Amram is a hulking Abyssinian (African) who is equally proficient with an axe as a game of shatranj; he is haunted by the disappearance of his daughter many years ago.

Before the pair can give their answer, Buljan's assassins kill the mahout, and the two gentlemen escape with Filaq, intent on collecting a reward from his wealthy relatives.

Filaq meets with tarkhan of the newly-arrived Khazar army in disguise as her brother Alp, who, the kagan has revealed, died in Rus' captivity.

The tarkhan supports her claim to the position of bek, and the Khazar army secures control of the capital in Alp's name.

In October 2007, Del Rey Books (Sceptre in the United Kingdom) published the novel in hardcover, with a new afterword written by Chabon.

Chabon said he agreed to write the serial because he has "always been intrigued by accounts and legends of the Khazars" and the idea of an ancient Jewish Kingdom.

"[2] He also re-read the historical romances of Alexandre Dumas, père, Fritz Leiber, George MacDonald Fraser, and Michael Moorcock, to whom the novel is dedicated.