After killing the evil wizard Rimmah, Bennelzor Transom thinks all his troubles are over. But the king and queen won't allow their daughter, Mol'Jessel, to marry a man they see as a stuttering provincial idiot. Ben doesn't help the situation when he confuses ballroom dancing with giving spin-a-rounds, and offers the most inappropriate bride price for the princess.
If surviving the schemes of the king and queen weren't enough, Ben has bigger problems. The great goblin chieftain Ugg-lukk plans to conquer the kingdom, and Ben's home is in danger. The king and queen see the perfect opportunity to be rid of Ben forever, and the princess sees a chance for Ben to prove himself worthy. Ben finds himself in charge of the war with a pacifist wizard and a bard with delusions of grandeur as his only friends. Disaster piles upon disaster as they rush toward a battle for the kingdom that nobody is ready to face.
This novel is the sequel to The Stuttering Bard of York.