I do love a story set in a distant past in a distant place. This particular novel is based on archeological finds and tells the story of a woman warrior. For part of it I loved it, for part of it I just liked it. It ended up somewhere inbetween.

I think the first half of the book is very strong. We follow Akmaral as she grows from a girl into a woman, experiences first kills and first loves. She feels very human, even if some of her actions are somewhat questionable. I was fully invested in her story.

As the novel went on I lost a bit of my connection with Akmaral. The narrative was still centred around her, but now I felt like I was kept at arm’s length. Maybe this was deliberate, so that as Akmaral gets further from her old self, the reader feels further away as well? Or, more likely, it is probably just me.

I do think this is an interesting story and I would definitely recommend it, but it left me feeling a little bit frustrated in the latter half. It did have an ending I liked, but again, I felt removed from it. Having said that, as I finished it I was happy to have read this novel and overall I enjoyed it.

Imagine a time, far distant from living memory, when nomadic clans roamed the vast grasslands of central Asia. They derive strength from the animals they rely upon for nourishment and transport, from their devout religious beliefs, and from the tight unity of their clans, in which their training as warriors in defense of their people is deeply engrained from birth. Then imagine that many of these warriors are women, fighting with their clan alongside the men.

This is the world of Judith Lindbergh’s Akmaral, a saga both lyrical and fierce that evokes the spirit of its heroine, a woman of the Sauromatae in the 5th century BCE, who unspools her story as her own life draws to a close. “I do not like battle,” she says. “Only know that a show of strength is required to keep the peace.” The Sauromatae were documented by Herodotus, and may have given rise to the legends of the Amazons.

By the time of her impending death, Akmaral has united many wandering clans into a large confederacy which claimed her as its leader, although she never sought power for herself. Her narrative, rooted in conflict and betrayal, effectively establishes its theme of the struggle for balance amid opposing forces. These tensions play out at different levels: the wars between the Sauromatae and the Scythians and their allies, who conduct raids against peaceful camps; the encroachment of the patriarchy on matriarchal culture; and individuals’ internal battles on whether to conform or rebel. Yet the story also exudes amazing beauty, as shown through its poetic writing and images of the verdant steppes through the seasons.

Akmaral, orphaned as a child, grows up believing, as an exiled older priestess told her parents, that she is destined for greatness. Like all young women, she learns the techniques of fighting on horseback, attracting the enmity and desire of Erzhan, a male warrior. Her aul (clan) takes three enemy captives following a brutal raid, and Akmaral feels drawn to one of them – a silent, fair-haired prisoner called Timor. Her decision to take him as a lover spurs dramatic changes within their society.

These were ruthless times, and Lindbergh shows how the Sauromatian culture makes the continuity of life dependent on violence. This is poignantly personified through the story of Marjan, Akmaral’s friend, a young woman desperately in love who isn’t allowed to take a lover and bear a child until she kills another man. The descriptive passages and insightful characterizations make this a novel to read slowly rather than rush through. And although Akmaral tells a story of war, it’s not a typical one, since it’s layered with the insights of a influential woman with tender vulnerabilities and self-doubts – qualities that ultimately make her story and life all the more heroic.

This book is a masterpiece to say the least. Lindbergh really nailed bringing this book to life with descriptive character and world building. This book is one of the first historical fictions that I truly fell in love with. At first I had my doubts but I am beyond happy that I took the dive. I love that we see Akmaral life from child to adult and everything in between. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and Regal House Publishing for providing an ARC ebook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Regal House Publishing for sending me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

From the description I thought I would really enjoy this book but it wasn't my cup of tea. It was fascinating reading a story set in this culture, time period and setting. Akmaral is a strong and intricate character and it was interesting reading from her point of view. However, throughout my reading experience I found myself skimming or not wanting to pick this up.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction book telling the partly true story of the ancient women warriors in the Russian area. Seeing Akmaral grow from a child to a woman and experience various stages of life as well as the choices she had to make was insightful. Upon reading the authors note and realizing that this story was a nod to the Siberian Ice Maiden found in the Ukok Plateua near Russia and China in 1993 made all that I had read infinitely more enjoyable and breathtaking.

QUOTE: “what people are one’s own but those who feed and clothe and teach you?”

