[1] The novel is an Arthurian grail quest type of story set in a world "in which the modern lives side-by-side with the mythical," with kings, knights and magic co-existing with automobiles, electricity, and even cell phones.

A band of lost knights gives him a taste of a larger world, and he decides to seek his fortune in Severluna, the capital of the Wyvern King Arden.

Prince Daimon, illegitimate youngest son of King Arden, is a third viewpoint character, whose life is changed with his father reveals the truth about his mother and her hidden realm.

In the wake of this revelation the king gathers his knights and announces a quest to find a magical cauldron, an ancient, powerful artifact, entangling the lives of all three protagonists.

"[2] Michelle West, also in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, gives the book a "highly recommended" rating, praising McKillip as "an author of my youth who has never been visited by the suck fairies — or, putting it another way, rereading her as I get older reveals layers and textures in her writing I missed the first time through."

In lesser hands, the magic becomes the focus; in McKillip's, it's wed, always, to the people whom it affects, and the results of this are almost alchemical; she takes the base materials and transmutes the whole into pure gold.