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    Genghis: Lords of the Bow
    Genghis: Lords of the Bow
    Genghis: Lords of the Bow
    Audiobook15 hours

    Genghis: Lords of the Bow

    Written by Conn Iggulden

    Narrated by Richard Ferrone

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times best-selling author Conn Iggulden's Genghis Khan novels are infused with action, adventure, and rich historical details further fleshing out the great warlord's world. Having risen from his tribal upbringing, Genghis now leads a horde of fellow countrymen on a mission of conquest throughout Asia. Escaping the Gobi Desert, he faces his greatest challenge, overtaking the empire of the Chin-a land protected by a massive, impenetrable wall.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateAug 22, 2008
    ISBN9781436151351
    Genghis: Lords of the Bow
    Author

    Conn Iggulden

    Born in London, Conn Iggulden read English at London University and worked as a teacher for seven years before becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and their children.

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    Reviews for Genghis

    4.5/5

    31 ratings19 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      PLUS -* Excellent follow on to Wolf of the Plains. * The historical notes provided are really interesting, and well worth a read. * Fascinating history of a little known place and era. MINUS - * I preferred the first in the series where there seems to be more character development and fewer battles but this was a good read nonetheless. OVERALL - * Well researched story with an interesting setting both historically and geographically.
    • 4/5
      [2nd] Genghis has united the tribes and is ready to annihilate the Chin, he is successful. He learns siege warfare and outmaneuvers his enemy through skill (mongol was synonymous with warrior), their underestimation of savages and man's capability in general, and not-so-shocking brutality. He returns to the plains to regain strength after a failed assassination attempt while the boy emperor flees to his allies in the south. Khal Drogo is a delightful ode to Genghis.___The young women walked slowly up the stone steps, wearing white, the colour of death. They were skeletally thin and barefoot, but they did not shiver. The cold did not seem to touch them at all. The soldiers on the walls fell back in superstitious dread and no one barred their path. By the thousand, they gathered above the city. By the ten thousand. Even the wind fell to a whisper across Yenking and the silence was perfect.The walkway around the city was frozen white and hard fifty feet below where they stood. Almost as one, the young women of Yenking stepped to the very edge. Some held hands, others stood alone, gazing out into the darkness. For all the miles of the wall, they stood there, looking down into the moonlight.All along the walls, figures in white had climbed like a line of ghosts. The Mongol warriors saw they were women and called out to them raucously, laughing and jeering at the distant figures. Many of the girls held hands as they stared down at the enemy who had ridden right to the gates of the emperor's city. They stepped off. The watching warriors fell silent in awe. From a distance, they dropped like white petals. Thousands more took their place on the wall.
    • 5/5
      The second of Iggulden's Mongol Empire series, this work is rich in character development, scenery, and battle (of course).
    • 4/5
      This is the second book in the Conqueror series, Conn Iggulden brings Genghis to life through the pages. the character development excels and the relationships of Genghis and others completes and ties everything together. This installment begins with Temujin, Genghis Khan, uniting the tribes together and attacking the Chin. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be grabbing the next book as soon as I can.
    • 4/5
      Second in Iggulden's Conqueror series. This book picks up the story of Genghis after he has united the tribes. He plans to lead them across the Gobi Desert and attack the cities of the Chin. Graphic detail describes the Battle of Badger Mouth and the siege of Yenking (Beijing today), stronghold of the Chin and home of their Emperor. The incident of the falling petals, where up to sixty thousand young girls threw themselves from Yenking's walls rather than see the city's defeat, is shocking. Also is the slaughter of entire populations of cities, the mass executions of prisoners and use of them as arrow-fodder. Different methods of warfare are needed and the tribes have much to learn. Genghis gradually learns the value of knowledge, and the usefulness of engineers. I was happy to see historical notes included which add depth to the understanding of the story.
