Bloodmetal — Darin Bradley

A feud between two rival families is about to create international warfare. Desperate to reclaim territory that was once part of their ancestral lands, the Astafo family plots against their distant cousin, Pedir Seda, and his mysterious favor with the prime minister.Pivotal to this conflict is a secret tucked away on Seda's lands-The Holy Sanguinary Academy for the Lame and the Orphaned. Hundreds of children and adolescents, many of whom are unwanted bastards sent to the orphanage by their noble fathers, earn their keep at the clandestine academy by cultivating delicate crops commissioned by the Eastreign Consortium for Inquisition Mechanics.The Consortium needs these crops for a new reagent that will tip the balance of power in their favor. The Salvation Church, under the guise of the orphanage, is helping create the reagent by commissioning the help of the powerful cartel known as The Shroud.These conspiracies bring an unlikely band of heroes together as the secrets of political corruption, profiteering, and warfare light the spark to turn a family feud into the greatest war ever seen.Part western, part Victoriana, Bloodmetal spans dusty frontiers and marble ballrooms, slinging swords, corsets, and gun barrels in a new, modern fantasy.