Being forced out by a mysterious magical barrier created after the death of the royal family, he wanders the lands in search of other exiles, trying to find out what happened to his home.

But when he discovers that the heir to the Lumaterean throne could still be alive, Finnikin must follow a young woman, Evanjalin, to save the prince and his kingdom.

[2] Finnikin of the Rock was first published in Australia on 29 September 2008 by Viking Press in trade paperback format.

Not since the days before the royal family's' murder, which put a curse on the whole of Lumatere, exiling all Lumatereans outside of the kingdom, and trapping the ones within.

But then, Finnikin is summoned to the Largrami Cloister in Sendecane to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar is alive.

They come to an exile camp and a man tells them that Lord August wants Finnikin and Sir Topher to travel to Belegonia.

At Belegonia, Finnikin and Sir Topher ask Lord August to ask the Belegonian king to spare a piece of land for the Lumateran exiles.

After the curse was cast upon Lumatere, he was captured along with his hand-picked guard, they were sent to work in the mines of their neighboring countries.

Evanjalin – A novice of the goddess Lagrami who joins Finnikin and his guardian Sir Topher on their quest to build a second Lumatere.

This makes it a fresh entry into a genre often beset by copycat stories; if there is anything Finnikin of the Rock is copying, it is the dark fairy tale feel of the Brothers Grimm.

"[6] Marchetta has stated that the cloister of Lagrami in the novel is based on the French island fortress of Mont Saint-Michel.