Nicholas has been persuaded to travel to the fabulous far-off city of Trebizond, last outpost of an ancient empire. The machinations surrounding this expedition run deeper than the complexities of trade - which Nicholas views as a game - and the politics of European city states and eastern potentates, and are more subtle than the unexpected rivarly of sea-prince Pagano Doria and his apalling marriage, who keeps Nicholas and Co busy with assorted acts of sabotage, some deadlier than others. While lawyer gregoria and wife Marian try to sort things out at home, Nicholas makes the perilous voyage to the Black Sea and the decadent court of the Emperor, with one eye on the caravans carrying raw silk and another on the army and navy of the Ottomans, who can't possibly threaten Trebizond, or so they are assured.

Brilliant, epic, breathtaking, this twists and turns and has heartberaking tragedy and utterly maddening bad guys and characters that aren't actually bad but still quite maddening in their own way, and laugh out loud humour and Dunnet's penchant for characters playing dangerous games that aren't just trade and politics and intrigue, but actual sports, albeit from which the other games are not entirely absent. A confident second volume in which Nicholas embarks on his first great adventure, still callow and with much to learn, and with friends and companions who aren't aways comfortable with what they learn about him.