In 1800, Arthur Hallom, 18, a restless dreamer, leaves London on a voyage of discovery that will take him beyond the edge of the world; he spends the next twenty years roaming Asia, where he experiences luck and loss, triumph and tragedy, as he loves and betrays.

In Calcutta, he becomes an opium trader, and abandons a prostitute who refuses to become part of his past.

In the jungles of Malaya, he encounters headhunters, and talking birds, snakes as long as pathways, and a criminal crocodile. Though he settles down with a mistress, and fathers on her a son, he preys on local women, until a sorceress tames him with her magic.

In the Alleens, a lonely group of coral islands, he engages in a bitter power struggle with a rival who not only spreads dangerous lies about him, but who also tells hard truths he'd prefer the world didn't hear.

Along the way, Arthur is twice made a king, and twice loses his crown.