ISBN-13: 9781500598440 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 346 str.
Shining light on the truth behind an epic historical fiction of women warriors, told as never before, 'Sarmatian Girl' is wonderfully imagined and impossible to put down. The goddess Tabiti is smiling on the day Alce, on the cusp of womanhood, slays her first man in single combat. With this kill she has proven her worth and gains the right to be called a Sarmatian, one of the fierce and feared women warriors who can fight and ride as well as any man in Urartu. Her feats in battle have earned the admiration of Queen Antianeira, who can see a great destiny in the young girl's future. Her first war party does not go as planned, however. Captured, in chains, she and her sister Tecmessa are brought before Sargon, the power-hungry King of Assyria. He has heard fantastic stories about the Sarmatians, more terrifying than any women in history, and after watching her fight, is determined to possess Alce for himself. Enslaved and forced to wait upon the King's pleasure, Alce has lost everything, except her fighting spirit. When help comes in the form of a Greek slave, she takes the chance and escapes, desperate to return to her sisters and rejoin the women warriors in the fight to defend her homeland against the military power of Assyria. And she has vowed to kill Sargon herself. Her return brings problems of its own. She has been promised in her absence to Chief Gurdi of the Cimmerians, and must give up her place among the war party of her sisters. She is determined to fight - she is destined for nothing else, and so she tricks Gurdi into letting her join his personal guard, a warrior elite from whose ranks she will be perfectly placed to take her revenge. Set in the rugged landscape of the ancient Middle East, at the turn of what would one day come to be known as the 8th century BC, 'Sarmatian Girl' is a powerful, fast-paced, epic historical fiction which pits the military power of the Assyrian army against the determination of forgotten women in history: the Sarmatian warrior elite. By turns soaring with battle frenzy and heart-wrenching with despair, 'Sarmatian Girl' is one historical fiction of women you do not want to miss.