Torn between following his heart and fulfilling his filial duty, he journeys through the country of his parents with Lotus, encountering mysterious martial heroes and becoming drawn into the struggle for the supreme martial text, the Nine Yin Manual. But his past is catching up with him. The widow of an evil man he accidentally killed as a child has tracked him down, intent on revenge.

Meanwhile, his true parentage at last revealed, Yang Kang, the young prince Guo Jing must face in the Garden of the Eight Drunken Immortals, is forced to choose his destiny. Will he continue to enjoy the life of wealth and privilege afforded to him by the invader of his homeland, or give up all he has known to avenge his parents?

 

「金庸處理的是亙古的主題：善與惡、愛與犧牲、先天本性與後天養成、榮譽與欺瞞…。精彩的文筆讓耐心等候有了更好的代價，行雲流水的翻譯讀來暢快，書頁所散發的是如同昨日才寫成的新鮮感。」- 英國科幻小說雜誌《星爆》(Starburst)

接續第一卷瑞典譯者郝玉青（Anna Holmwood）的翻譯精神，香港譯者張菁所譯的第二卷《未竟之約》，同樣以生動的英文展現出精彩的武打場面，以及忠義、背叛與波瀾壯闊的江湖世界。

郭靖來到金國中都，得知父親郭嘯天的真正死因。儘管與黃蓉情投意合，卻被迫分別與蒙古公主華箏以及楊康生父楊鐵心義女穆念慈訂下婚約。

在隨心度日與盡孝以報父仇之間拉扯，郭靖與黃蓉浪跡南宋祖國，遇見江湖各路英雄，從北丐洪七公處學得降龍十八掌，並意外練成武學秘笈九陰真經。六歲時意外殺人的內疚卻如影隨形，死者的妻子也跟縱到了郭靖面前，欲報殺夫之仇。

另一方面，金國王子完顏康得知自己的真實身分是宋朝抗金名將的後人，本名楊康。過慣錦衣玉食的楊康，能夠拋開尊貴的身分，為父母報仇嗎？