Where to start? Read a book 15 years ago. Front cover has dumb-looking picture of a guy standing broadside with a blaster/pistol in hand. Might be standing on some rubble. Nowhere in the book does main character touch a gun. He's some sort of gentry. Guns are a rare thing. Gentry train with gentlemen weapon...sword. He winds up getting dumped on a dump planet. His sword skills make him king of the thief world eventually. Early on he is trying to escape and gets marked as a runner. He gets his ear shot off and they think he's dead...this is when he gets shipped off to be dumped. He wears some fake brass ear.

Sorry, that's a bad description and really all I remember. Would love to find this book again.