Ever since birth, Sophie Hatter had been destined for something that was quite out of her reach to change—her future, her success, they were measured only oleh the folklore and general understanding that surrounded the country of Ingary. Actually, one could argue whether it was Sophie's birth that had decided the whole matter of her well-being. Instead, it was probably the birth of her younger sisters that led the way to spell disaster for poor Sophie.

Her father owned a modest hat toko in a dowdy but still fairly interesting town called Market Chipping. Unlike the capital, Kingsbury, this town...