Category: Historical Fiction
Khan: Empire of Silver by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Barnes and Noble.)
The thunder of 100,000 hooves.
It is the middle of the thirteenth century. One of the most extraordinary military empires in history is riding high. But its architect, the Great Khan, Genghis, is dead…
The lightning flash of arrows without number.
Fearful that he cannot match his father’s great deeds, the new Khan turns his gaze to Russia, and beyond…
A great new power is on the march. Who will stand against it?
What will happen when the storm from the east meets the stone walls and steel plate of the west? Can the legend and legacy of Genghis Khan live on?
In some ways, I miss the character of Genghis Khan. His presence was keenly felt, even when Conn Iggulden switched to the points of view of secondary characters and he was so wonderfully ruthless. He was a horrible human being, but in fiction, he was most definitely a memorable character. Now that he’s dead and his sons and grandsons take turns backstabbing each other, it’s just not the same. However, there was one thing I really loved about Empire of Silver: Sorhatani.
Sorhatani, the wife of Tolui, was only briefly mentioned in Bones of the Hills but now she takes centre-stage in the second half of Empire of Silver. I won’t reveal the reason for this, but let’s say that it has something to do with what her husband does out of loyalty for his older brother. It’s tragic, but Sorhatani rises to the challenge of being a strong female leader in an empire lead exclusively by men. She really is an amazing character, as is the somewhat tragic Tsubodai, who killed his young friend Jochi on Genghis’ order in Bones of the Hills.
As for the plot, it’s Conn Iggulden: you know it’s going to be fast-paced. As for accuracy, at least he resisted the urge to change too much around. He manages to show the points of views of many different characters, but it doesn’t really feel like head-hopping because he knows when it becomes too much for the reader. Instead, he uses the changing points of view to move the story forward, which is how they should be used.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Jahanara: Princess of Princesses by Kathryn Lasky
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
December 1, 1627
My father has four wives, but I am the daughter of the one he loves most, Arjumand Banu Geum. I, too, am a Begum, a princess. My name is Jahanara, great-granddaughter of Akbar, the greatest Moghul ruler of India…
I have diamonds the size of my small toe, and rubies the size of beetles, and I have thirty servants and eight elephants trained specifically for me. I have everything except freedom. We are all of us imprisoned: my mother, my father, my younger brothers, and my younger sister. In tents hung with gold cloth, we drink from emerald-studded chalices and yet we are prisoners.
This was my first introduction to the splendor that was India and I have to say it was great! Kathryn Lasky obviously did her research and included many little details that tween readers will love, however I cannot and will not comment on the accuracy of Jahanara: Princess of Princesses. Unlike with ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, I know next to nothing about India and I’m certainly not about to pretend I do.
Jahanara herself is a very good character that many readers will look up to. She believes that women in India have no power, but eventually she is taught that she was wrong. She has family troubles, like many people do and worries constantly about the radical religious streak she sees in her older brother.
Political intrigue, romance, war and death make Jahanara: Princess of Princesses a bit more mature than many of the other books in The Royal Diaries, so I would recommend it for older tweens and young teens. However, there really isn’t all that much to worry about because the violence isn’t explicit and there is no sex (obviously).
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory
(Cover picture courtesy of Elmhurst.)
3 Januarius, Morning
I could feel my insides shaking. Would this sister try to poison me? Yes, I believe so. As for my other older sister, Berenice—never! She and I adore each other even though I am eight years younger.
I took the cup and raised it toward Tryphaena as if toasting her, but really I was watching the liquid, looking for oil floating on its surface, or powder sticking to the sides of the cup. If I suspected poison and tossed it into the pool, she would have her guards behead me on the spot. If it was indeed poison, one sip and I could die…
My eyes closed as I took the first sip, as if savoring such an excellent taste, but really my thought was, O Isis, I am afraid….My stomach turned with nervousness, or was it from a fearsome death beginning in me?
