Tom Come-Along is the humble son of an innkeeper, whose father died in a tragic accident a few years earlier. One day an old man by the name of Andalarian visits the inn and makes the absurd claim that he is from an ancient Order of Wizards who rule the world. Not only this, but he offers Tom an Apprenticeship. After a combative discussion with the old man, in which he catches his first glimpse of magical power, Tom begins to see the light ? and also the world of opportunities that this change of career might afford him. He promptly gives up innkeeping and, leaving his poor, widowed mother, sets off on a journey with the old man. However Andalarian is intent upon gathering seven Apprentices in all, Tom being merely the first of them. Tom is duly invested a short time later and he accepts his charge. The first problem is that there are plenty of Dark persons who like the world just the way it is and do not want it 'set to right'. The second problem is that most of the surviving dragons are on their side, not Tom's. And the third problem, which is arguably the most serious, is that the whole world is cursed, no one seems to knows the location of the curse, and the curse itself is reputed to be unbreakable! For these reasons and others, it doesn't take long before it dawns upon the young man that this calling might take up a good deal more of his life than simply a few days...