Description

In the summer of 1376 a scar‑lined Venetian mercenary named Carlo Zeno has settled in the tangled streets of Constantinople, trading his sword for a timber‑yard and a cramped house far from the bustling Genoese quarter. The opening paints a vivid picture of a city where rival merchants, Greeks, Jews and Circassians mingle beneath the shadow of the Golden Horn, and where Zeno’s fierce contempt for his Genoese rivals fuels a simmering desire for revenge. His restless mind drifts between the mundane routine of market deals and the violent fantasies of pummeling his enemies into pyramids of bone.

Against this backdrop, Zeno finds himself drawn into the court’s deadly politics: a deposed emperor, a scheming sultan and a desperate crusade to reclaim a strategic island for Venice. The narrative balances gritty historical detail with a sharply witty, almost baroque voice, immersing listeners in a world where personal vendettas intersect with the grand machinations of empires.