Five children brave sorcery, monsters and deadly intrigue to search a magical land for their parents. Forced out of childhood and into a desperate race against time, the five witness the collapse of everything they believed to be safe and unchangeable. Not until they understand their own weaknesses and the frailty of those they love can they overcome the challenges that face them.
The story takes place at a time when men were pawns in the hands of magical beings: Qorik sages and face-changers. The setting is Accoria, one of several city-state kingdoms that make up the Manlands.
The heroes are Mariah, her brother Kaveh, their twin cousins Xianna and Aydyn, and the twins’ brother Regour. The five are the grandchildren of Norodom, the half-Qorik ruler of Accoria.
When Norodom’s half-brother Maldor and the evil face-changer Kali poison Norodom, he falls into a magical trance. The conspirators trick the children’s parents into leaving the kingdom, and the children are forced to flee for their lives.
Pursued by Kali’s troans – half-man and half-troll – the children become separated from each other. Mariah is captured by pirates after she abandons Kaveh in the woods. Xianna plunges into a chasm; Ayden takes refuge in the mines; and Regour is lost in the desert.
But each child has a special talent. And by mastering and developing these talents they fight their way back together, reuniting to confront the forces that have plunged their world into turmoil.
These forces are formidable: Kali has raised a massive army of troans to subjugate the Manlands and tilt the delicate balance of power against the Qorik sages.
The children succeed in reviving Norodom and set out to form alliances to confront the onslaught that threatens their family and their countrymen. But their patchwork of allies is no match for Kali’s armies. In addition, the children discover that the root causes of the conflict lie in a Faustian bargain struck by their ancestors to preserve a flawed and unjust social order. How the children rise above the weaknesses of those who have gone before them to confront the challenges that lie ahead is the dénouement of story.
The End of Magic is no ordinary fantasy tale. It is a journey to remarkable places – both literally and in its examination of the nature and limits of childhood.