When Purity Drake, an orphan and product of the Royal Breeding House, discovers she is next on the breeding list she has to escape. On the run a man saves her life. Turns out he is a slave and running from the Polar Barbarians with news that terrible forces now aim to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals. The unlikely duo team up in the hope for a better chance of survival in this fantasy/Steampunk world. 
 Molly writes celestial fiction novels and is beginning to have strange visions from the Hexmachina. The stars are disappearing and a comet is heading back to Earth to take residence as a new moon - something is going on - and she needs to find Oliver Brookes for answers. 
 For all its imaginative world building flair and well-written prose, I couldn't get into this book. For me there was just too much going on, too many fantastical worlds, place names and fractions of which I had the feeling I was not getting the full picture. Usually I love the bizarreness of Steampunk, and I did enjoy learning about some of his characters, especially Coppertracks, the super-intelligent steamman - a nano-mechanical lifeform. But, that wasn't enough. I guess I am the kind of person that needs to read the previous two books in this series to get a true feel of the past happenings of Purity's world. Although, it's clear now it's not going to pass as a standalone story, I do hope to check out the previous books and at a later date, come back better equipped.