By the morning of his thirtieth birthday Manly Hero still hasn't killed a monster. Normal for most people perhaps, but not for his family. Monster-slaying is the Hero family business, and Manly comes from a very long line of monster-slayers. In fact, Manly's grandfather is one of the most famous monster-slayers to have ever lived. And now in the land of Aldendhar monsters are completely extinct, because Manly's grandfather was just a little too awesome at his job. So what is the thirty-year-old grandson of a monster-slayer supposed to do with his life? Hold down his job as a butterfly curator at the royal museum? Hang out with his two best friends; Cronimus, the failing wizard, and Ruby, the pickpocketing, self-proclaimed pirate? Or should Manly finally admit his true feelings to the girl of his dreams, the beautiful and famous Amelia Champion? And there's still those birthday letters Manly's receiving from his dead grandmother. However, by the evening of his thirtieth birthday, Manly's mind will be filled with a much different set of questions. Can he actually slay a monster? What happened to his catatonic grandfather? And are his parents really in an open marriage? The answers Manly finds will take him down a crazy path of adventure he couldn't have foreseen, with a group of characters just as unique as his family.