having a sweet tooth for crazy plot twists. I am grateful to your talented team members, as well, including Dana Carey; Alison Impey, whose cover design is amazing; Trish Parcell, for her attention and care to the interior design; and copy editors Ellie Robins, Colleen Fellingham, and Alison Kolani, who expertly navigated not only the intricacies of English, but the Hawaiian language as well!

I’d like to acknowledge the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, and especially the `Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo, for inspiring a tale, and for letting me walk endlessly through their halls, absorbing the amazing stories and wonder of Hawai`i. I am also grateful to countless sources who have made Hawaiian culture and mythology publicly accessible via the Web. Alan Weisman, you may recognize a concept or two burrowed into these pages from your awesome book The World Without Us . Thank you for your thoughtful research and inspiration.

Any errors, typos, or failures in the book are mine alone.

Finally, I’d like to tip my hat to the life and great works of my father-in-law, Jerry, a teacher and a writer, whose final words of encouragement to me were “I know you’ll get published one day, Austin.”