This “book” arose from a feeling of deep dissatisfaction. Agree that it is extremely annoying when they take you for a fool, telling how the main character “beats seven people in one fell swoop” or “waves to the right - a street, waves to the left - an alley.” For the most part, you simply don’t read such things. But what if the beginning of the “Youth” series was at the proper level, and you love the world of Ancient Rus' and want to know more? The decision was prompted by the cries of fans - “if you don’t like it, don’t eat it,” “go bite a bone,” “write better,” etc. And I thought, why not? Let the characters' difficulties be real difficulties, and the opponents be living people, strong and smart, with their own passions and interests, and not an element of scenery, but a source of skill for the main character. Let fortresses be built not by the wave of a magic wand, but according to calculations of the availability of manpower, deadlines and resources, and let crossbows fire as they are supposed to according to their tactical and technical characteristics, without turning into a universal wunderwaffe. In general, let everything be as close as possible to real life (albeit with the assumptions made by the first five books of E. S. Krasnitsky - let’s consider them starting introductory).