Genghis: Bones of the Hills: 3 (Khan Dynasty) - Softcover

Iggulden, Conn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385342802 ISBN 13: 9780385342803

Publisher: Bantam, 2010

Synopsis

From the author of the bestselling The Dangerous Book for Boys

From Conn Iggulden, #1 bestselling author of six historical epics and coauthor of the international sensation The Dangerous Book for Boys, comes a magnificent new work of fiction. Here, the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, stalked by enemies seen and unseen and plagued by a divided family, leads a sprawling force of horsemen beyond the realm of their known world. He will bring a storm to Arab lands and face the armies of the shah in all their strength.

From the fierce cold plains of Mongolia to the Korean Peninsula, Genghis's brothers, sons, and commanders have made emperors bow, slaughtering vast armies of fighting men. 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. Under his command, Shah Ala-ud-Din Mohammed has thousands of fierce Arab warriors, teeming cavalry, and terrifying armored elephants. When Genghis strikes, the Arabs prove their mettle. On the verge of defeat, Genghis is forced to leave his own vast encampment, and the women and children in it, in the path of an enraged, savage enemy.

While the Mongols--men, women, and children--fight back, as secret assassins are sent into the night, another battle is taking shape. Two of Genghis's sons, Jochi and Chagatai, are steeped in enmity. Warriors choose between them, and a murderer commits an unspeakable crime. Soon the most powerful man in the world, who has brought devastation to this land, must choose a successor. And when he does, it will touch off the most bitter conflict of all.

In a novel that ranges from the fertile lands of the Chin to the dust and rock of Afghanistan, Conn Iggulden weaves the epic story of history's most enigmatic conqueror --those who feared him, those who defied him, and those whose bones he left behind.

About this title

Review:

One can only hope that the phenomenal success of his co-authored The Dangerous Book for Boys does not take attention away from the prodigious storytelling skills of Conn Iggulden. As Bones of the Hills forcefully reminds us, Iggulden is the real deal when it comes to historical fiction on the grandest scale. And here, all of his characteristic skills are well to the fore.

A boy was abandoned in the wilderness by his tribe -- but he did not die. As those Iggulden admirers who have read Wolf of the Plains and Lords of the Bow will know, this luckless boy has grown into one of the most feared and powerful figures in history, Genghis Khan. He has persuaded the tribes that had been tearing each other to pieces to ignore their differences and unite under his leadership to battle their oldest enemies. Under his ruthless (and ferociously inspired) leadership, a mighty nation has been forged. But this is only the beginning of his struggles: Khan sends out emissaries, but they are tortured and killed. He attempts to open trade routes; his efforts are met with violent rebuff. Soon, the Mongolian army is stretched to the furthest corners of Khan's realm, and destruction looms.

This is epic storytelling on a nigh-operatic scale. Iggulden has long been the master of the broad brush stroke and conjures up the ancient world with great panache. Of course, the success of a book such as Bones of the Hills depends on the vivid characterisation of its larger-than-life central character, and of the many novels which have attempted to capture Genghis Khan, none have mastered the task as successfully as Conn Iggulden.
--Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Iggulden's trilogy [is] a feat of rousing, adventure-packed storytelling ... a kind of fictionalized Dangerous Book, loaded with the lore of warfare, horsemanship, strategy, and exotic geography and history, along with the perils as well as the virtues of an unrelenting ethos of manliness."--National Review

"The exciting third novel in Iggulden's Genghis Khan series ... is epic historical fiction at its finest: exciting, suspenseful, colorful and well-grounded in fact.... Iggulden's vivid descriptions of bloody battles, masterful sieges and political intrigue are gripping.... With this tale, it is easy to see why the name Genghis is synonymous with conquest and military genius." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0385342802
• ISBN 13: 9780385342803
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432