Ambushed on the Asian steppes, the young Turkish warrior chieftain called Alp faced imminent death from his tribal enemies, the Kirghiz. A moment later he finds himself in a strange world fifteen centuries in the future. He has been abducted by a mysterious race known as the Galactics to fight - and perhaps die - in the Game of Steppe, a strange recreation of his own era, played out on a vast interstellar scale where "horses" are starships, "cities" are planets, and "mountains" are suns.

Thrust naked and weaponless into this baffling, decadent interstellar empire, Alp escapes and wins his way into the Game on his own terms. Armed with only his warrior cunning and his knowledge of his own barbaric times, Alp soon becomes one of Steppe's most successful players, fighting his way rapidly up through the ranks of the Game with the aid of a band of brave warriors and the love of a desirable young woman.

Steppe by Piers Anthony, 1976
First TOR printing September 1985
ISBN: 0-312-93748-2
Cover Art by Boris Vallejo