Long-serving Safavid Shāh Tahmāsp has just died in 1576, leaving the throne empty for the squabble of his several sons and the predations of the Mughals and the Ottoman neighbors. His adviser and right hand, daughter Pari, cannot rule directly and manipulates things behind the scenes, first preventing the accession of Heydar and bringing beck brother Ismail II from 20 years exile and imprisonment. When it becomes apparent that he, too, is a miserably bad ruler, bent on revenge and petty abuse of authority, Pari intervenes again with disastrous consequences. This has all the tropes of grand historical fiction, but in a setting removed from the usual Plantagenet or Tudor court. 16th century Iran is interesting, and for anyone jonesing for Game of Thrones, has enough furtive eunuch politics to keep you happy.