Read these runes! They were inscribed by Thorn the Mannamavi...
And so begins Gary Jennings's historical novel of the Gothic empire, as seen through the eyes of a hermaphrodite who rises from monastery scullion to first advisor to King Theodoric. In typical Jennings style, his hero enters the world ignorant, is deflowered, and proceeds to romp through history and beds with equal abandon.
Meticulous research is also one of Jennings's trademarks, and it shows in the details of the times and culture. I started this book knowing little about the Ostragoths save they were "barbarians who sacked Rome" -- but now I realize that they had a vital, visceral culture with a strange and terrible beauty.