On the run from a government that wants their heads... In a steam-powered universe where the combustion engine never caught on, the government of one continent, Erivale, has banned creativity in all its forms and sent out monstrous machines to control the populace. When their artistic pursuits are discovered, Victoria the Writer, Nicola the Dancer, and Felix the Actor must pack everything they can and run into the vast desert of the Nothingness. After two years they're rescued by a rogue airship manned by the famous Frierson brothers, handsome Bernard, sour Alexander, and one-eyed Princeton, who are as determined as they are to take down the machines and get creativity reinstated. But with an unhinged policeman hot on their heels and a monarchy with secrets of its own, they can barely even hope to survive.