In the world of Mariopa, everyone is a magician. Even animals and plants use the ever present magical stuff some of the inhabitants call pollen to enhance their lives. For fourteen-year-old Sam Smith, it is a huge problem. Lightning went through his five-year-old body nine years ago and burned out his ability to manipulate pollen. He became, in that life-defining moment, a boy without magic in a world filled with it and he is still struggling with the aftereffects. He is banished from his home and goes on a village tour with a friendly healer to find that life outside his home town is filled with more adventure, peril, and promise than he ever imagined. Edition 2 is updated with a change in the initial start of the book along with a fresh edit and a new cover more appropriate to the story.

When Sam Smith joins the Royal Constabulary as an apprentice in the Investigative Division, his disability is kept a secret, but his experiences the previous summer have given him an edge over the other constable-apprentices creating a vicious jealousy. Life doesn’t get much easier, even as Sam learns from the crimes he helps solve with his partner. In fact, he finds that as he gets closer to finding a master criminal, people start getting killed, more daring crimes are committed, and Sam gets closer to risking his life.

Sam Smith, formerly an Apprentice Investigator of the Baskin Royal Constabulary, boards his ship of exile. Not having a home, he doesn’t have much choice other than to sail to the far off land of Vaarek. His voyage becomes filled with death, insurrection, and pirates on the land and the sea, amid exposure to unfamiliar cultures. Sam must tread carefully, as his nose for snooping is called upon at his ports of call, especially since his arch-enemy from Baskin is one of his fellow voyagers.

Returning to his home continent, Sam Smith expects his life to return to normal, but his hopes are dashed as the northern half of Holding is embroiled in an international war. To reclaim his place in Toraltian society, Sam must use his talent with a blade to navigate through war, politics, and personal grudges to find the home that he seeks.

Sam Smith finally arrives at Tolloy to attend university. He takes to the sword and joins the dueling team while the Dictator Viktar Kreb begins to tighten his hold on the city and the country. Challenges begin to blossom where Sam must develop new talents in order to survive a continent about to descend into chaos.