Lords of the Bow. Conn Iggulden

2nd book in the series, couldn't put it down. Mr. Iggulden is a master storyteller. Do yourself a favor and have the 3rd book on hand before you even start reading this one, you will not want to wait for it! This series is on my keep it forever shelf right beside his Emperor series on Rome. I won't give you any spoilers, just an honest review. 5 stars! I will re-read and there is no higher praise than that!

This is a great second novel from Con Iggulden, it's rare that I read a book that is as well written and just a very satisfying read. I couldn't help but smile after reading this and the previous book in this trilogy, learning about this amazing and complex historical figure. We get to see an in depth look at the man who was a husband, a father, a brother and a friend and then we get to see the brutal warlord who is the leader of the tribes who shows no mercy and who's brutality is renown. This novel brings Genghis out of the Mongol steppes and leading his nation towards their ancient enemy the Chin. We'll see his reaction to the first site of the ancient walls of the Chin and how he felt about the first walled cities he has seen and how he will learn to conqueror and turn them to his own will. We also see his inner turmoil while trying to connect to his eldest son Jochi who may or may not be his child. As the conquest moves East and cities and countries fall at the Mongols feet the world trembles at the thought of were they will march next. Brilliant historical fiction, Iggulden at his very best.

Part 2 in the series picks up at the end of his campaign to unite the Mongol tribes with an epic battle with an alliance of Naiman tribes who didn't want to submit to his will. They paid a heavy price. Ghengis picks up a few useful people, like the Shaman Kochku, along the way and assimilates him into his united tribes. We get to see the logistics of the undertaking, and we start to see an insight into his initial inability to understand what a city was or what it was for. For example, there's a tribe to the west that has received an ultimatum to join him or else. They submit to him but it takes them a while to make the journey across the plains because they have been influenced by the Persians to their West and have all but abandoned the nomadic way of life, and built permanent buildings that they decide to dismantle and move with them. Ghengis dismisses a lot of their cultural achievements at first since he doesn't see the value of writing or knowledge about anything other than warfare. Eventually he turns his attention to the Xi Xia kingdom to the south and marches his army across the desert to get at them, only to be stopped by a high wall jammed into a gorge and is initially stumped about how to break through. I could go on summarizing the story from here but I don't want to spoil the book too much for people that don't already know the history of his campaign. The story goes right up to the siege of Nenking (Beijing) and the long period when the Chin inside the city held the Mongols at bay. The more interaction he has with neighbouring people, the more he understands the value of knowledge, and he eventually starts to use engineers to fashion new weapons capable of breaking city walls. Many of his soldiers have to make the transition from warrior archers to operators of machinery. The portrayal of the military battles is clear and exciting, as is the politics and intrigue that goes on behind closed doors. A striking feature of the book is the candid portrayal of the sheer brutality and ruthlessness of this leader. Slaughtering the entire populations of cities as a means of using terror to spread his reputation, mass executions of prisoners who surrendered, using prisoners as arrow-fodder to spearhead his attacks, it doesn't make for easy reading for someone used to living in modern civilised times. But it does make me grateful to have been born in Europe in the late 20th century rather than the plains of ancient Mongolia.

"And hear the lamentation of the women." Poor China - seems they can't get a break these days. Like it's not bad enough with the "Free Tibet" crowd and the Olympic Torch fiasco, here we've got Conn Iggulden piling on, sending Genghis Khan and his fearsome horde crashing through the "Chins" walled cities and wrecking the kind of havoc made popular in John Kerry's now infamous "Jenghis" Khan testimony to Congress in post-Vietnam America. And like it's predecessor, "Genghis: Birth of an Empire", "Genghis: Lords of the Bow", is a raucous, swashbuckling mayhem fest that is at the same time intelligent and illuminating - a rare peak under the covers of a man as ruthless as he was a great - make that extraordinary - field general and tactician. A man who through sheer determination and the magnetism of his personality united tribes of the northern plains that had been warring among themselves for centuries, succeeding in bringing their foes of far superior resources literally to their knees. As with "Empire" before it, "Lords of the Bow" puts a human face on Genghis - but just barely this time. For unlike the man-child we were introduced to in the first volume, we see the transformation from the child turned out on the steppes to die to a conqueror larger than life, the vanquisher who tramples his enemies not out of cruelty, but simply of cold efficiency. Iggulden resists the temptation of putting a politically correct kind face on the Genghis of nightmares, penning a masterful portrait of a leader with military brilliance of Alexander, forged with the diabolical cleverness of Machiavelli. "Lord of the Bows" reads a lot like an Eastern version of the venerable Bernard Cornwell, and in fact, the similarities between the tactics and success of the English long bow and the short, composite bows of Genghis' pony-mounted denizens are uncanny. Battle scenes are gripping and realistic. The author's depiction of the battle of Badger's Pass is a rare literary treat, as fascinating in the strategy and tactics as it is entertaining and suspenseful. But to allay any fears that this is simply a book military maneuvers, take heart: the story is spiced with politics, treachery, deceit, and chicanery - a stunning profile of justice and accountability honed and hardened by Mongolia's unrelenting climate and terrain. Yet more fascinating than the conquests and the carnage is the "why" - is rape and pillage really the end, does conquest and submission trump occupation and even unimaginable riches, painting a curious dilemma as Genghis and his tribes leave a broken Chin empire behind and return to their beloved seas of grass and snow? In short, another remarkable and enjoyable effort from Conn Iggulden has me anxiously waiting for the final chapter in the saga of the inimitable Genghis Khan. Well done!

In this second novel in `The Conqueror' series, the metamorphosis of Temujin of the Wolves into Genghis Khan is completed. Gathering the tribes is the first step towards Genghis building a nation which he will then lead against the fortress nation of the Chin. This is an epic story magnificently written. From the beginning, as Genghis seeks to unify the tribes as one nation, we can sense the magnitude of the task ahead. The Mongolian tribes are people of the plains, fighters on horseback and nomadic in lifestyle. Their greatest strengths are their capacity to move quickly, their iron discipline and their skill with the bow. To prevail against the Chin, they need to travel vast distances over desert, cross inhospitable mountains, and deal with complex fortifications. Tackling these challenges and keeping the nation together in a strange environment presents new challenges for Genghis. The success of this campaign depends on his ability to effectively govern the tribes, manage his own generals, mediate between his ambitious brothers and deal with his own feelings. The transition from young warrior to conqueror of nations is not easy, and is not without cost. `Some of you will die, but the sky father loves the warrior spirit and you will be welcomed.' This is a deeply satisfying novel. If the first novel gave us the boy who would become the man, then this novel gives us a sense of both the conqueror himself and the challenges of command. The fiction is largely supported by the known history and will provide a wonderful adjunct to those interested in this period. `We ride because we have the strength to rule.' I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Genghis Khan is the world's great warrior bar none. The empire he conquered was larger than those of the Romans and Alexander's combined. The odds he met were incredible. Great Walls, internal dissension. Unlike Alexander, he was not born a prince. In Lord of Bows, Genghis challenges the incredible might of China. There was an element of luck when a Chinese mafia betrays his country out of vengenance, but let's face it...It's not easy for a small nomad to challenge China's walls to begin with. Tsubodai also rocks the scene, playing dead to get behind the walls literally. I think readers will also identify with the crazy brother Khasar, who rambles on and makes a big risk spying on China and cavorting with funny kung-fu monks. I think Conn Igulden is the best historical fiction writer, even better than Bernard Cornwell, who has rather narrow themes than only revolve around England, and Lords of Bow is by far his best book. I first read his Caesar series, but even Gods of War was not this fun.