Exiled to live as a Low under the merciless rule of the Meritocracy, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But when behemoth sky serpents attack the floating island of Holmstead and devour Conrad’s ailing mother, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle’s clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.

Freshly recruited into Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, Conrad endures vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final challenge that pits Conrad’s skyship crew against the very terrors that orphaned him. As Conrad competes in the lowest of stations, he overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clo...

Exiled to live as a Low under the merciless rule of the Meritocracy, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But when behemoth sky serpents attack the floating island of Holmstead and devour Conrad’s ailing mother, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle’s clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.

Freshly recruited into Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, Conrad endures vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final challenge that pits Conrad’s skyship crew against the very terrors that orphaned him. As Conrad competes in the lowest of stations, he overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clo...