Thanks to the band the Oh Hellos for their song “Caesar,” the ending of which I have always envisioned playing in the scene where Ballast comes over the ridge with the sun rising and his animal army behind his back—that song was one of the main reasons I didn’t want to give up on this book, and it still gives me goose bumps. While the Dark Remains is essentially a love letter to Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief. Anyone who has read it will understand why. So thank you, Megan, for writing a book that has inspired me many times over.
