Combining all the political intrigue of Game of Thrones with the sweeping romanticism of Outlander, Dorothy Dunnett’s legendary Lymond Chronicles have enthralled readers for decades and amassed legions of devoted fans. In the series’ fifth volume, Francis Crawford of Lymond exiles himself to the brutal Russia of Ivan the Terrible, only to find he can’t outrun others’ lethal ploys—or his own past.
 
Still reeling from the traumatic events of Pawn in Frankincense, Lymond decides to flee from them, moving to Muscovy, where he becomes advisor and general to the half-mad tsar. He swiftly finds himself battling a Cossack prince and Crimean Tartars. Yet even as Lymond tries to navigate the machinations of a dangerous and unfamiliar royal court, unseen forces conspire to enlist this infinitely useful man in their own schemes. Lymond’s past is catching up to him, and inevitably it will compel him to return to face the family he’s forsaken, the woman he imprudently married, and the country that still owns him, body and soul. “Exciting, dangerous, fascinating.”
—The Boston Globe

“[Dunnett’s] hero. . .is as polished and perceptive as Lord Peter Wimsey and as resourceful as James Bond.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Vivid, engaging, densely plotted. . . . Dunnett is a master of suspense and misdirection.”
—The New York Times

“A masterpiece of historical fiction.”
—The Washington Post

“[Lymond] is arguably the perfect romantic hero.”
—The Guardian

“Dorothy Dunnett is one of the greatest talespinners since Dumas . . . breathlessly exciting.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Dunnett is a name to conjure with. Her work exemplifies the best the genre can offer.”
—Christian Science Monitor

“Ingenious and exceptional . . . its effect brilliant, its pace swift and colorful and its multi-linear plot spirited and absorbing.”
—Boston Herald

“Dunnett evokes the sixteenth century with an amazing richness of allusion and scholarship, while keeping a firm control on an intricately twisting narrative. She has another more unusual quality . . . an ability to check her imagination with irony, to mix high romance with wit.”
—Sunday Times (London)

“A very stylish blend of high romance and high camp. Her hero, the enigmatic Lymond, [is] Byron crossed with Lawrence of Arabia. . . . He moves in an aura of intrigue, hidden menace and sheer physical daring.”
—Times Literary Supplement (London)

“With shrewd psychological insight and a rare gift of narrative and descriptive power, Dorothy Dunnett reveals the color, wit, lushness . . . and turbulent intensity of one of Europe’s greatest eras.”
—Raleigh News and Observer