Ashes and Iron Backbones

The tempo of this book diverges from the rapid fire of genre fiction. This is a narrative of authentic manhood, and its rhythm is deliberately measured. The opening moves slowly, yet should you find a glimmer of interest, I humbly beg your patience through the early chapters.：

The Luminous Empire, after three hundred years of glory, is sliding into stagnation. The nobility hoards the secrets of swordsmanship, while common folk scratch out a living on barren soil. Twenty years ago, the "Dawn Uprising" sought to shatter the iron wall of class privilege. It was crushed, but its embers never died.
 
In the northern reaches of the Empire, in the Grayspine Province, lies Ironspine Town.
 
It yields rough iron and hardy crops—and people of quiet, unyielding grit.
 
The two sons of the Stone Shoulder family will walk very different paths of the sword. One will root himself in his hometown, the other will journey far from home. Their blades may never cross, yet their will, forged in the mountains and mines of Grayspine Province, will together carve the epic of ordinary men.