Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden

“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation. They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and will not show mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle.”

- Jeremiah 50:41, 42

Paragraph above is quoted from the Old Testament; Book of Jeremiah and serves as the opening of this novel entitled: Lords of the Bow.

In this sequel to Wolf of the Plains, we're brought face-to-face again with one of the greatest conqueror in the world; Genghis Khan. The opening of this novel depicts the brutal inter-clan war afflicted on Mongols who refused to join the alliance. Virtually the whole clan is decimated; which proves the point that Genghis will stop at nothing to achieve his goal; which further shows that he is indeed a very determined, enigmatic and persistent leader.

It is also during this point of time that he was brought face-to-face with a soothsayer who apple-polished his way up the rank to become one of the close aides to the Great Khan. However, The Great Khan is not a person who pushes ahead without careful planning and is indeed a master strategist.

In fact, in this book, we were introduced to the fact that Genghis made careful and calculated planning befitting his stature and daunting his enemies into submission such as the usage of coloured tent (ancient "war traffic light" system consisting of red, white and black tents) to daunt the enemies into submission.

He is also not afraid to utilize more advanced war technologies available at that time; deception and even flooding the whole plain just to starve the inhabitant of Xi Xia into submission.
This novel ended with Genghis Khan taking over the empire of ancient China; thus fulfilling his desire to overcome the power that divided his people.

The post notes are helpful in shedding some lights on inner workings of the tribes on the plain and historical notes which wasn’t mentioned in most of the historical books.

Two events which had me thinking on the ultimate brutality of wars are:

1. The skeletons of the combatants in battle of the Badger’s Mouth littered the ground around that place for thirty miles.

2. Up to sixty thousand young girls threw themselves to death from the walls of Yenking rather than see it fall to the invader.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

"A multitude of rulers is not a good thing,
Let there be one ruler, one king"

“Homer; The Iliad”

That is indeed a very powerful statement from The Iliad; taking cues from this statement is a book written about enigmatic founder and ruler of the largest contiguous empire in the history of mankind; none other than Genghis Khan himself.

Despite all the grandiose war campaigns and conquests made throughout his life, it surprises me to see that even the Great Khan himself came from a harsh and strained beginning. A boy casted out from life of brotherhood together with his family after his father's unfortunate end. Death tinged with complot by ruler of another ancient empire to keep the tribes separate and at war with each other.

Temujin (as The Khan was known before he took the title of the Khan) was forced to live in exile together with his abandoned family and had to eke his living based on his wits and survival instincts alone.

He not only managed to survive but also emboldened his move and secure alliances with the loose tribes across the wilderness as he arranged his final check piece and head towards his arch nemesis; The Empire of China.

Though this book is about Temujin/Genghis Khan during his younger days, this book is well written as it encompassed life and perspectives of people around him as well.

The next book in this Genghis series is called "Lords of The Bow".

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.