There is a vast variety of different species of sentient creatures, all of whom either have made alliances with the humans, or hunt them as a source of food.

Stopmouth himself (who is said to be around 5,000 days old, around 13 years old) is constantly overlooked and overshadowed because of both his stuttering speech impediment and his more popular brother, Wallbreaker.

Stopmouth (having travelled to a distant part of the land) eventually becomes the surrogate chief of a tribe of religious humans who are on the verge of being wiped out by a strange race of creatures.

Stopmouth is devastated by this, but eventually they reconcile, as Indrani has come to a different view of his people, and now holds a degree of respect for them where there had only been disdain before.

His first novel was The Inferior, book one of The Bone World Trilogy, which was published by David Fickling in 2007 (2008 in the U.S.A.).