James stands alone, high on a Scottish hillside. He stares down at a massive, three-toed footprint...and the crushed animal within it. Is the creature that formed it responsible for James's father's sudden and unexplained disappearance?Isolated in his belief that something terrible has befallen his dad, James finally finds someone prepared to help him: Mendel - a wizard from another worldwho is trapped in the body of a goldfish. Mendel and James do a deal: James will help Mendel back to his own world - Denthan - before disaster befalls it; in return, Mendel will help James find his father. James and his best friend Craig are soon drawn into a dying world full of hideous monsters and a race of human-like creatures called Manimals. James comes to realise that Denthan can only be saved if he finds a magical talisman in time. But time is not something Denthan has. And he doesn't even know what he's looking for. And it's not only the inhabitants of this strange other world who are at risk. Unbeknownst to James, his mixed-up mother and half the village have followed them to Denthan. Can James find the Talisman in time? Is his father in Denthan too? And can he save a whole world and everyone he loves?