It is 1892, and Sophia Tims is coming home to Boston, having risked her life in search of her missing parents. Now she is aboard a ship with a cryptic map that may help her find them at long last. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful: sinkholes are swallowing parts of the city whole, rogue weirwinds tear up the Baldlands, and a horrifying red fog is turning innocent minds violent. Worst of all, New Occident is caught up in a war that could lead countless men and boys - including Sophia's best friend, Theo - to their deaths.
As Sophia puzzles out her next move and Theo braces himself to fight, the red fog of war rises and New Occident's future hangs in the balance... But how can Sophia and her friends halt the seemingly unstoppable force of the Crimson Skew?
As Sophia puzzles out her next move and Theo braces himself to fight, the red fog of war rises and New Occident's future hangs in the balance... But how can Sophia and her friends halt the seemingly unstoppable force of the Crimson Skew?