    • 5/5
      Excellent series.Iggulden writes excellent characters and action scenes -- of course, he also has excellent subject to write about.
    • 4/5
      This is the second in the series telling the story of the 12th century Mongol warrior. The first book, which I read some time ago covered his childhood and adolescense. In spite of the absence of any character list or any references made to the first book at the beginning of this one I managed to recall the characters quite quickly. During the years covered in this book Genghis and his brothers unite the warring tribes of the Mongols into one nation and go rampaging through China. Whilst I did enjoy this, I found it very difficult to sympathise with any of the characters. A lot of them seemed a little one-dimensional. I suppose this may have something to do with the lack of historic source material available to the author. I will read the next one on the series when I get round to it, although I am in no great hurry to find out what happens next.
    • 2/5
      When this book opens, Genghis Khan has already become a powerful, feared conqueror as he leads his armies into further battle and schemes to take the Chin empire.I picked this book up at a used book sale, even though it was the second in a series, because I find Genghis Khan to be a very interesting historical character. However, I got the impression that I was missing something as I read the book. Events that occurred in book one are not explained to the reader, and some re-appearing characters were not re-introduced. As I did not read the first installment, I cannot say whether this lack of character and story building is a writing flaw or simply my fault for reading only the middle book.That being said, I do not think that I will be picking up any of the other books in the series. I really didn't care for this book and was glad to finish it. It made for tedious, dull reading.This is the type of book that some may call "action packed" or "exciting adventure," while others (myself, for example) might say that it was boring and uninteresting in every way.The book certainly contains a lot of action: there are countless battles and war strategics, transportation of armies, and political maneuvering. Mostly, though, there are battle scenes. I love things like that in historical fiction, but I firmly believe that there should a finesse to it all, reflecting the expansive, tireless planning of the men in command and all the fine details coming together in the end - whether for a loss or victory in battle.Here, expect no intricacy or filling in of small details that foreshadow larger ones. Iggulden propels the plodding storyline from one battle to another without anything else happening - for the ENTIRE book. We simply go from battle to battle to battle, repeat. I don't care how many numerous battles Genghis fought and won, there has to be some background detail. There have to be characters that actually stand out and do something other than chop people's heads off. No one was built up as a character, not even the title character of Khan. As I said, perhaps the author concentrated on characterization in the first book and I missed all that. But even if he did (which I doubt by his writing style), he should still be able to carry that into the second volume of his series. And he didn't.If Genghis hadn't been identified by the title and the inside cover description as the main character, I would never have guessed. No one is central or important, and I couldn't care about any of the people in the story.I kept thinking to myself as I read "Another battle? Again?! I can't wait for something different to happen."Well, I was still thinking that very same thing until the end of the book. Finally on the last page I had to accept that that was all there was.Not recommended.
    • 5/5
      Wow! Brilliant book. It's full of action, and language is extremely vivid! Love it! Recomend it!
    • 3/5
      A gossiped up list of conquests, which doesn't give much of a sense of how Gengis Khan could have kept the momentum of his victories but mostly follows others as they are involved in various details of what might have happened. There is not much sense of danger or a convincing recreation to involve a reader who want more than boys on adventures.
    • 4/5
      Very good telling of Genghis' conquest through China, partially based on historical facts on the real Genghis.

