An island where the people are made of glass filled with coloured sand. Where each section of the island obeys its own laws of space and time, as separate from one another as individual mosaic pieces, but still belonging to a particular whole. The residents are not aware of the special nature of their island, however. Characters such as the beaming prince in love with traversing the rafters of his palace as if he were a burglar, the lady in the clock tower using steam and metal to shape time itself, the gardener researching organic matter, and the astronomer who can never take his eyes off of the stars, all of them and more each help piece together the nature of this strange island.