Philip Pullman meets Michael Scott in this thrilling ride aboard a stolen airship on a quest to save the world! Twin brother and sister, Lenis and Missy, are slaves aboard the powerful airship the Hiryu - but when the airship is stolen on its maiden voyage, they find themselves working for a captain whose noble quest seems to make no sense. Relentlessly pursued by the Emperor's own airships, they fly over the perilous Wasteland, where corrupted Demons lie in wait. When Lenis dreams of Apsilla, the Blue Dragon of the East, the captain decides to help the twins find Apsilla's daughter. The survival of the last Totem may be their only hope - but will they find Apsilla's egg in time, or will their enemies find them first?

Twins Lenis and Missy's work as slaves consists of communicating telepathically with the creatures that power the mighty airship Hiryū, but when the ship is stolen they are compelled to join the captain on a quest to find the dragon's egg.

Attempts to bring together evidence of seventeenth-century voyages from Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands to North America and the West Indies.

"Here is a wonderful and wittily written introduction to science as the art of asking open questions and not jumping to conclusions. It's also an amusing excursion through evolution and anthropology which packs in a lot of learning with the lightest of touches. A much-needed antidote to the bludgeoning crudity of so much writing in both science and religion." REVEREND DOCTOR MALCOLM GUITE Poet, singer-songwriter, priest, and academic Chaplain at Girton College Cambridge Join Harriet, Darwin's pet tortoise, and Milton, Schrodinger's indecisive cat on a time-travelling quest of discovery, unravelling scientific exploration and religious beliefs and how they fit together. Throughout the centuries humans have been looking for answers to BIG questions - how did the universe start? Is there a God behind it? Has science explained away the need for a God, or can faith enhance scientific discovery? On this adventure, Harriet and Milton meet the great Victorian scientists. Voyage with Darwin as he worked out his theory of Evolution. Step into Harriet and Milton's time machine, bring some snacks, and enjoy this curious quest of discovery. Written by Julia Golding, winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2006, and the Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2006.