In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, 18-year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt, Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to life. Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, 19-year-old Elinor lives a secluded life. Her only friends are an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death ... but perhaps there is even more to fear from that. Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre.