Three children, Marcel, Nicola and Fergus, have been left mysteriously in an orphanage run by the kindly Mrs Timmins, but overseen by the fearsome wizard Lord Alwyn and his creature Termagant. Marcel learns that the mysterious Book of Lies can tell falsehood from truth. But can it tell him who he really is? He is not alone in his confusion, either. When the stranger Starkey arrives, Marcel, the haughty Nicola and battle-obsessed Fergus discover that they have a vital part to play in saving the kingdom from evil. But somethings not right. Is Starkey friend or foe? And is Lord Alwyn the evil wizard the children first thought? And will the truth really be revealed in the pages of the Book of Lies?