The Curse of the Gloamglozer
The Edge Chronicles: The Quint Saga • Book 1
Why You'll Love This
A city built on a floating rock chained to the earth sounds absurd — until Stewart and Riddell make it feel like the only world that ever mattered.
- Great if you want: richly invented fantasy worlds with real darkness underneath
- The experience: atmospheric and adventure-driven, with a creeping sense of dread
- The writing: Stewart's prose and Riddell's intricate illustrations build the world together seamlessly
- Skip if: dense world-building without immediate plot momentum frustrates you
About This Book
Deep inside the floating rock-city of Sanctaphrax, something ancient and malevolent is stirring — and fourteen-year-old Quint Verginix may be the only one who notices. Son of a sky pirate captain, Quint arrives in this extraordinary city built atop a great tethered boulder drifting above the earth, where academics bicker over clouds and politics while a far more immediate danger festers beneath their feet. Stewart and Riddell build genuine dread here: the stakes are enormous, the world is dizzyingly inventive, and Quint's isolation — his father gone, surrounded by strangers — gives the adventure real emotional weight.
What makes this book remarkable is the density and confidence of its world-building. The Edge Chronicles universe operates by its own fully realized logic — strange creatures, peculiar politics, and an atmosphere that feels gothic and wondrous in equal measure. Riddell's intricate illustrations are woven throughout the text rather than decorating it, creating a reading experience where image and prose genuinely reinforce each other. Stewart's writing rewards close attention, rewarding curious readers who want a fantasy world they can actually get lost in rather than simply move through.
