Serpentblood: Crown of the World-King

Twenty-year-old Aldric Vane is the finest thief in the Serpentir College and the laziest prodigy in a hundred years. When he runs away from his masters, he rescues a wounded nine-tailed fox cub and stumbles into the hidden lair of Sorran the Ember Serpent, who reveals that the crimson eyes Aldric has hidden all his life carry the awakened blood of the World-Father himself. Reforged with three ember-cores and a serpent's burning heart, Aldric must become the crown the world needs: a Serpentblood king who can gather the bloodlines of humans and beastkin alike before the Loom, a machine that devours souls, harvests them all. From the burning cities of the mortal realm to the silver roads of the Grey Courts and the storm-torn worlds of the Far Realm, Aldric fights with a sword that is a woman, a fox who refuses to leave his side, and the fierce, brilliant women who choose to bind themselves to his crown. War-gods, ice goddesses, river queens, crusading angels, and a spider queen weaving a web of stolen souls all stand between him and the machine's master. To save the world, he must become its king, and to become its king, he must first be willing to lose everything. A full-arc epic fantasy of thievery, forbidden blood, adult passion, and world-spanning war, inspired by the premise of an old cultivation legend and rebuilt as an original Western serpent-magic saga.