About the book: 2014 / At the center of the story is the confrontation between the Mongol-Tatar temnik Burundai and the descendant of the tribal Krivich princes Milovan. Burundai and Milovan are talented military leaders. They are similar in many ways. They even like the same type of women. They are also similar in that both are disliked by their rulers. The low-born Burundai is considered an unworthy upstart by the entire Mongolian nobility, and Batu Khan himself is jealous of his military leadership. The Grand Duke of Vladimir is openly afraid of Milovan, for he is a prince with a more ancient pedigree than the descendants of the visiting Varangian king Rurik. In addition, Milovan, unlike the Rurikovichs, is of the same blood as the people who were formed from different tribes in the north and northeast of Rus' and began to be called Russian.