This book, set in an alternate history, contains such plot elements as vampirism, the House of Medici, and the convoluted English politics surrounding Edward IV and Richard III.

During the 4th century CE, Julian the Apostate reigned longer than he did in our world, succeeded in displacing Christianity and reintroduced religious pluralism within the Roman Empire, resulting in the subsequent disappearance of Islam as well.

Gregory, a mercenary; Dimi, the exiled heir to the Byzantine throne; Cynthia, a young physician forced to flee Florence; and Hywel, a Welsh wizard, nephew of Owain Gly Dwr, seem to have no common goals but together they wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium, striving to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him Richard III.

"[1] In 1985, Gaiman reviewed The Dragon Waiting for Imagine magazine, and called it "a complex and brilliant work, serious, funny, and highly entertaining," recommending that readers buy it despite the cover art.

[4][5][6] Jo Walton praised it as "a brilliantly written, absorbing book with great characters", lauding Ford for having convincingly portrayed "a feudal world without Christianity", and emphasizing that it is a book "written by [an American] and set in Britain (...) where the geography works and the scale of the landscape feels right.