Myakes, who had been blinded and exiled to a monastery after Justinian's final defeat, listens as a fellow monk named Brother Elpidios reads the memoir out loud, and occasionally interrupts with commentary or criticism.

He says that most of the departures from the historical record were done for dramatic purposes, such as the creation of Myakes as a companion and sounding board for Justinian, and changes to the religious debates of the time, which Turtledove believed would appear hopelessly obscurantist to most modern readers.

"[1] The Washington Post reviewer Brian Jacomb said the book was "action-packed, with many battle scenes and much palace intrigue" and called it an "evocative novel" that "commands the reader's attention".

[2] In a positive review, Booklist's Margaret Flanagan wrote, "An artfully styled narrative and painstaking attention to historical detail vivify this mesmerizing fictional account".

[3] Publishers Weekly also praised the novel, stating, the author's "rich blend of fact and fiction brings the tyrant to life as a man obsessed with imperial power".