Anaiti is a hamazan, trained in riding and archery yet untested in war. When her father seeks alliance with the Scythian king, she consents to an arranged marriage-but no hamazan may wed without first taking an enemy's scalp. Riding with the warband offers her both promise and peril. Fiercely protective of her freedom yet desperate to prove her worth, refusing to kill could win her liberty . . . or lose her all she loves.
Set on the windswept steppes of the fifth century BCE, Of Wind and Wolves is a haunting, poetic tale of survival and sacrifice. Brutal battles and fragile moments of love stand side by side, as Anaiti wrestles with honor, freedom, and fate.
Praised as "a deft, hypnotic tale that fuses poetry, mythology and the hard realities of life on the ancient steppe" and "a story of truly epic proportions," this historical novel brings to life a world as unforgiving as it is unforgettable.
From the Back Cover:
When Anaiti reluctantly agrees to marry the aging king of the Skythian nomads to forge an alliance, she never expects the price of peace will be an enemy's scalp-or that she'll have to take it with her own hands.
Trained since youth in riding and archery, her education was cut short, and she's never faced true combat. Though she has no taste for bloodshed, her desire to remain free outweighs her fear. Thrown into the lawless wilderness, she joins a ruthless warband whose loyalties and suspicions are as fierce as the unforgiving steppe. There, her skills and courage are tested to the edge, and she forms an intense bond with their commander-a formidable warrior who believes Anaiti possesses a rare gift. Determined to evade her fate, Anaiti devises a daring plan to stay with the warband. But as her defiance threatens the pact between kingdoms, she must decide if her longing for freedom is worth the cost-of countless lives, perhaps her own.
Of Wind and Wolves is the first volume in the Steppe Saga, a haunting and subversive retelling of events recorded by Herodotus. Set against a backdrop of astonishing beauty and brutality, it reveals the lost wisdom, traditions, and beliefs of the Scythian people, whose powerful women once inspired Greek myths of the Amazons.
J. M. Elliott lives on a Hudson Valley farm, far from the hustle of modern life. She prefers hiking boots to heels, work gloves to manicures, and humble stories to showy prose. When she's not lost in the pages of historical fiction, you might spot her astride a horse, unearthing the mysteries of archaeological sites, or trekking into the wilds where phone signals can't reach. To learn more, visit jmelliott.org.
