Why are Nonani's ancient forests being razed for charcoal, when everybody knows trees can talk and springs have souls? And the mysterious derger people will die without their forest. Activists of three human species-derger hunters, elfin scientists, ubum farmers, priests, and philosophers-unite to stop the charcoal harvest, but their success disturbs powerful forces, people who will do anything to crush the movement, even destroy a three-hundred-year-old republic.

In The Elf, the Dwarf, and the Telegraph, Book One, the fight for Nonani's future begins. Can the forest be saved, or is the age of myth and wonder simply over?