A novel by Gareth D. Raymondson

Milan

“I am Milan.”

Massim has been raised to believe it. His father rules the city, Leonardo da Vinci paints his portrait, and his tutor is preparing him to inherit a duchy.

Then a Book laughs at him.

Hidden in the ducal library, the Great Books are alive. They remember things his family would rather forget, have opinions about almost everything, and see little reason to obey a thirteen-year-old boy.

Massim wants to understand them. His father wants to use them. As the household he trusts becomes a place of secrets and danger, Massim must decide whom to believe—and learn how to ask for help when he has been taught to give commands.