 Hieronim Berbelek was once a powerful "strategos" (a natural born leader whose form makes other people listen to him or her), but when he was defeated by one of the "kratistoses", known as the Warlock, his Form and spirit were broken, reduced to those of a lowly merchant, a sad, small man, easily molded by others with stronger Forms.However, a chain of events sets him off on a journey — first to Africa, and later into many new lands, from the depths of Warlock's domain, through the fabled Library of Alexandria and mysterious flying city, to the Moon colony, and on this journey he may have a chance of regaining his Form…

Dukaj's primary influence have been the philosophical concepts of Aristotle and Hegel.Coupled with his experiences in science fiction, the resulting book is hard to put into any normal genre, leading many to describe it as a kind of 'philosophical fiction' or 'sophia fiction'.