The book is set in the mythical kingdom of Tortall, which resembles medieval Europe in most respects. The heroine, Alanna of Trebond, having won her shield of knighthood in a previous adventure, decides to leave the capital city and the palace where she was trained to seek further adventures in the great Southern Desert. Together with her squire, Coram, and her cat, Faithful, she is accepted as a member of one of the Bahzir desert tribes. After killing the tribe's evil shaman, Ibn Nazzir, in a magic duel, Alanna finds herself saddled with the job of shaman herself, at least for the time being. The book follows Alanna's adventures as she seeks to understand the ways of the Bahzir—and herself. The story brings her into confrontation with an old lover, an evil from her past, and her own greatest fears.