Mightier than the Sword [Hardcover] by K. J. Parker

An Imperial legate is called into see his aubt, who just happens to e the empress running the civilized world while her husband's in his sick bed. After some chastisement, she dispatches her nephew to take care of the dreaded Land and Sea Raiders, pirates who've been attacking the realm's monasteries.

So begins a possibly doomed tour of banished relatives and pompous royals put in charge of monasteries like Cort Doce and Cort Maleston, to name a few. While attempting to discover the truth of what the priates might be after, the legate visits great libraries and halls in each varied locale and conducts a romance of which he knows--but doesn't care--his aunt will not approve. With enough wit and derring-do (and luck), the narrator might just make it through his mission aliveor will he?