When his father was killed at sea, Tobas has been lucky to find a wizard to take him on as an apprentice.But now the wizard had died of old age, after teaching Tobas the elementary spell for starting a fire. When he tried to open the wizard’s Book Of Spells, he succeeded in triggering a blaze that consumed the hit and its contents. Already too old to seek another apprenticeship, Tobas was left with nothing. Across the sea, in faraway Old Ethshar, there were dragons to be slain, princesses and gold to be won, magic castles and witches who knew the secret of immortality.  But these were prizes beyond the reach of a wizard whose only talent was arson. With a heavy heart and empty stomach, Tobas resolves to travel to Ethshar anyway. Somehow his burning ambition would be realised…Cover art by Geoff Taylor