Michael Riven has fallen off a mountain. The author is broken in both
body and mind, as the fall also claimed his wife and climbing partner
Jenny. Readers are desperate to know what will happen next in the
fantasy world Minginish, but neither writing, nor living, are of
interest to the author as he lies in traction. But there are others
seeking the scribe out. Men - and someone who is not all human - have
begun a quest to rescue their blighted homeland, and their road will
take them between worlds. Michael Riven will return to his home in
Scotland, and accompany a stranger into a place altogether more familiar
and terrifying: Minginish itself, a real place stranger even than the
world of his novels. Michael must take up the companions of his
stories - Bicker, Ratagan and Murtach - and find a way to mend the
sundered world. He may even find that Jenny's existence did not end that
day on the mountain.