Metal from Heaven

Marney lost her family and her best friend when their employer, ichorite baron Yann Chauncey, broke their strike with a massacre. She, the sole survivor, is lustertouched, a hallucinatory illness that develops in ichorite workers. After building a career as a bandit, Marney sees a chance for revenge when Chauncey’s daughter invites eligible suitors to compete for her hand in marriage. She’ll have to fake a noble identity and conceal her past long enough to outlast the competition, charm an heiress, and strike her enemy down. This novel is a rollicking, anti-capitalist fever dream with vivid prose that grows hallucinogenic at points from Marney’s illness and all-encompassing grief. The worldbuilding is as intricate as the language, with vying factions and different religious traditions that complicate her quest for vengeance.