Eric Nylund is the author of Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike, as well as the epic mythology series beginning with Mortal Coils and All That Lives Must Die, and The Resisters series for middle grade readers. Born in the Los Angeles area, Nylund grew up in the mountains and pine forests of Truckee, California, and the Joshua trees and rattlesnakes of the Mojave Desert. He earned degrees in chemistry at U.C. Santa Barbara and U.C. San Diego before leaving his Ph.D. program to become a writer. Besides writing his novels, he is the Director of Narrative Design at Microsoft Game Studios. He lives near Seattle on a rain-drenched mountain with his wife, Syne Mitchell, and their son.