France's defining fantasy/science fiction odyssey of the 21st century, the basis of the award-winning video game Expedition 33 and now published in English for the first time, celebrates twenty-three brave warriors of the wind

Twenty-three adventurers-each with a unique personality and a precise duty, some trained since birth, some joining over the course of a long journey-climb endlessly against the wind that plagues their desolate homeland. Their only purpose: to make it to the Upper Reaches and identify the wind's mysterious source. Over the course of eight hundred years, thirty-three hordes before them have tried and failed.

In this masterwork whose epic scope and visionary world-building are commonly compared to the universe of Dune, author Alain Damasio moves among narrators, alternating between breathtaking descriptions of the unique and bewildering world he has invented-ruled by seven types of wind, classified by their forces-and gripping, rhythmic dialogue.

Horde of the Counterwind has ignited the imaginations of more than a million French fans since its publication in 2004. Voted the best book of the twenty-first century by readers of Sens critique and the twelfth-greatest book of all time by Le Monde's subscribers, the novel served as a major inspiration for the celebrated video game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. At last, English-speaking audiences will get the chance to shoulder their packs and join the adventure.