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 author10 s Terry Rudge349 33

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 author5 s SarahAuthor 3 books170

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 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. 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.

First posted to Reading the Past.3 s Rebecca K1 review

This a beautiful, immersive historical novel. If you really want to feel you've entered another time and place, Judith Lindbergh brings her setting alive with precision and detail. Plus, I love learning about overlooked historical figures and I'd never heard of Akmaral, a badass woman who deserves way more attention than she gets, before I read this book. 2 s Adreanna King41 3

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.2 s Sara Vogt133 5

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?”2 s Wreadaptation124 3

"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.arc-the-netgalley2 s Caroline PalmerAuthor 1 book24

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 the kumiss and the mention of the tall Mongolian headdress for a female leader left me disjointed coming from the Iranian plateau.2 s Martha Anne TollAuthor 1 book183

In this sweeping epic, Lindbergh brings to life ancient nomadic peoples of Central Asia. This book begs to be a film, for its detailed visuals of both the landscape and the artifacts of tribal life. Akmaral is a woman warrior who persists through love and loss, a life of violence and warfare, and a commitment to the children who will be the future. Kudos to Lindbergh for her amazing imagination. 2 s Nadishka AloysiusAuthor 27 books66

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. netgalley2 s Fran705 828

“The evidence lies in Kurgan mounds, the countless burials that dot the Central Asian steppes…women warriors lie at rest beside their daggers, swords…their thighs bowed from lives spent on horseback, their bones betraying battle injuries.” Author Judith Lindbergh creates life lived by a Sauromatae female warrior, a member of a matriarchal, nomadic tribe.

“The Kara Kam foretold that I would be important…she sang strange chants…sprinkled small black seeds over her smoldering fire…steamed…koumiss, the intoxicating drink…bring[ing] us closer to our ancestors.”

The Sauromatae tribe moved with the seasons, seeking grasslands for their herds, always mindful of possible enemy raids. From an early age, Akmaral was taught that “a warrior does not cry out…no matter what.” She was embraced by a new aul upon the death of her parents. She watched girls practicing weaponry and learning to hunt. Ten year old Akmaral rode with the hunters, her arrow nocked. She learned that “Death comes riding when a warrior falters.” Akmaral was stunned by the jealousy displayed by male warrior Erzhan, furious that her weaponry expertise was second to none.

Akmaral observed others becoming ana-women. Only upon birthing a child, would a female’s role change to child protector and be exempt from battle. A warrior could not take a lover unless she proved her fighting worth. After a first kill, she could mate. Erzhan, her nemesis and occasional confidant, desired her.

As battles and raids continued, she begged for the life of a captured outsider, a choice that would have repercussions. The well entrenched matriarchal society would be tested. For a time, patriarchy would override the pre-existing mores. Would the prophecy of Akmaral’s importance create community and the return to matriarchy?

Author Lindbergh’s extensive research was evident in her depiction of a strong-minded, determined female Sauromatae warrior. The glossary allowed the reader to truly understand customs and traditions, including offerings to Targitai, the war god. The Scythians, their arch enemy, was always in their purview.

Life on the Central Asian steppes in the 5th century BCE was wrought with hardship, hunger and death. “We are warriors. We are already meant to die.” The Scythians would continue to come and challenge their existence. Akmaral’s vulnerability created mistakes, some of a great magnitude, however leadership could occur only after lessons learned and strategic adjustments made.

Highly recommended.

Thank you Regal House Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.


46 s26 comments belovedbookwormIV18 1 follower

"For most of us, it does not last long-this life. A warrior's death always comes early. Yet mine has lasted long enough, longer than I would have thought"- Akmaral

-----
Possible triggers (this is not a complete list): murd3r, murd3r of an infant (on page), animal sacrifice, hunting animals, violence, enslavement, and mention/threats of murd3ring a child.

Spice/steamy scale: 0-5, I give it a 2.
-------

Akmaral has an essence similar to nature. It's a wild, brutal, beautiful and magical thing.

Akmaral took me by surprise. I it and I still feel it linger in my mind. I was captivated by the world Lindbergh created. The writing felt poetry. Akmaral was a fascinating and somewhat emotional read.

I was engrossed in Akmaral's life, watching her become a warrior, then a mother, and then a warrior again but with the heart of a mother. She was an interesting character, strong of spirit and body. All the characters in this book are interesting though. They are complex, each with their own beliefs, agendas and values.

While it was a great read, there were some things I wish were different or disd. I hated reading about the death of that infant. I did want more personal scenes and interactions with the characters. And I'm not exactly satisfied with what happened regarding Akmaral's son.

I recommend this if you enjoy historical fiction, books with a strong female main character and don't mind some brutality.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
4-and-5-star-reads arc-reads1 Katherine KirkpatrickAuthor 13 books33

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. historical-fiction1 Claudia72 1 follower

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.antiquity arc history ...more Carol LaHinesAuthor 5 books52

Akmaral is a meticulously researched and engrossing saga about a woman warrior on the Central Asian steppes who succeeds in uniting the disparate clans against the Scythian enemy. Akmaral is fierce and brave, a warrior who protects; and yet she is also the ana-woman who nurtures. It was prophesied by the Kara Kam that she would lead her peoples; and she does, transforming them from rag tag warriors to a fearsome army, guided on the way by the eagle, the deer, and the snow leopard and the wisdom of her ancestors. Along the way, Akmaral suffers reversals of fortune, of romantic fate; she is castigated for lying with an outsider and bearing his child. Yet it is precisely her spirit of independent and resilience that enables her to unite the clans and fend off the invader. Akmaral is a hero’s journey; an inner quest; a history of a people who are unfamiliar to most, but whose history prefigures our own. Lindbergh breathes life into these Central Asian steppe peoples, weaving a mythical and epic tale around their traditions and ways of life, introducing us to their rituals, and permitting the reader along on Akmaral’s riveting journey. Kris855 11

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 d 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 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 ly, 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 d, 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.read-in-2024 Natalie392 20

Akmaral
By Judith Lindburgh

This is the story of Akmaral, an orphan who lived in the Central Asian steppes in the 5th century BCE. Akmaral, in this story, is a warrior much the Amazons, who were reputed to have come from this same area, according to legend and ancient writings.

