Genghis (The Conqueror Series)

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Connor Iggulden ( / ˈ ɪ ɡ əl d ɛ n/; born ( 1971-02-24)24 February 1971) is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the Emperor series and Conqueror series. He also co-authored The Dangerous Book for Boys with his brother Hal. In 2007, Iggulden became the first person to top the UK fiction and nonfiction lists at the same time.

Courage cannot be left like bones in a bag. It must be brought out and shown the light again and again, growing stronger each time. If you think it will keep for the times you need it, you are wrong. It is like any other part of your strength. If you ignore it, the bag will be empty when you need it most.” Wolf of the Plains is the first of the Conqueror series, devoted to the boyhood and youth of the future Genghis (or Temujin as he is known throughout this book). By the age of eleven Genghis’s father had been murdered and he was an outlaw on the Mongolian steppe. The gang of teenagers who gathered around him soon became expert killers, and the rest is history – or will be in the succeeding volumes. There was no justice in the world, but he had known that ever since the death of his father. The spirits took no part in the lives of men once they had been born. A man either endured what the world sent his way, or was crushed.” Note: for some unknown reason the Taiwanese translation duds the book's title as Conqueror: Wolf of the Plain/征服者︰瀚海蒼狼 instead of Genghis: Birth of an Empire.

Publication Order of Wars of the Roses Books

Yesugei is eventually betrayed and poisoned by Tartars and his family is driven out of the clan by the new Khan. Temujin and his brothers, as well as their mother, mother struggle to survive out in the wild. Through many hardships and even conflicts within the family (Temujin vs his oldest brother-Bekter), Temujin becomes their leader. The language in the book was the traditional adult language. The derogatory terms were specific to the time. While the characters would often refer to others with these terms, they would not be considered swearing by todays standards. Genghis Khan's rise to power is one of the most incredible stories ever told. It's a story of betrayal, hardship, violence, ambition and revenge. While a lot of these aspects were carried over into this book, I was still a bit disappointed with the pace of the story, especially early on. For the first half of this book Temujin suffers betrayal and scorn at every turn. Despite often vowing revenge he doesn't achieve anything before running into the next conflict. All of these conflicts building up, with no resolution in sight, made it really difficult foe me to enjoy these parts of the book. In 2022, he published the first in a two-part series, The Golden Age, titled Lion. Set a generation after his Athenian series, it follows Pericles' rise in Athens, the formation of the Delian League, and the Battle of the Eurymedon. His second and final book in the series, which came out in 2023, is titled Empire.

After that I didn't remember details so it was like reading the book for the first time. Of course we all know how it turns out, since Genghis Khan was such a force of history, but this telling of his early years, from birth to the point he becomes that force, is fascinating and hypnotic, very hard to put down. He was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Temujin's young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts: the betrayal of his father by a neighboring tribe and the abandonment of his entire family, cruelly left to die on the harsh plain. But Temujin endured--and from that moment on, he was driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon. All life is a prelude to death. To serve me until you are a corpse, or to be cut down and become one. You have only two options before my blade. Hulegu displays his barbarity with the savage destruction of Baghdad and his clash with the Khan’s age-old enemies, the cult of assassins. But it is Kublai—refined and scholarly, always considered too thoughtful to take power—who will devise new ways of warfare and conquest as he builds the dream city of Xanadu and pursues the ultimate prize: the ancient empire of Sung China. His gifts will serve him well when an epic civil war breaks out among brothers, the outcome of which will literally change the world. As the opening book of a series, this was really good. It sets the stage for what is to come, with an interesting setting and set of characters. For some reason it seemed a little bit too simple, in that the storyline, the number of important characters and the area in which the story takes place are all really limited; but then again, this is only the first book, and it serves its purpose as an introduction and a taste of what is to come. So far, I must say that the series is not quite as good as Iggulden’s Emperor series, but it definitely has the potential for it.Genghis Khan is dead, but his legend and legacy have not yet left the plains. Ogedai, his son, has built a white city on a great plain which becomes the capital of a new nation. During this time, new enemies are coming together to find out which Genghis has the strength of a Khan. El ataque mongol a la guarida de la secta de los asesinos en Alamut, está muy bien narrado, pero es una licencia histórica, de las que me gustan muy poco, ya que se adelanta más de 35 años a los acontecimientos, pero al autor le ha parecido bien incluirlo aquí. En cualquier caso el episodio merece la pena.