Can the ancient code of chivalry survive in a land fractured by empire and caught between two worlds?

Set in 1828, on the eve of the Russo-Ottoman War, Of Old Hearts and Sword (ძველი გულებისა და ხმლისა) is a gripping historical adventure that masterfully dissects the collision between the Russian Empire and Georgian nobility. A quarter-century after the Russian annexation, the occupiers and the occupied remain strangers to one another—and even the Georgians struggle to define their own unity. When the young nobleman Baduna Pavneli kills a Russian officer for a trivial display of imperial arrogance, he sets off a tragic chain of events. Entangling slave traders, brigands, and Russian colonels, Aka Morchiladze weaves a fast-paced tale of honor and misunderstanding. It is a profound exploration of a fading knightly era, where "old hearts" and sharp swords are the only currency left in a world drowning in shifting political loyalties.