But Akmaral is much more than a warrior. She is a leader of her people, almost a priestess. In this story she leads her people away from the constant internecine fighting to a position of peace and strength in numbers. The Sauromataes, as her people were known historically, were probably the source of the Amazon myth.

This is a novel, but it is based in large part on what archeologists have discovered in this area. Death mounds have been discovered in which the warriors buried with great honor were most certainly women. And the Scythians who were the "enemy" did indeed thrive to the west of the Sauromatae. While not much is known about the gods the Sauromatae worshipped, it is known that the peoples of the steppes worshipped multiple deities.

I was fascinated by this book and all the history that I had not previously known much about. For history buffs, this is a must read.
1 Kerri SchlottmanAuthor 8 books58

AKMARAL is an epic tale told over the lifetime of a woman warrior, Akmaral, that interweaves fact and folklore into a mesmerizing story about matriarchal power, the ferocity of love and hate, and the alternating currents of battle and peace. In poetic prose, Judith Lindberg recreates the expansive, unforgiving world of 5th century Central Asia, a setting firmly rooted in the natural and spiritual worlds and the struggle to survive. Traveling with Akmaral and her aul, we are confronted with unspeakable violence and vengeance, yet also moments of tenderness, love, and care. This is a beautifully written book with some gorgeous passages into which Judith sneaks her clever plot devices, one of my favorite being:

“Our horses’ feet grew tender on the restless stones and tripping roots, nervous in the forest valley clutched by darkness though it was not yet even dusk. So different from our broad plain where the light broke free and played among drifting clouds. Those trees beside our lake were
nothing. Laughable. They had not prepared us.”1 Chet Ensign1 review

I loved reading this novel. Beginning as her life ends, Judith Lindbergh's Akmaral relives the arc of her life from orphan to warrrior, lover, mother, and ultimately leader of her clan, the Sauromatae, a nomadic tribe on the central Asian steppes. As she reflects on her life, the many hard choices she has made, the things she has gained and lost, she finds peace with her losses, mistakes, and struggles.

Lindbergh presents us with a culture that is, in many ways, more equal than today. Women and men train and fight and those who rise to power are the ones most worthy. The demanding life on the steppes left little room for games.

Lindbergh's extensive research and beautiful prose make this distant world as vividly concrete as our own. She puts the reader solidly in the camps; you can smell, taste, feel the world these people lived in.

If you are a fan of historical fiction that puts you in a place remote and exotic, you will definitely enjoy "Akmaral." 1 Als156 12

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. I’ve never read a book set in this culture/time period/setting so I was looking forward to it. These factors were indeed engrossing and I really felt I was there in the story. Also, Akmaral is a strong and intricate character and I was interested to read from her point of view. However, throughout my reading experience I found myself skimming or not wanting to pick this up.advanced-copies fiction historical-fiction Sarah Kravits1 review

In this moment, we need stories that both transport and teach us, and Judith Lindbergh has delivered just that with Akmaral. This story will transport you out of the frenetic present moment into a historical time that offers lessons we can use, if we can give ourselves the gift of time to learn them. With her well-researched and authentic window into ancient people and places not often explored, the author weaves a captivating tale that reminds us of the complexity, the possibility, and the power of woman.1 TuckerAuthor 28 books205

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. I received a free advance copy from NetGalley.large-magical-animals3 s Margaret227 1 follower

This book is set over 2400 years ago and is the tale of a powerful woman warrior. It is a well researched story that is inspired by archeological findings indicating the existence of a people where both genders were trained to battle. While it deals with the violence of war, there is also romance, motherhood, heartbreak, betrayal and even with this tribe, some misogyny. Thank you to Edelweiss+ for the digital ARC. It was a wonderful read. 4.5/5

1 Dorothy Berinstein1 review

Astonishingly beautiful! From the first page, I could not put this book down. Judith Lindbergh has created a captivating novel set in Central Asia during the 5th century B.C. and brings to life a period and people that is rarely captured in literature. She creates a portrait of a remarkable woman: fierce, powerful and loyal to her people and her child. This book left a lasting impression on me. If you are a fan of Geraldine Brooks, you must read Akmaral!1 Carolyn Valdez376 9

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I love historical fiction and the author did such justice with this one. Bringing to life Akmaral from childhood to the end of her life. I would love to read more of Ms. Lindbergh’s works. I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys historical fiction.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review Judith Eisner1 review

Intriguing new author. Beautifully drawn characterization, takes you into different worlds entirely.
Highly recommend this book for anyone interested in good authors and compelling stories.1 Emma Greenberg15 2

Beautifully written and immersive Amy518 5

Very well written and researched. Not my usual type of book but enjoyed it immensely. Definitely jeeps you interested Alexandra1,776 100

RTC

Thank you Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for providing copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Expecting Publication : 7 May 20242024-netgalley historical-fiction lyrical-beautiful-prose ...more1 Christy fictional_traits187 194

Autor del comentario:
=================================