Sterkarm Tryst

Time traveling corporate raiders target 16th-century Scotland—and face the legendary Sterkarm warriors—in this “enthralling . . . brilliantly imagined” series (Philip Pullman on The Sterkarm Handshake). James Windsor—leader of FUP, the twenty-first-century megacorporation that created a tunnel back to the past called the Time Tube—has no intention of giving up his plan to pillage resources from pristine sixteenth-century Scotland. Unfortunately for Windsor, the Sterkarm clan, who will do anything to protect their lands from invaders, continues to stand in his way. But if Windsor’s modern-day mercenaries, with their technology, rifles, and rocket launchers, can’t beat the primitive Sterkarm warriors, who can? And who could possibly understand the wild Scottish moors and the clan’s brutal ways better than the Sterkarms themselves?   When FUP opens up a new portal, two universes of Sterkarms are pitted against each other, but anthropologist Andrea Mitchell—originally sent back in time by FUP to study the clan—will risk her life to save Per, the warrior she loves, and the community she has grown to call home. And when both sets of Sterkarms become wary of the twenty-first-century “Elves,” who shake on promises of friendship with one hand and commit murder with the other, they know there is only one way to protect their futures: join with the Grannams, and with each other, to destroy the tunnel, preventing the Elves from returning ever again.   Perfect for fans of Outlander and Vikings, A Sterkarm Tryst is the epic conclusion to Susan Price’s award-winning Sterkarm Trilogy.

Praise for the Sterkarm Trilogy “Enthralling . . . A brilliantly imagined novel.” —Philip Pullman, The Guardian, on The Sterkarm Handshake   “Price’s gripping time-travel adventure, a 1999 Carnegie Medal finalist, cleverly imagines a startling collision of 21st-century technology and 16th-century mores. . . . Price does a masterly job of blending fact and fiction, straddling two time periods and rotating through several characters’ points of view. Readers will be engrossed, unable to rest until they know how the author resolves the seemingly insoluble conflicts.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on The Sterkarm Handshake   “A fast paced story of treachery, sex, love, and violence written with such feeling for historical detail that you can hear the clash of weapons.” —The Observer on A Sterkarm Kiss   “Perfect for sophisticated YA readers.” —School Library Journal on A Sterkarm Kiss

Susan Price is the author of the Sterkarm series. Born in Dudley, West Midlands, in England, she went on to write the Guardian Fiction Prize–winning The Sterkarm Handshake (1998) after visiting reiver country on the borders of Scotland. To help her imagine the Sterkarm’s world, she drew on lifelong interests in history, folklore, and old ballads, as well as her hobbies of shooting with a longbow and traveling to the Scottish hills with her partner. Price continued the series with A Sterkarm Kiss (2004) and A Sterkarm Tryst (2017). Her other works include the novel The Ghost Drum, which won the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Price lives in the Black Country, in West Midlands, England.