"Once upon a time, in a gloomy castle on a lonely hill"—this is the setting of The Thirteen Clocks. Though the prince comes from distant Zorna and, with the Golux, wanders on a quest to win Saralinda, the center of the story is this gloomy castle. Here lives the "cold, aggressive Duke," with the princess whom he claims is his niece. Here are the thirteen clocks that will not run because the Duke has murdered time within Coffin Castle. The cold and dark castle is the ideal setting for the Duke, with its silent clocks; its sinister spies; its cavernous, dimly lit rooms; and, outside, the man-eating geese who devour whomever the Duke executes.

This is a fairy tale setting, where magic spells are cast and mythical beings such as the Golux and the Todal live. In this land lives Hagga, placed under a spell that...