About the Author

Mercedes Lackey is a New York Times bestselling author. She started writing in her early teens and developed her skills by creating fan-fiction for various amateur magazines. In the 1980s she took a job programming computers for a major airline and as a consequence moved to Oklahoma, where she continued perfecting her writing skills and was mentored by experienced authors like C.J. Cherryh.  
 
In 1985, her first book was published. In 1990 she met artist Larry Dixon at a small science fiction convention in Meridian, Mississippi, on a television interview organized by the convention. They began working together from that time on and were married in Las Vegas at the Excalibur chapel by Merlin the Magician (aka the Reverend Duckworth) in 1992.  
 
She has nearly 150 books in print and some of her foreign editions can be found in Russian, German, Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Turkish, and Japanese. She is the author—alone or in collaboration—of the Hunter, Heralds of Valdemar, Elemental Masters, Secret World Chronicles, 500 Kingdoms, Diana Tregarde, Heirs of Alexandria, Obsidian Mountain, Dragon Jouster, Bedlam Bards, Shadow Grail, and other series and standalone books.   











Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Cody has been living in SW Florida since the mid-90's. Thus far, he has avoided death by mosquitos, sun poisoning, and Florida drivers, among other things. When he's not dodging premature death, he occupies his time playing with swords, guns, climbing on tall things, and chained to his computer as a journeyman writer. He has written written ten novels, all with his mentor Mercedes Lackey. These include the Secret World Chronicle braided novel series, two entries for SERRAted Edge, an entry for the Exiled Series, and two previous entries in the Reboots series.

Reviews

“Lackey (the Valdemar series) and Martin (the Secret World Chronicles series) go all in on the offbeat, crafting a universe where vampires, werewolves, and zombies are real—and also astronauts. Normal humans (“Norms”) have dealt with the problems created by ferocious undead beings by shipping them off-planet. Their ensuing spacefaring adventures are chronicled here in four parts. Part one, “Bad Moon Rising,” introduces talking zombie Skinny Jim who conceals his ability to speak to avoid being exterminated after an ill-fated war launched by a zombie emperor, a conflict that led to an alliance between Norms, the Fangs, and the Furs. Part two, “Just the Right Bullets,” leans heavily on Casablanca and Maltese Falcon references, introducing an ethereal parahuman PI named Boggart who quotes Rick Blaine. Boggart recurs in the following sections as well, which continue to navigate interspecies relationships in claustrophobic extraterrestrial environments. Most of the humor works (“There’s not a lot of intellectual stimulation amongst Zombies, if you don’t count munching on the occasional rehydrated brain. You don’t find us sitting around discussing Kierkegaard”) and the fast pace keeps the pages turning. The light approach, signaling that the authors aren’t taking this genre mash-up too seriously, helps suspend disbelief. It’s unfettered oddball entertainment.”—Publisher’s Weekly