Tagged: genghis khan
The Tiger Queens by Stephanie Thornton
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
In the late twelfth century, across the sweeping Mongolian grasslands, brilliant, charismatic Temujin ascends to power, declaring himself the Great, or Genghis, Khan. But it is the women who stand beside him who ensure his triumph….
After her mother foretells an ominous future for her, gifted Borte becomes an outsider within her clan. When she seeks comfort in the arms of aristocratic traveler Jamuka, she discovers he is the blood brother of Temujin, the man who agreed to marry her and then abandoned her long before they could wed.
Temujin will return and make Borte his queen, yet it will take many women to safeguard his fragile new kingdom. Their daughter, the fierce Alaqai, will ride and shoot an arrow as well as any man. Fatima, an elegant Persian captive, will transform her desire for revenge into an unbreakable loyalty. And Sorkhokhtani, a demure widow, will position her sons to inherit the empire when it begins to fracture from within.
In a world lit by fire and ruled by the sword, the tiger queens of Genghis Khan come to depend on one another as they fight and love, scheme and sacrifice, all for the good of their family…and the greatness of the People of the Felt Walls.
[Full disclosure: I received a free print copy in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
Ever since I read Daughter of the Gods, Stephanie Thornton’s take on Hatshepsut, I have become a serious fan of her work. So when the opportunity to read her take on the women of Genghis Khan arose, I couldn’t resist. And now that I’ve finished the book, I’m glad I couldn’t.
Stephanie Thornton’s main strength is her characters and that really shines through in this multi-character epic. Each one is so distinctly different and yet they’re strong in different ways: Borte, the wife of the great Khan; Alaqai, his fierce daughter; Fatima, a woman who hates the Mongols but grows to love them; Sorkhokhtani, the unlikely force behind her sons who would someday be Khan. My personal favourite is Borte because I’ve admired her since I read Conn Iggulden’s take on Genghis Khan, but all of them were wonderful. They all get different sections of the book and each one is very, very distinct. Every woman gets their own character arc and we get to experience all of their triumphs and failures first-hand. I could connect to all of the characters in this novel, something that’s not very common with multiple main characters.
Even though this book is nearly 500 pages long, the pacing is actually very good. I didn’t really feel bored at any point in the novel because while each character fulfills their own little subplots the greater plot (the path the empire takes) is also marching forward. Although I know a bit more than the average person on the street, I can hardly be considered an authority on the Mongol Empire so seeing the progression of it in this way, through the generations, was a real treat. It’s very hard to keep historical fiction fast-paced, but Stephanie Thornton does it very, very well.
Stephanie Thornton is a good historical fiction writer in that she can balance accuracy and a good story. There are very few sources from the time and while she does try to be as accurate she can with the wider events, I like how she admits that she does take a few liberties with events in her Author’s Note. However, she still maintains historical accuracy on the smaller details like Mongol customs, how they lived their daily lives, etc. It took a lot of research and hard work, but the result is a fairly historically accurate work that also happens to be a very, very good novel.
What more can I say? I could gush for days on the different characters and their hardships and successes, but it’s just best for you to go out and buy the book. Then you can experience for yourself the wonderful writing style of Stephanie Thornton, her amazingly fleshed-out characters and her painstaking attention to historical details. You can’t ask for a better take on some of history’s most powerful, but oddly forgotten, women. I can’t recommend this book enough.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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.
Genghis: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Tower Books.)
From the fierce cold plains of Mongolia to the Korean peninsula, Genghis Khan’s brothers, sons, and commanders have made emperors kneel in the ruins of their broken cities. But as Genghis enters a strange new land of towering mountains and arid desert, he stirs an enemy greater than any he has met before. Shah Ala-ud-Din Mohammed has under his command thousands of fierce Arab warriors, teeming calvary, and terrifying armored elephants. When Genghis strikes, the Arabs prove their mettle.
While the Mongols struggle to defeat their savage enemy, another battle is taking shape—between two of Genghis’s feuding sons. Soon the most powerful man in the world must choose a successor. And when he does, it will touch off the most bitter conflict of all.
