Alexander the Great has conquered the Persian Empire and is marching eastward to India. In his wake he leaves small groups of Macedonian soldiers to wield military power over great tracts of land and diverse peoples. Nikometros, son of Leonnatus, is a young cavalry captain left behind in the province of Sogdiana, near the borders of the fierce nomadic Scythian horsemen.
Captured after an ambush, he must fight for his life and the lives of his surviving men. With the aid of a young priestess of the Mother Goddess, he achieves a position of trust within the tribe. But not all Scythians welcome his presence. The chief's son sees him as a threat to his own position, and other Scythian lords have their own agendas. Nikometros must play them off against each other as he seeks an opportunity to escape. Complicating matters is a feeling of loyalty to the chief, and a developing relationship with the young priestess.
Born in Malaysia to English parents, Max has traveled extensively, living in England, Germany and Jamaica before settling down in New Zealand. Moving to Australia in 1990, Max took up a position teaching at James Cook University. Meeting Ariana, an American author, in 1998, he married and they explored Australia before heading for Illinois, where he took a job unloading trucks for Wal-Mart. Within a year he was an Assistant Manager and finishing his Lion of Scythia trilogy. Following the death of his wife Ariana in 2003, he experienced a Michigan winter before heading back to tropical Australia, where he continues to write.