Those familiar with the illustrious and scandalous career of dragon naturalist Isabella Camhurst may think they already know all the details of her historic voyage aboard His Majesty's Fleet Survey Vessel Basilisk, but the true story of this eye-opening, terrifying, the odious journey has never been made public - until now.

Six years after the deadly Erigan adventures, Isabella sets off on the most ambitious (so far) of her expeditions - a two-year circumnavigation of the world in order to study dragons of all varieties in all possible habitats. And all these creatures - from the feathered serpents basking in the sun on the ruins of a lost civilization, to the mighty sea serpents of the tropics - are not only endlessly fascinating, but also often dangerous. Isabella is accompanied not only by her little son Jake, but also by a chivalrous foreign archaeologist, whose scientific and personal interests perfectly coincide with the scientific and personal interests of Isabella herself.

Of course, the main goal of the trip is science, but Isabella’s life is rarely so simple. The path to a revolutionary discovery that radically changes scientific views on the ancient history of dragons is blocked not only by storms and shipwrecks, but also by political intrigue and even war.