Fantastic. It must be read with Sailing to Sarantium. This duology was my first Guy Kay reading and I will be reading more. I didnt know much about that time in history, but this duology was informative as it was beautiful. Kay calls what he does historical fiction with a quarter turn to the fantastic. That's what this was - fantastic. And there was a bittersweet emotional payoff at the end that really brings it to a close. Highly recommended.