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.

Paul Kearney was born in Northern Ireland. He studied Old Norse, Middle English and Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, and subsequently lived for several years in both Denmark and the United States. At present he and his family live by the sea in County Down. www.paulkearneyonline.com