The Wars of the Roses have put Edward IV on the throne of England; Lorenzo de Medici's court shines brilliantly. But this is a chnged world, and Europe is dominated by the threat from the Byzantine Empire, while from Milan, Sforza, the Vampire Duke, marshals his forces for his long-planned attack on Florence.

The winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, The Dragon Waiting is a rich and powerful novel, full of swordplay, wizardry, vampirism, political intrigue and passion, that brilliantly explores an alternative world in which Byzantium was not extinguished in 1453.