The novel is set in the imagined world of Anoone. The central character, Ben Troon, a student wizard, meets fellow student Bliss Tarrant, and they fall in love. However, Ben is sent away to the distant city of Lochranza to continue his studies. He also works for bookseller and witch Ailsa Bleakwill. He loses touch with Bliss, and when he re-establishes contact, he finds to his dismay that she has found someone closer to home. He is distraught. To try and help him, Ailsa takes him to see Archmage Caerlugh, who gives him a mission to travel around the whole of Anoone and describe what he sees in a large book. He also gives him a travelling companion, the mysterious Motria. Together they set off into the unknown.