A rich, absorbing fantasy follows a rebellious teen on his journey through the Perilous Realm, where dreams, fairy tales, and reality intersect. When Will crashes his father’s motorcycle and stumbles into the Perilous Realm, all he wants is to find his way back to the world he knows. But he cannot get back the way he came, and as he soon discovers, his story is bound up with this mysterious land and with the very fabric of Story itself. Will is befriended by many strange people and creatures—including Rowen, a girl with a special destiny of her own, and Shade, an unusual wolf—but he is also pursued by dark forces under the control of Malabron, otherwise known as the Night King, the Master of Fetches, and the Storyeater. As Will’s path crosses those of the inhabitants—both innocent and malevolent—of this strange new world, his choices will determine not only his own fate, but that of his new friends in the Perilous Realm.

"The Perilous Realm is not just a world with stories in it. This world is Story. Whatever you might find in a story, you will find here. Adventures, strange encounters, riddles. Heroes and monsters. Bravery, goodness and terrible evil." Will has returned from his exhilarating adventure in the Realm and is back at home with his family trying to go through the motions of ordinary life. But he is dogged by feelings of restlessness and is desperate to see Rowen again. It's not long before he obeys the irresistible pull to return to Fable and resumes his quest. Will is shocked to discover that in the time since he left he's become a legend. He is greeted as a returning hero. Soon enough, Will may have to test his true Rowen is missing and in great danger. Will must stop the evil Malabron before Rowen and all of Fable are swept up by his wicked scheme.

In this, the conclusion to the sweeping Perilous Realm trilogy, Will and Rowen journey through the Shadow Realm—a wasteland of deserted cities and abandoned belongings—to rescue Rowen's grandfather, the loremaster Nicholas Pendrake, and confront the evil Malabron once and for all. As they travel, they encounter blood-sucking harrowers and wraith-like fetches, and they must also confront the reality that their dear friend Shade is returning to his wolf-life state and will soon pose a grave threat to them both. And they have no time to waste, for war looms back in Fable, where the dastardly Ammon Brax has installed himself as Marshall and has plans to claim the city for himself. What will become of Shade, Pendrake, and the people of Fable? Will Rowen and Will be able to find Malabron at the Tree of Story and break his wicked spell before it's too late?