    • 3/5
      A well-written and engrossing historical fiction series that focuses on Khan's rise to power and subsequent war-faring. The book is a bit light on character development, and I never felt as if I truly "knew" Khan, but all of the warfare strategy was quite interesting.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant read!
    • 5/5
      I grabbed this book by chance as I wandered through the local bookstore and never regretted this choice.Igguldens way of writing gripped me right from the start and his characters are very thought out with feelings and motivations of their own. His Mixing of historical events and fiction is good and I especially loved the part at the end of the book where he tells what parts are backed by historical evidence and which are fiction.The story itself takes place in the early 1200 with the Unification of the mongolian tribes. Starting from this point Ghengis leads his new nation like an avalanche through the medieval china winning battle after battle while learning new tactics and weapons to deal with the Walls of the chinese and siege warfare.I can't wait to read the other books of this series.
    • 3/5
      The second in the series. It was good but didn't quite live up to the standard set in the first book in the series for me.
    • 4/5
      OK story of Mongol Horde eastward attack:good writing,interesting story,series.
    • 5/5
      Definitely his best book. I really enjoyed it. It had a very real feel of authenticity.
    • 5/5
      I wouldn't necessarily classify this book or this series as great literature, but it's really great storytelling. I highly recommend this to my librarian and educator friends looking for books to recommend to young adult males, as well as to others like me who love historical fiction.
    • 5/5
      The second book in the Conqueror series is an outstanding contribution to the historical fiction genre. Following on from Wolf of the Plains, Lords of the Bow begins with the Mongol nation having been united under the rule of Temujin, the Genghis Khan. Fighting and conquering rival nomadic factions, the tribes are drawn together under the leadership of one man for the first time. This momentous turning point in history is given a superb treatment from Iggulden. Temujin's character, his flaws and his abilities follow on without halt from book 1 and the character development of those around him is of the very highest order. In particular, it is the relationships that form and ebb throughout the book that knit the whole together. The narrative of battle, conquering, and violence is well known history but Iggulden's characters are believable. Iggulden understands that being ruthless was a fundamental part of the success of Genghis. He is tested as are his brothers by those who have seen their own authority diminished by the rise of Temujin. The differences between the characters are intriguingly drawn for the modern audience - Temuge for instance is derided consistently for his lack of abilities but he is the one who most closely represents the modern day aesthetic and he who is relied on to take care of the pragmatic busines of running a nation.Temujin's other brothers Khasar and Kachuin form differing characters - Khasar the traditional barbarian, perhaps the model to which we still view the Mongol hordes as a savage and unstoppable brute. Kachuin though is the more subtle picture, his worldview coloured by the events of book 1 and the bond established during that time with Temujin. It is the relationship with women though that is the most impressive. Not pandering to our current world views, the Mongols are unapologetic for the role of women in their society. Temujin's wife Borte is loyal and strong but Temujin is the great conqueror and in reality there are countless millions who claim descent from Genghis Khan. The second wife Chakahai is unlike Borte - she is feminine, submissive, and beautiful. The role of women in our own society is yet to resolve itself between these two positions.Iggulden's story also develops the politics of tribal affairs. The shaman Kokchu is the explicit recognition of this. His tale is of power lust, something most probably underplayed elsewhere amongst the characters. He is undoubtedly a villain but the way he treats his own female slave is just a step on the continuum of behaviour away from the main heroic characters. Kokchu questions the reader - where does the line of acceptable and unacceptable fall and what can realistically be done to impose that distinction?The bulk of Lords of the Bow details the campaign against the Chinese Xi Xia kingdom. Genghis learns to adapt his warriors fighting style to meet opponents hiding behind city walls. The battles are not those of the Steppe, they are sieges and as such have to be conducted very differently. They are also epic in scope, not the personalised fights of Wolf of the Plains. Here nameless hundreds die. This is war. It is painful at times but the underlying morality is that of all existance - the only way to stop violence is to be strong enough to fight it.Not all of the book is perfect though. I had serious quibbles with the descriptions of the Uighurs. The concept of nationhood is built on ethnicity and I think this an anachronistic interpretation. Uighurs are not Mongols, they are more closely related to the Tartars the Mongols claim to hate. This is glossed over presumably for the sake of the readership as our nations were typically forged through an ethnic national identity.The side adventure into China featuring Khasar, Temuge, and Ho-Sa did not make a great deal of sense but was good fun. Equally the introduction of Tsubodai as a grinning optimist wasn't quite the set up for one of the greatest generals of all time to have his tale start considering how skillfully drawn out most of the other characters are.Overall, this difficult second book in a trilogy is outstanding. The narrative is fast paced, thoughtful, and fascinating. The first real conquests of the settled world bring Genghis into international recognition, and the story that started out in Wolf of the Plains as a struggling outcast is carried on here as the young leader finds his way in warfare, in the challenges of leadership, and most of all in the national identity and culture he forges. This is excellent historical fiction.