In mid-seventeenth-century Venice, Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander, tests his wit, his honor, and his immortality against the machinations of master manipulator and schemer Niccolò Machiavelli. One of the ages-old race of Immortals, Duncan MacLeod has tried to turn his back on tradition and live his life as a mortal. But as the time of the Gathering draws near—when the few remaining Immortals will fight to the last—he finds himself being drawn back to battle. If he wins at the Gathering, he will acquire all the powers of the losers; if he does not succeed, he loses his life forever.