Theus is sold into servanthood by his poverty-stricken family and taken by his kindly master on a journey across a continent, following the course of the Landwide River.From there, he begins to learn the secrets of the memory stones, the extraordinary objects that can store information for people.As Theus learns more about the world beyond his family's farm, learning to handle weapons and combatting the turbulent world around him, he discovers that the beau...