As he tries to find an antidote to his intelligence, he undergoes several adventures; saving Tandy from the dream realm in a plant called a hypnogourd and smashing the Gap Dragon.

Cut to a year later, we find Smash the half-ogre travelling to the Good Magician Humfrey seeking to solve a vague dissatisfaction about himself.

After the vine, they encounter an assortment of females of various magical races, each needing to fulfill a personal quest including a dryad who needs to protect her tree from woodsmen, the wingless fairy John looking for her similarly incorrectly named counterpart to switch back, Centaur Chem, a longtime friend with the talent of magic mapping who wants to chart more of Xanth, Blythe Brassie who accidentally leaves her hypnogourd homeworld to come to the real Xanth, a mermaid looking for love, and others.

As the travels continue, each female does find what she is looking for, eventually, although Smash's strength saps out of him a little at a time as his soul is gradually recalled as the days pass.

He finally does arrive at the home of the Ancestral Ogres but notes how stupid and ugly they really are and decides he does not want to stay with them, though, when they threaten Tandy he commits to fighting to save her.

As a man, Smash is no match for the demon, but manages to transform back to ogre form, and is able to defeat Fiant permanently, though again his human intelligence is needed to win this battle.