Timothy Zahn is the winner of the coveted Hugo Award for his novella "Cascade Point" and is author of the New York Times best-selling Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire. Born in Chicao, he earned a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. Selling his first story to Analog in 1978, he quickly attracted attention as a new writer of "hard" science fiction, based on real, cutting-edge science. In addition to his novels for Baen set in the Cobra universe, he has also written such popular series as the "Blackcollar," "Conqueror," and "Dragonback" novels. Other recent novels include Angelmass and Manta's Gift. He and his family currently live in Oregon.