Wei. Linguist turned military adviser. Raised among the intellectual elite of China's mighty Tang Dynasty. He sees warfare as life's cruellest certainty, a necessary evil that must be mastered to ensure survival. Victory calls for study, planning and the application of science.

Einarr. Scandinavian raid chief. A tenacious, formidable product of resilient Viking society. To his kind, battle is destiny's call to riches and glory. A chance to defeat life's harsh realities through conquest and plunder, to enter the songs of men, the feasting halls of the gods.

Their cultures lie at opposite ends of the world. They are the dragons of dusk and dawn. Yet Einarr and Wei are fated to be adversaries in a monumental clash — ferocity and cunning against methodical strategy, with the future of a vulnerable kingdom hanging in the balance.

A thought-provoking, epic adventure, this is the exciting story of a remarkable lost turning point in history that could actually have happened.