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.