The story takes place in 18th century London, and follows an orphan boy named Cirrus Flux.

When he was born, his explorer father, James Flux, left him at an orphanage while he carried out his duties to the Guild of Empirical Sciences.

Now the only known place where the light can allegedly be found is inside a token left for Cirrus Flux by his father.

[2] Now, 12 years later, Cirrus is on the run from his orphanage, where a member of the Guild of Empirical Sciences has come seeking him and his token.

She concluded that it was not as good as Skelton's previous book, but "still shows a young, talented author stretching his craft"[4]