From: Ian BrowningSmith
Location: Illinois, United States
I was just curious how you came up with the names for the Ancient Human characters in the Forerunner books. They sound incredibly original, and despite all my research, I cannot find any source for the names (as Edom and Erda/Erde-Tyrene, Mars and Earth, did have some real-world basis). Did you just make them up?
From: Greg Bear
Ah, that would be telling! None of the names used in these books are the actual spirit names of the human characters. Rather, they are the calling-names assigned by shamans during initiation ceremonies in the sacred caves not too far from Marontik. Thanks, Ian!