Buy Books, Subscriptions and Tickets

Author: Holland, Lucy

Fantasy

Published on 15 May 2025 by PAN MACMILLAN (Pan Books) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 432 pages
130 x 198 x 28 | 296g

‘A beguiling blend of Dark Ages history, strong heroines and magic . . . Captivating’– DAILY MAILLucy Holland, the bestselling author of Sistersong, transforms the story of Herla and the Wild Hunt into a rich, feminist fantasy in this stunning tale of two great warriors, a war-torn land and an ancient magic that is slowly awakening.

Britain, 60 AD. Hoping to save her lover and her land from the Romans, Herla makes a desperate pact with the Otherworld King. She becomes Lord of the Hunt and for centuries she rides, reaping wanderers’ souls. Until the night she meets a woman on a bloody battlefield – a Saxon queen with ice-blue eyes.

Queen Æthelburg of Wessex is a proven fighter, but after a battlefield defeat she finds her husband’s court turning against her. Yet King Ine needs Æthel more than ever: the dead kings of Wessex are waking, and Ine must master his bloodline’s ancient magic if they are to survive.

When their paths cross, Herla knows it’s no coincidence. Something dark and dangerous is at work in the Wessex court. As she and Æthel grow closer, Herla must find her humanity – and a way to break the curse – before it’s too late.

‘Magic, myth, political intrigue and a fierce and unique love story . . . I devoured it’– CASSANDRA CLARE, author of Sword Catcher