Authors: Anthony Huso
THE LAST PAGE
B
OOKS BY
A
NTHONY
H
USO
The Last Page
Black Bottle
Forthcoming
A
NTHONY
H
USO
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK
NEW YORK
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE LAST PAGE
Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Huso
All rights reserved.
Maps by Jon Lansberg
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2516-7
First Edition: August 2010
Printed in the United States of America
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FOR
S
LEN
I
OWE
a debt of gratitude to Marc Laidlaw for peddling my jank, Paula Guran for believing in it and Paul Stevens and the people at Tor for taking a chance.
I also want to thank Chris Duden and Gary Webb for their steadfast support and encouragement and James Papworth for being my first real mentor in writing.
Additionally, nothing in this book would be what it is without the infinite lost hours of Poy (Phanty), Chappy (Vlon), Tone (Rill) and Mike (Karakael) or “Jason: the Hermit” (and his assorted bloody sacrifices).
Thanks also to Barno, Bob, Suzy, Ted, Jen, Twi and of course Nikki.
I wrote this story because it Rained.
Bode Royal
suggests the thing was commissioned by an Ublisi, authored at S
th and bound in c
lshydra hide.
Page 349: the Ublisi is actually quoted, “Write
1
the math of Ahvêll
. Write everything your eyes foresee. We must find our way back . . . use a rune of
lian ink on the cover . . . it must be slippery . . . this codex must stay hidden in order to survive.”
Page 351: it is a red book containing, “Secret patterns on sheets of skin . . . a byname . . . no proper title . . . referred to sometimes as the
C
srym T
.”
—
PERSONAL NOTES OF
M
ORGAN
G
ULLOWS