Rossamünd Bookchild is finally becoming a lamplighter. Sworn into the Emperor's service, his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor's highways, and protect all travelers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild. But he's found it no easier to fit in with the lamplighters than he ever has - always too small and too meek, his loneliness continues no matter how hard he tries to succeed. But when a haughty young girl, a member of a suspiciously-regarded society of all-women teratologists is forced upon the lamplighters for training, Rossamünd might no longer be the most despised soul around.