Foundling By D. M. Cornish: Summary

The book, Foundling by D.M. Cornish, is a tale where a orphan boy is recruited to the government to be a lamplight. The story starts off with a orphan boy named Rossamund who was dropped off at the orphanage when he was still a baby. A fellow orphan boy named Gosling bullies him constantly because of his girly name. Soon, a hooded man comes to the orphanage and recruits Rossamund to become a lamplighter (a person who keeps the lamps on the roads lit so they can fend off the monsters). When Rossamund is sent to the harbor to get on a ship to High Vesting, he accidently boards the wrong ship. This ship, the Hogsmead, happens to be full of smugglers. After escaping the ship, Rossamund ventures off into the wilderness where he attempts to find

his way to the capital city. When on the road, a carriage stops and offers him safe passage. This is where Rossamund mets Europe (a fulgar, who can emit lighting to kill monsters), and her leer companion. When traveling with Europe they come along to the Misbegotten Shrewd (a large monster), who shows no threat to the three travelings at all, but Europe kills the large monster. Rossamund feels sympathy for the poor creature. When they reach a nearby town, Europe let's Rossamund discover the town on his own, but he runs into the same smugglers which he escaped from. They take him back to the ship and lock him away. There he finds that the smugglers were smuggling revermen (a mix of dead monsters and humans). Thankfully, Europe comes and rescues Rossamund, then they sent off to the capital city where Rossamund can begin his training as a Lamplighter.