The Amber Seeker: (pre-)historical fiction in an ancient world

Posted on March 19, 2019

Mandy Haggith’s new novel, The Amber Seeker, published on 21 March 2019, plunges us into a world seldom explored in historical fiction: the Iron Age.

In the second volume of her extraordinary, imaginative Stone Stories trilogy, Mandy Haggith takes us back to prehistoric times for an intergenerational saga ranging from the sub-Arctic to the Mediterranean.

The Amber Seeker revisits the unforgettable cast of characters we met in The Walrus Mutterer, which was longlisted for the Highland Book Prize. Mandy weaves another visceral tale of loss, longing and revenge in 320 BC:

Northern Britain, Iron Age. Pytheas of Massalia, the famed Greek explorer, roves the icy northern lands of Celtic Britain and beyond, in search of amber and other precious goods. He also craves another encounter with Rian, the slave he fell in love with during a previous voyage and who still haunts him. But Rian has other ideas. She has no desire to see Pytheas, and she won’t give up her freedom without a fight.

As Pytheas navigates a world of plundered riches, feuding warlords and ancient curses, will he succeed in finding what he set out for?