Dramocles, an ordinary king on an ordinary planet, finds himself thrust into an adventure that combines soap opera, Greek tragedy, and Shakespearean drama as he unwillingly, and disastrously, seeks to fulfill a momentous destiny that is only revealed to him a piece at a time as he manages to foment an interplanetary war, precipitate the disintegration of his family, lose all his friends, and uncover betrayal among his closest advisers as barbarian invaders besiege his realm.