A coming-of-age historical novel, set on the Mongolian steppe about 3 generations after Genghis Khan. I think this is actually a YA novel from the plot and fairly uncomplicated writing style.

For telling a lie, Djela is banished to the northern herds on the border of the steppe. Here he proves himself by hunting and killing the ghostly Beast that has been terrorising the herds and the herdsmen.

Fairly short, I read it in the space of an afternoon. It seemed reasonably historically accurate, although there were one or two niggling spell checker errors which distracted me slightly. Apart from that, it was a perfectly adequate read.