Princess Sarene of Teod arrives in the capital city of Arelon for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, only to find her intended has died and she is considered his widow and responsible for the entire city's fate.
When a hero is needed to save the doomed kingdom of Mokia from the evil Librarians, thirteen-year-old Alcatraz Smedry, whose family talents include getting lost and breaking things, answers the call.
On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry receives a bag of sand which is immediately stolen by the evil Librarians who are trying to take over the world, and Alcatraz is introduced to his grandfather and his own special talent, and told that he must use it to save civilization.
Alcatraz and Grandpa Smedry make a pilgrimage to Crystallia in the Free Kingdom where they are shocked to find the city under siege by the Evil Librarians--led by Alcatraz's own mother.
At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny.
