Scoundrel Cugel is sent far away, by a magician he has wronged, to retrieve magical lenses that reveal the Overworld. Goaded by a homesick monster magically attached to his liver, he journeys across wastelands home to Almery. With a cult group on a pilgrimage, he crosses the Silver Desert, and meets more danger and betrayal as he betrays others.

Pity poor Cugel. Not for nothing is he known as the Clever, hero of a hundred mischiefs. But this time the Laughing Magician has triumphed - and Cugel is marooned, penniless, half a world from home. His return to Almery will be extended and exhausting. And Cugel has only his flamboyant resourceful cleverness to rely upon. A lesser mortal might quail, but Cugel...is Cugel.