Shards of Ash

The fire demands a song. In the industrial archipelago of Mahukora, survival is forged in the fires of the Brotherhood of the Anvil Star. For Kiri, a "Songsmith" who hears the music trapped within stone, life is a series of stifling quotas and rigid templates. In a society where "uncontrolled creation" is a crime, Kiri's gift is her greatest heresy. But the mountain is restless. As deep tremors threaten the continent, Kiri and her brother Paren-a "fire-touched" boy with embers in his blood-are pushed to the breaking point by a cruel regime. When a desperate escape leads them into the heart of the Domita Wastes, they encounter a radical cell of insurgents. Here, Kiri is offered a choice: endure a slow death under the Brotherhood's hammer, or be remade in the peridot flames of the Twin Spiral. In a world of stagnant order, the only hope is the ash of what comes next.