About the Author

Russell Kirkpatrick fell in love with waterfalls as a teenager, and remembers running the track to Devil's Punchbowl Falls in Arthur's Pass, still one of his favourite New Zealand waterfalls. After completing a Ph.D. in Geography he worked as Deputy Editor of the New Zealand Historical Atlas, then authored Contemporary Atlas New Zealand and a number of other atlas projects. He has also published fiction, including two fantasy trilogies: his debut novel Across The Face Of The World was the best-selling debut fantasy novel of 2008 in the USA. He works part-time as a lecturer at the University of Waikato.