The protagonist and narrator is Ivan Smetski, a young Ukrainian-American linguist who specializes in Old Church Slavonic, a language from 10th-century Ruthenia.

Back in Ukraine, Ivan discovers that his cousin is in reality the immortal god Mikola Mozhaiski.

Returning to the United States, Ivan further discovers that his mother is a magic user, with the same powers as Katerina.

In a 1998 interview given during work on the novel, Card stated that he had realized he knew little about Slavic history and suggested that the novel was inspired by extensive research in the area.

[1] In 2008, Card also credited singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn's album The Charity of Night as an influence on his writing of the book.