Friday, August 29, 2008

Genghis: Lords of the Bow


I couldn't WAIT for this book to be published. As you may remember, I'm a huge fan of Genghis: Birth of an Empire and praised it endlessly last year. This is the second book of the series and it doesn't disappoint.

Genghis was married and conquering everyone at the end of the first book and now he's settled into being khan. He and his brothers rule easily and kill fast. So this novel is more about how Genghis handles everything. He doesn't have to worry about the threat of the open steppe anymore. Everyone bows him now, but how does he keep everyone fed? What does he do with the slaves? Who really cares which horse is bred to which horse? Genghis has to make a lot of decisions and start to delegate, which is always hard for a ruler. His youngest brother Temuge becomes the man who handles the everyday things while his other two brothers are the generals. As they move farther into China though, Genghis realizes that things are different on the other side of the wall. They read and write, build huge cities, and fortresses that are almost impreganable. Genghis makes it, but the foreshadowing makes me dread reading the next book in the series. Genghis' empire is impressively strong, stretching across Asia, but there are hints of a downfall. His youngest brother is a little sneaky. And his oldest son is trying to prove that he isn't the child of his mother's rapist, but the rightful heir to the Mongol empire. Whoa. I can't wait to see Jochi prove himself.

Wow. This is good. Read it.

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