The Royal Diaries series is a great one for young girls to learn about the lives of famous women. And no woman is more famous than Cleopatra VII, who has become a cultural phenomenon. So who was she? What was she like as a child? Kristiana Gregory tries to answer that question by writing a diary from Cleopatra’s own point of view.
What I like about Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile is that it doesn’t feel like you’re reading a diary. It feels like you’re seeing the events happen in real time as Cleopatra describes them, unlike some of the other books in the series. Kristiana Gregory obviously put a lot of research into her novel and it shines through in the little details about ancient Egyptian life. The narrative takes a different direction than a lot of books about Cleopatra’s younger years as it shows her going to Rome with her father, which may or may not be true—after all, it is ancient history. This is where she meets Marc Antony and helps her father, who speaks no Latin, navigate Roman politics.
Readers will fall in love with Cleopatra. She’s resourceful, strong and is, at the same time, a teenage girl at heart. She falls in love, she gets scared, she doubts herself…most readers will be able to relate to her.
The only caveat I have about this book is the religious aspect. Cleopatra admires Nefertiti and Akhenaten for their monotheism, even though no one by the Ptolemaic period would have had any clue who they were as the city they built (Akhetaten) was torn apart brick by brick and used in other Pharaohs’ monuments.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
(Cover picture courtesy of Reading with Tequila.)
Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family’s past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe—in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.
With a premise centred around Dracula, a novel is generally a hit-and-miss. However, Elizabeth Kostova actually managed to pull it off and this was definitely a hit.
While the premise may attract many people, I have to say that the writing style isn’t for everyone. It’s very descriptive and you really can picture yourself in all of the places described, but some people might find it overly-descriptive. In historical fiction I don’t mind such things and the descriptive writing style really appealed to me because many of the settings in the novel are completely foreign to me. Elizabeth Kostova’s writing hooks you in and slowly builds up the suspense while you wait for the shoe to drop—which it eventually does, at an unexpected time.
This is a book you really, really have to pay attention to. I would definitely not recommend reading it when you’re tired because the plot is incredibly complicated in a blink-and-you-miss sort of way. There are a couple of intersecting stories from different eras, which can be confusing at times, but works surprisingly well in The Historian overall.
The characters are amazing. We don’t meet Dracula himself for very long, but he is definitely a memorable character, as are pretty much all of the characters we come across. Elizabeth Kostova has this way of making her characters come alive, even though all we learn about some of them is through the stories of the main characters. It’s sort of how we learn about Lestat and other characters in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and in this case, it’s highly effective.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
(Cover picture courtesy of A Reader’s Journal.)
A story rich in passion and legend, The Lady of the Rivers is the story of Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, a woman who navigated a treacherous path through the battle lines in the Wars of the Roses.
When Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke’s squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke’s death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve at the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.
The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of England and the danger of their royal York rivals. As Jacquetta fights for her king and queen, she can see an extraordinary and unexpected future for her daughter Elizabeth: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York…
The Lady of the Rivers is, so far, my favourite book in Philippa Gregory’s The Cousins’ War series. It was even better than The White Queen, mainly because we never saw the downfall of the Yorks, which always made me a bit sad. Jacquetta was one of my favourite characters in the first book, so I was definitely glad to see that she got a book to herself. The story of her childhood, first loveless marriage and subsequent marriage for love is fascinating. And to think, all of this (the broad events of her life) actually happened.
Jacquetta is an amazing narrator. She’s strong, cunning and yet vulnerable when it comes to love. She truly believes in Melusina and her special gift of seeing and healing, which adds another layer to the plot of the story. Unlike Margaret Beaufort, I felt that I truly understood this incredible woman; Philippa Gregory brought her to life in the pages.
The plot is faster paced than you would generally expect in historical fiction, which is definitely a bonus. It’s also fascinating to see Jacquetta’s rise in the English Lancaster court while she foresees an incredible future for her daughter Elizabeth that involves England being under the house of York. This is definitely Philippa Gregory at her finest.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.