“The great vaulted entrance-hall to the Palace of Shadows was silent save for the hiss of the wind and the soft, yet echoing footfall of the immense insect-like creature that teetered unsteadily across the marble floor.”

From Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell’s The Edge Chronicles: Curse of the Gloamglozer.

As the son of the famous sky pirate Wind Jackal, fourteen-year-old Quint is used to experiencing amazing things. So when Quint’s father leaves him in the floating city of Sanctaphrax to be an assistant to the Most High Academe, Linius Pallitax, he is not happy. Also initially unhappy with Quint’s presence is Linius’ daughter, Maris, but the two form a gentle friendship over time. While helping Linius, Quint is intrigued by the Academe’s mysterious trip into one of the tunnels of the floating city’s Stonecomb, Quint decides to follow Linius into the tunnel on their next trip. While Quint knew that something was amiss after Linius returned from the previous trip in an unwell state, he is surprised to learn that Linius was working in the Ancient Laboratory. After a monster chases Quint out of the tunnels, he is reluctant to go back, but Maris’ fear for her father soon has Quint and Maris traveling back down to explore. Things quickly turn deadly and the two have to be saved by the High Librarian, Bungus, when Quint accidentally frees the newly-created-monster known as the Gloamglozer, every life on the Edge is placed in deadly danger.

This fantastical adventure series is built of several character-following trilogies put together to create a complete world. The illustrations scattered throughout the book highlight characters and places that are definitely odd, but it also seamlessly creates the foundation for the highly imaginative world. As the first book in the Quint Trilogy, Curse of the Gloamglozer creates a captivating story that will instantly pull readers into the action-packed fantasy world of The Edge Chronicles.