Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found this story absolutely fascinating. The main character is young and comes across as very impulsive and rash ... not that unusual and definitely a step up on the teenage protagonists found in other stories who come across as super mature. The story follows Illario from Carthage to Rome to Venice and on to Alexandria -- then back to Iberia. It is set in a somewhat alternate earth where Carthage didn't fall to the Romans in 146 BC, but instead lives on in perpetual darkness. Alexandria did fall, though it's not clear exactly when ... but the great library, in this version of history, moved to Constantinople and was preserved through Gutenberg's printing press. But the history is presented only as a background for Illario's adventures and struggle to become a better (and more mature) painter. Although it doesn't say so, this version (in the yellow cover) contains both the Lion's Eye and the Stone Golem.