{"product_id":"the-blacksmiths-son-the-gentle-blade-2","title":"The Blacksmith's Son - The Gentle Blade [Pre-Order] (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" data-start=\"218\" data-end=\"291\"\u003eCorren Vale was nine years old when the Empire burned his village to ash.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"293\" data-end=\"463\"\u003eBy nightfall, his father was dead, his home was gone, and Corren had been stripped of his name and sent to an imperial mine where survival meant learning one lesson fast:\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"465\" data-end=\"497\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"465\" data-end=\"497\"\u003eEverything has a weak point.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"499\" data-end=\"567\"\u003eHis father taught him that at the forge. Iron. Stone. Tools. People.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"569\" data-end=\"610\"\u003eYears of slavery teach him how to use it.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"612\" data-end=\"894\"\u003eWhen Corren is dragged from the mines and thrown into the Empire’s arena, that same instinct becomes the only thing keeping him alive. Bigger fighters can be studied. Techniques can be stolen. Pain can be endured. Every opponent has something that can break if he looks long enough.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"896\" data-end=\"937\"\u003eAnd Corren is very, very good at looking.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"939\" data-end=\"1239\"\u003eBut surviving the arena means becoming useful to the same Empire that destroyed everything he loved. Winning means killing people who may be just as trapped as he is. And every new weapon Corren adds to his arsenal makes it a little harder to remember where survival ends and something colder begins.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1241\" data-end=\"1263\"\u003eHe doesn’t want glory.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1265\" data-end=\"1294\"\u003eHe doesn’t want to be a hero.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1296\" data-end=\"1317\"\u003eHe wants his freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1319\" data-end=\"1381\"\u003eHe wants the people he loves to survive long enough to see it.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1383\" data-end=\"1451\"\u003eAnd he has a list of names for everyone who made sure they wouldn’t.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1713\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1473\"\u003eThe Gentle Blade\u003c\/strong\u003e is the first volume of \u003cstrong data-start=\"1497\" data-end=\"1521\"\u003eThe Blacksmith’s Son\u003c\/strong\u003e, an adult grimdark progression fantasy about survival, trauma, found family, and what happens when a child taught to find the weakness in everything eventually turns that lesson on an empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp data-start=\"1715\" data-end=\"1880\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1715\" data-end=\"1879\"\u003eFor readers who want progression earned through blood, character-driven combat, complicated morality, and consequences that don’t disappear when the fight ends.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandler McKinney","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44087324409915,"sku":"9642588000075","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0623\/0553\/4011\/files\/Blacksmiths_Son_W_Fonts-Copy_0983adc9-6777-4603-8972-d9d9d4adf553.png?v=1788235756","url":"https:\/\/cjastrea.com\/products\/the-blacksmiths-son-the-gentle-blade-2","provider":"C.J. Astrea","version":"1.0","type":"link"}