Let me just say that I wouldn’t want Genghis Khan to be my father, especially after reading this book. If you don’t look much like him, as in the case of his oldest son, Jochi, he will think you aren’t his son. To toughen you up, he will make you do things that would be considered child abuse today, like making you stand in a freezing lake high up in the mountains. And if you turn against him or disobey him, watch out! It makes no difference whether you’re related to him or not; the punishment is the same.
Even knowing this, I still laughed at his choice of heir because it made perfect sense, yet it was highly unlikely for the time period. Classic Genghis.
If this really didn’t happen, I would call the Mongol conquest of a large part of the Arab world cliché. It’s so unlikely that it proves truth is stranger than fiction. Filled with amazing battle scenes and vivid descriptions of exotic lands, Conn Iggulden tells an amazing story while educating readers. Genghis: Bones of the Hills is mostly historically accurate and where it isn’t, the changes are actually justified.
The character of Genghis is three dimensional and interesting, if not entirely sympathetic. Readers probably will not like him by this book, considering all of the atrocities he commits (although on the other hand, Constantine killed his eldest son and second wife and they still made him a saint), but they will be able to understand his motivations. The same goes for poor Tsubodai, one of his generals, who commits a horrible crime against an old friend of his because of where his loyalties ultimately lie. Conn Iggulden is able to breathe life into these distant historical figures, which is what historical fiction is all about.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Genghis: Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Open Library.)
For centuries, primitive tribes have warred with one another. Now, under Genghis Khan—a man who lives for battle and blood—they have united as one nation, overcoming moats, barriers, deceptions, and superior firepower only to face the ultimate test of all: the great, slumbering walled empire of the Chin.
Genghis Khan comes from over the horizon, a single Mongol warrior surrounded by his brothers, sons, and fellow tribesman. With each battle his legend grows and the ranks of his horsemen swell, as does his ambition. In the city of Yenking—modern-day Beijing—the Chin will make their final stand, confident behind their towering walls, setting a trap for the Mongol raiders. But Genghis will strike with breathtaking audacity, never ceasing until the emperor himself is forced to kneel.
Lords of the Bow is probably my favourite book in the Genghis series because Genghis Khan’s conquest of the Chin is so improbable. I love reading about warfare and even with what little I know, I could probably tell you that the Mongols, from a technical standpoint, should not have beaten the more technologically advanced Chin. Yet, under the leadership of the brilliant and bloodthirsty Genghis, they best their ancient enemies. This unlikely conquest is beautifully chronicled by Conn Iggulden, one of the giants of historical fiction today.
One of the most impressive things about Conn Iggulden is that he can bring human qualities to someone like Genghis Khan. Don’t get me wrong, though—Genghis is till a monster in this series. But he has realistic motivations for his ruthlessness, like the fact that his people have been trampled on and manipulated by the Chin for hundreds of years. If you poke even the most nomadic, scattered tribes in the eye with a stick long enough, you create the perfect conditions for a unified rebellion with a charismatic and brilliant leader. Genghis was the product of this Chinese eye-poking.
As many of you are aware, I have a love-hate relationship with Conn Iggulden’s novels because he changes history around frequently. Unlike in the misnamed Emperor series (since Caesar was never emperor in our sense of the word), I think that many of the changes in this book are justified. So if you don’t mind authors who sacrifice historical accuracy for a fast-paced plot, you will love Lords of the Bow.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Accuracy in Historical Fiction
As many of you know, I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to Conn Iggulden’s books because his incessant need to mess with history is infuriating. It happens more and is more noticeable in his Emperor series, which annoys me to no end because some of the changes are not justified. So, in this article I will discuss when writers need to be accurate and when it’s okay to mess with history.
I don’t know anyone who went to see The Mummy (1999) for its historical accuracy. But that’s how cinema is so different from literature: in the former, accuracy is a bonus while people expect it in the latter. Authors should not betray the bond of trust between them and their readers or their readers (especially reviewers like myself) will eat them alive. Unlike The Mummy, a novel about the same thing would be ridiculed for having five canopic jars instead of four, giving Seti a beard and including the idiotic idea that someone can be mummified alive and survive more than the first day. Basically, if you’re going to write historical fiction be sure, if nothing else, to get the basic facts of the time period right. Continue reading