As someone who has been reading about nomadic life on the Eurasian steppe since my undergraduate days and writing novels about that life focused on women for more than a decade, I am always on the alert for fiction set in the grasslands that run from China to the Black Sea. Vast but scarcely populated, subject to extremes of climate, inhospitable to agriculture but perfect for maintaining large herds of grazing animals, the steppes gave rise to a warrior culture based on archery and horses that maintained itself almost unchanged until modern weaponry, industrial life, and, most recently, climate change imperiled the ancient ways. In the last seventy years or so, archeologists have uncovered burial grounds that go back millennia, adding to our knowledge of the earliest stages of steppe life.

Judith Lindbergh’s second novel explores the life of a leader among the Sauromatae (also known as Sarmatians), a people who lived in an area between modern-day Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan but who later migrated west, where they may have given rise to the myth of the Amazons, recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus. We meet her heroine, Akmaral, near the end of her life, when she is reminiscing about the events that brought her to her present state—queen of a united people forged from what she calls “a disparate multitude of wandering herders.” From there, we flip back to Akmaral at the age of five, and follow her as she fulfills her destiny.

Akmaral is a complex and interesting character, and it is easy to get caught up in her struggle to find her place, keep her friends, and cope with the difficult but attractive Erzhan, as well as the Scythian horsemen who increasingly push into Sauromatae territory. But equally compelling are the detailed descriptions of daily life on the steppe, which sweep a reader into this long-lost and, to most people today, unfamiliar past.

I plan to conduct a written interview with this author on my blog (link below) around the time of the book’s release in early May.

Lindbergh’s epic story is of the nomadic matriarchal Sauromatae, who roamed the Eurasian steppes in Iron-Age 5th-century BCE. We meet Akmaral as a child, raised to fight alongside men, and her skill as a warrior is noted, particularly by Erzhan, who challenges her at every turn. When the tribe takes three prisoners, Akmaral becomes sexually attracted to her slave, Timor, gradually falling in love, and he with her. Ever distrustful of all three prisoners, Erzhan would prefer they be executed, but his growing attraction to Akmaral has the three protagonists locked in a romantic love-triangle dance. When Timor’s tribe mounts an attack-rescue, Timor is faced with a life-changing decision.
Lindbergh’s novel is a magnificent example of meticulous research done, as she says, almost in the way that an archaeological dig would evolve over time. There is little information known of this race and their mortal enemies, the Sythians, but their dedication to warfare for survival is well expressed here. Battle scenes are frequent, but not overly graphic. As a more patriarchal influence gradually intrudes, the ancient sisterhood is forced to adopt a different way of life. For this reader, some parts of the novel are overlong and plot strands could be tighter, but my most lasting impression is of a nostalgia for that wild, untamed environment, so beautifully expressed by Lindbergh, and how, unlike the tribes of those ancient days, we have lost our connection to nature and instead, have ‘paved paradise and put up parking lots’. I yearned for a simpler way as I read. This meticulously crafted novel comes warmly recommended.

A fascinating look at a period in time and a culture that I have never encountered in fiction before. The setting and characters were very believable.

I loved this book because of its setting. I am so fascinated by stories related to the Silk Road and nomadic peoples of the area. That is what sparked my curiosity about this book to begin with. I found myself so interested by the details that Lindbergh included and went down several Google rabbit holes to look up terms and history of Kazakhstan and the surrounding areas.

The writing is very good and I really felt immersed in the world. I would have liked more surprises in the characterisation and plot.

An ancient matriarchal tribe of nomads living on the Ukok Plateau, in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. The story centers on the life of the anointed girl child, Akmaral, whose extraordinary bravery, and fully realized humanity, make her into a heroine.
A highly imagined civilization from 2,400 years ago — it’s shimmers with authenticity with all the great details… Smells of horses, aches of a warrior who it’s also a mother and a lover.
Amaral loves her tribe with its relentless God, the silent captured enemy. She takes into her life, and the child she bears him.
But what if the stranger turns on her because she loves too much?
This is an incredible historical fiction novel.
The author took great effort - skillful diligence research to bring us (readers) this magnificent book.

Dedicated to the author’s mother and all women who must fight for peace. …. and a little story of how this book would not have been written if it were not for the authors son …. (a touching-inspiring awakening that happened when he was only two years old)

In a society where men and women fight together - side by side - spears and arrowheads - Akmaral is our heroine. She was orphaned as a young girl… then grew up to become Mother-of-her-tribe > a leader of her Normadic matriarchal tribe - Central Asian Steppe in the 5th century.
We take an amazing adventurous journey facing love, loss, betrayals, fears, death, and determination.

“These fierce ancient warrior women existed….
……woman warrior making peace with making war”.

The writing in this book is beautiful. The prose is gorgeous, and there was one part where I dropped a tear onto my Kindle.

