e is not just an unlikely hero -- it's hard to know if he's a hero at all. But that only makes the finale of this political satire all the more surprising." -- The New York Times Book Review

Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom -- from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain's host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them -- and war for their nations. Witty mixed-media illustrations show Brangwain's furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel's determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story. This National Book Award finalist and hilarious, biting social commentary is rife with thrilling action, visual humor, and a comic disparity that suggests the ultimate victor in a war is perhaps not who won, but who gets to write the history.