The story is set in a fantasy time, possibly during the Stone Age, when two groups of people are fighting for the right to rule over the kingdom. In the one family, Caspia is a thought thief, the daughter of Elin, who is an evil queen who wants to harness the power of the sun. In the other family, Maia knows she can catch the sun. She has two friends, Kodo, who is a lizard boy and Razek who both protect her along the journey.

Maia's guardian is Tareth, a weaver, who needs the silk and ability to weave in order to remain powerful. Maia sets out to restore the moth garden for him where the moths weave silk with the help of Kodo. While he is searching for gold in the desert en-route, Caspia pretends to be Maia, and uses her lizards to charm Kodo. Elin meanwhile tries to kill the serving girl who is helping Kodo. He manages to escape and goes with Razek to his island home, which is protected by seaweed, of which he is responsible. Because he had deserted his home and responsibilities, the villagers put him on trial and decided that they would tie him to a rock by means of seaweed and see if he survived being covered by the high tide. If he did, he would be forgiven. Maia and Kodo help him survive by using hollow seaweed tubes to breathe through, and he is eventually accepted back with his people. Unfortunately the lord of Razek's home finds out that Maia is the sun catcher and imprisons her. Luckily she escapes and returns home with the help of Kodo's enormous swimming lizards.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, as although they are fortunate to escape, the future hangs in the balance. The book took a few chapters to actually get into, as it is slow-moving, but it starts to speed up and then is un-put-downable! The imagery used allows you to get under the skin of the characters and makes them very believable. I would recommend the book for people who like stories full of action and fantasy.

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