Charlie Edwards is fed up. His life is hopelessly dull, his school teachers are out to get him, and it feels like everything that can go wrong, most certainly does go wrong. But, one fateful night, a chance discovery in the woods turns Charlie's world on its head. Together with his best friend Stanley Baldridge and his sister Evie, Charlie is plunged into Ethereal - a hidden world filled with the kind myth, magic and mischief he had only ever dreamed about. But all is not well in this new world. An evil tyrant, Morbus Thrax, is bent on total domination and needs only the four Books of Ethereal to make it happen, threatening both this new world, and Charlie's own. And, when Evie is kidnapped by the agents of Thrax, Charlie is forced into action to get her back. Aided by Stan, and a band of brave allies he meets along the way, Charlie must overcome a world fraught with danger, and filled with creatures foul and fierce determined to see him fall. With only his instincts and a few good friends to guide him, Charlie must find his sister, defeat Morbus Thrax and restore order to Ethereal. Both worlds are depending on him.