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A hypnotic page-turner about the grinding gears of historical change and ruthless palace intrigue in Persia, c. 1848. The King, young Shah Naser, takes to the throne of Persia at a turning point of history: he inherits an enchanted medieval world of harems, eunuchs, and treasures as well as a palace of secret doors, sudden deaths, and hidden agendas. Within the court is danger enough: outside all manner of change threatens―industrialization, colonization.  Russia and England conspire to open the King’s empire; his mother and his vizier take opposing sides. The poor King―almost an exact contemporary of Queen Victoria―is trapped.  He likes some aspects of modernity (electricity, photography) but can’t embrace democracy.