Princess Mabelrose lives in the small kingdom of New Tinsley, raised by her kind parents, King Jeryk and Queen Helena.
Mabelrose, who isn't the fairest in the land, gets captured by an evil dragon and, lacking princes to rescue her, decides to escape on her own.
Unlike most fairy tales, when she arrives at the ball, the other princesses made fun of her uncouth, un-princess-like features, and her clothes, and the prince never even noticed her.
She is then kidnapped by a fearsome dragon named Shalathrumnostrium, using his power of making her feel weak.
Since there is no hope for a noble prince to rescue Mabelrose, and because her kingdom does not have the funds to pay the dragon's ransom, she decides to escape on her own.
When she is caught in a bush of magic thorns, she meets a talking porcupine named Spiky.
Shalathrumnostrium is always trying to track her down and bring her back to his castle, but she uses her quick wits and tomboyish skills to escape every time.
When she is at the Kingdom of Leptia, Shalathrumnostrium attempts to settle things with her once and for all, but she discovers the true power of a magical flute, and destroys him.
His hobby is to kidnap or "collect" princesses, and force the Kings and Queens to pay ransom in gold.
The trolls always fail to find Mabelrose and in the second book, Shalathrumnostrium crashes headlong into a cliff, killing Mukhorgouroth.
After a long time of praying, their dream came true, and Queen Helena birthed a daughter, Mabelrose.
When Mabelrose is kidnapped, King Jeryk risks his life to find her, even though she is far in the Unremembered Lands.
Spiky regularly catches the rope moving, or helping them and has developed a sort of friendship with it, but Mabelrose refuses to believe him.
Other stories alluded to include The Wizard of Oz, Princess and the Pea, The Pied Piper, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Rapunzel.