Alexander has a gift for creating the atmosphere of an imaginary foreign culture. One effective device is his choice of words and names. The reader comes to think of the protagonists as farenki, or foreigners. Nilo's position as all-around assistant is that of dragoman, and the document that permits the pair to travel through Illyria is a firman.

Brinnie explains that the Illyrian language has Latin roots and that Zentan is closely related to Turkish.

The device of first-person narration works well. The guardian of the newly orphaned girl is at once a keen observer and an eager participant in the adventures. He frequently misjudges people, however, but so does everyone in the story. Brinnie is naive, but he is not an unreliable narrator. His professorial style of language contrasts nicely with Vesper's adolescent effervescence.

The book is rich in dialogue. Vesper can discuss "everything from...