After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Lee Scoresby and his d mon, Hester, find themselves floating north. On landing, it's not long before Scoresby is embroiled in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and Lee's longtime nemesis-a hired killer. Lee's been in tight spots before, but getting out of this mess will require some sharp shooting and the help of an unlikely new ally-the massive, surly, armored bear Iorek Byrnison.