The saga starts in Bondi Beach and moves to the opal fields of Lightning Ridge in the Australian outback. Then, it returns to Bondi and finally moves to Saigon. This follows teenage Miko, a traumatised son of immigrant parents who murders his abusive father and then mercy-kills his mother. Now a murderer on the run, he escapes to Vietnam, where he meets the much older, but magnificent, Madame Phuong (Phu). She is the daughter of Bao Dai, Vietnam’s once-mighty but now-fallen last Emperor.
Phu takes him in and then takes his virginity. She introduces him to the opium pipe and also a life beyond his wildest imagination. However, there is still something missing in Miko’s life, a need to kill, to continue to kill his father, who haunts his dreams.
He intentionally becomes immersed in the major epic battles in the Vietnam War’s closing stages. He is now torn between the need to kill and the love of the Emperor’s daughter. Her love for him sets him free. But she remains and becomes a victim.
Miko escapes to Paris.