Pel Brown hadn't even known that parallel universes existed, much less that ordinary people could travel between them - until a magic portal appeared in his basement, and Pel stepped through it. It was a step that he now deeply regretted. That portal led into a world of magic called Faerie, ruled by the mysterious Shadow. The only escape from Shadow's evil minions had been through another portal and into another world - right into the hands of marauding space pirates plundering the ships of the Galactic Empire. Imperial forces rescued Pel - but still he wasn't free. The Empire had a job for him, and he would not be sent to his home world until he destroyed the Shadow that had taken over Faerie and now threatened imperial space. So Pel had no choice but to return to the realm where magic ruled and science was powerless: Faerie, the one place he had hoped never to see again. With a consortium of wizards at his side and a force of phaser-toting spacemen and barbarian swordsmen at his back, Pel marched bravely forward to storm Shadow's stronghold, to confront that malign creature face to face. But no one had any idea what the mysterious Shadow would turn out to be - least of all Pel!