The story of this historical novel unfolds some ten years after the death of Genghis Khan. Barlas and his men, the "Horsemen of the Sky", embark on a long and perilous expedition. On their way, they have a series of encounters with Finnish brigands, merchants and soldiers from Novgorod, and a beautiful captive who will touch the heart of Barlas-bagadour. An avid reader of 19th century French historical novels, Pentti Niskanen, a Finnish painter based in Sweden, wrote 'Barlas' in French before translating it into Finnish. In this fresco detailed with small brush-strokes, Niskanen embraces without any distance - but not without guile - the point of view of his Mongol heroes, making us us quite literally discover the world through their eyes.