I love stories that entwine history with gorgeous writing, and this delivers in abundance

I was entirely wrapped in this story throughout. However, the slight criticism is that the ending felt abrupt, and the last 15 percent felt too much of a flurry of events

I would love to read more from this author

Historical fiction at its best - an emotional and inspiring story about a strong woman and her influence on a whole tribe.

As the nomads roamed the Asian steppes, in some tribes the women fought side by side as equals with men - at least until they got pregnant.

Akmaral loves her life training for battle from a young age, mastering horse riding as well as archery and fighting with spear and blade.

There is tense rivalry between her and the strongest man, Erzhan, and they can't seem to decide if they want to kill each other, or kiss...

To protect their people, the must fight side by side, but further tension is created when they capture Timor, the leader of one of their attackers. Akmaral is mesmerised by Timor, but Erzhan does not trust him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a society where women and men fight together, where loyalty is a must for survival and where making peace with war is a must.

This novel tells the story of the eponymous Akmaral, a "woman who makes peace with making war". Akmaral is orphaned as a little girl, but grows up to be mother to her ever-growing tribe. Her path across the Central Asian steppes is marked by love and loss and painful lessons, until she becomes a powerful leader. However, in her history of personal loss and betrayal, she makes fatal mistakes.
In her historical notes, Lindbergh explains how she wove the story from what scant archaeological and written sources there are, and she makes this distant time and people and their culture come alive. It's amazing to see how matriarchy worked out but was eventually toppled by male ambition and the need for revenge.
I deduct one star because at times I felt the language a tad overdone in trying to evoke the long distant past; this I felt mostly in dialogue, which at times feels unnecessarily stilted. Sometimes, the pacing felt a bit off, but I suppose that was an attempt at recreating the pace of travel and rest versus raids.
The novel is not for the squeamish in its depcitions of ancient warfare.

Thank you to netgalley.com for providing this ARC.

Thanks to netgalley for providing this advanced copy for the purpose of review.
This was a little different from my usual reads but I found it to be enjoyable. It was so well written and really bought everything to life.

"Akmaral" by Judith Lindbergh is a captivating and impactful book set in the 5th century BCE, bringing to life the ancient world of the Central Asian Steppe through the journey of Akmaral, a woman who rises from vulnerability to become the leader of her nomadic, matriarchal tribe. Lindbergh weaves a tale of love, adventure, and battles, skillfully portraying Akmaral's transformation from a vulnerable child to a powerful visionary. The prose is rich, evocative, and authentic, drawing comparisons to works by Margaret Atwood and Madeline Miller. The story explores matriarchal power, the complexities of love and hate, and the struggles for survival in a vividly recreated world.

This is a fantasy story written by a talented writer. I had zero context on this world and I'm now the better for knowing more about it.

A dazzling landscape of warrior women on horses — the Sauromatae serving the war god Targitai — and ana-women (childbearing women) in yurts. it's about making artwork of deer, it's about the magic of turning into birds, in a land where death is a returning home, even if "you cannot go back." Physical and spiritual. About social bonds, prediction, doubt, and courage.

Akmaral is one of the most spellbinding, distinctive, and impactful books I’ve ever read. Judith Lindbergh brings to life the ancient world of the Central Asian Steppe in 5th century BCE through a woman named Akmaral who becomes the leader of her nomadic, matriarchal tribe, the Sauromatae. Readers follow the arc of Akmaral’s life from vulnerability to power, from orphaned child to trainee, from murderous warrior to disarmed lover, from cutthroat slayer to a remorseful and insightful visionary. History, legend, and the mystical dream world converge in a book that is both a love story, an adventure story, and a sweeping universe of battles and conquests. This tour de force of a book never failed to captivate me. The atmosphere Lindbergh evokes is rich in detail, evocative, raw, brutal, and very authentic in feel. I appreciated the author’s stunning prose and strong imagery. Her sentences are beautifully crafted. Akmaral is a worthy comparison to Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, which also presents the difficulties and heartbreaks of a strong female protagonist in an ancient culture. Readers who have enjoyed Madeline Miller’s Circe will also relish this novel.

An amazing story of a warrior woman trying to protect her tribe in times so long ago, it might have been real. The author clearly states in the afterward that this is a work of fiction and that she has borrowed many elements from the Mongolian lifestyle, but I wish she had borrowed less. While I understand there are trends and human nomads tend to live similar lifestyles across the globe, the Mongolian elements like the kumiss and the mention of the tall Mongolian headdress for a female leader left me disjointed coming from the Iranian plateau.