In a world of grit, oil, dust, and mud, the scars of war weep bitter bile. Legends of warrior-mages still echo through taverns and throne rooms as a different breed of soldier is trained in the use of the deadliest weapons ever forged: pistol, rifle, and cannon. On the island of Krace, amid skyscrapers thrusting upward from the shoulders of the ancient culhainne forest, a king is dying, and with him his dream for lasting peace. For in a world filled...