LARRY NIVEN is the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of the Ringworld series, along with many other science fiction masterpieces. His "Beowulf's Children," co-authored with Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Chatsworth, California. BRENDA COOPER has published many short stories, including a collaboration, "Ice and Mirrors," with Larry Niven in Scatterbrain. She lives in Kirkland, Washington.