Despite a belief that he's the greatest spellcaster ever born, Mallon is a middling wizard at best. His brother Lannigan's a better thief than Mallon is a wizard — or at least he would be, if one of Mallon's spells hadn't accidentally turned Lannigan into a gorilla.
While on the road to the distant kingdom of Retchnia in hopes of finding a way to reverse the spell and make Lannigan human again, a chance encounter with a prince on the run from a mercenary gang of kidnappers sets in motion an epic screwball adventure.
Joining forces with a dwarf who strides into battle on the shoulders of a giant, a scout as deadly with a bow as she is strikingly statuesque, and a healer who derives her powers from a jealous demigod living inside her own body, Mallon and Lannigan square off against monsters, zombies, magic gone awry, duplicitous minions, dragons, awkward courtships, and a demon out to destroy the world of Kaigoon — a world where magic is real, guild-sanctioned adventuring is a way of life, and idiots can sometimes, quite inadvertently, become heroes.