One beastly beast : (two aliens, three inventors, four fantastic tales)

One beastly beast that's more than meets the eye. Two aliens with slimy tentacles and too many eyes fixed on adopting a human son. Three inventors and a sea serpent, a princess, an orphanage, and two ships full of pirates. Four fantastic tales by renowned fantasy author Garth Nix. A collection of four fantasy tales in which a boy joins a strange navy in pursuit of video pirates, a neglected princess seeks adventure, an orphaned inventor seeks the perfect parents, and a genius girl faces a sea serpent