Review: Bones of the Hills

Great conclusion to a brilliant trilogy.

`I am the land and the bones of the hills. I am the winter.'

Genghis Khan is the powerful leader of a nation united from the tribes and victorious in the long war against the Chin, the Mongolians' ancient fow. But now trouble arises from another direction. His embassies to the west are rebuffed, his ambassadors killed or mutilated.

So Genghis and his armies, led by his brothers and trusted generals, embark on their greatest journey, through present day Tibet, Iran and Iraq and on to the shores of the Mediterranean. Conquering city after city, one empire after another, by battle, by the siege warfare they have learnt from the Chin, by fear and by persuasion, the Mongolian power stretched over the entire region.
Genghis Khan conquered a greater empire than any other man. This achievement was made even more extraordinary as during these years, over these campaigns, his sons as well as his brothers were vying for his favour, for the right to lead the most successful of his armies, to bring in the greatest conquests, to achieve the succession.

He had already proved himself a great warrior. Now the challenge is to show himself as an outstanding ruler for his people and that rare leader, one who can manage his succession.

This is the final book of the Conqueror trilogy and maybe the best one of the series. This is high praise indeed because the other two books where excellent as well.

In this book Genghis turns his ‘attention’ to the West – to Muslim Central Asia. A governor of these lands killed the envoys that where send there by Genghis’ brother. Genghis, never a man for envoys and negotiations himself, is outraged and decides to teach the governor and his Shah a lesson.

This results in another book full of military strategism, intrigue, bloody battles, cruelty & heroism – and as always Iggulden’s writing style puts the reader right there in the front lines; feeling the sand between the teeth, seeing the blood and the guts and smelling the horses.

What made this book even deeper than the previous installments is the further development of the characters we already came to love or hate, like Genghis’ brothers Khasar, Kachiun and Temuge, the shaman Kokchu, the generals Tsubodai, Jelme and Arsan. Also important in this book is the story of the sons of Genghis. We especially get to see the struggle between the oldest two sons: Jochi, the brave but bitter eldest son of who Genghis doubted if he was really a trueborn son or a bastard as a result of the rape Genghis’ wife had to endure during an abduction by a band of Tartar raiders; and Chagatai, the treacherous second son looking to usurp the position of his elder brother, who by rights of birth, should inherit his father’s position. Here we get to see Genghis at his most vulnerable. He is the great leader, the cold and calculating strategist and ruthless conqueror, but also the father who has mixed feelings about his sons and who doubts his own ability to do the right things regarding their upbringing. Especially the character of unwanted and unloved Jochi and his special connection to Genghis’ best General Tsubodai leads to heartbreaking developments. Good stuff!

Conclusion: the last installment in the Conqueror Trilogy is a must read not only for fans of historical fiction but also for anyone who loves an action packed tale of war and conquest. Be sure to read ‘Wolf of the Plains (Birth of an Empire) and ‘Lords of the Bow’ first!

9 / 10

Review: Lords of the Bow

Deeply satisfying sequel.

For centuries, Mongol tribes had warred with one another. But now, under Genghis Khan, they have united as one nation, setting their sights on a common enemy: the great, slumbering walled empire of the Chin. Genghis will lead his warriors across the Gobi Desert and into a realm his people had never seen before—with gleaming cities, soaring walls, and canals. Laying siege to one city fortress after another, he will crush each enemy in a different way—until his army faces the ultimate test of all.In the city of Yenking —modern-day Beijing— the Chin will make their final stand, setting a trap for the Mongol raiders, confident behind their towering walls. But Genghis will strike with breathtaking audacity, never ceasing until the Emperor himself is forced to kneel.

This impressive sequel to Wolf of the Plains / Birth of an Empire starts at the point where Genghis, formerly known as Temujin of the Wolves, is finishing up his campaign to unite all the Mongol tribes.

After becoming the undisputed leader and melting all these different tribes into one nation, one army, he turns his attention to the South – to the Xi Xia Empire and next to that the great Chin Empire. We get to see the preparations, the logistics involved in moving a 100.000 person army with followers over vast distances; we are part of the trek through the Gobi desert and the arrival at a fortified mountain pass that guards the access to the wealthy empires in the south, which will be the scene of the first major battle in this book. We get to see the learning curve of the Mongols, who have to adapt their warfare methods. On the plains the Mongols never knew stone buildings, nor walled cities with defensive weapons like they encounter in the empires in the south.

Like the first book this one has a lot of bloody action and intrigue; more than the first book this one has major, large scale battles. Iggulden’s descriptions of these battles, his eye for detail and for strategy and tactics are sublime. In this book we don’t spend all the time with Genghis. We see the adventures of Genghis’ brothers Khasar and Temuge on their ‘scouting trip’ into the Xi Xia Empire. We get to know these brothers better than we did in the first book; Khasar the crude warrior, Kachiun the intelligent leader, Temuge the soft schemer. Also we are introduced to Tsubodai – a heroic youngster who will be the best known general in Mongol history; a real historical figure. All these characters feel real and have their own distinct personalities.

In this book the period is covered of the first steps into the Xi Xia Empire to the siege of Yenking (present day Bejing). We get to see not only Genghis’ victories, but also his doubts and frustrations. Lengthy sieges were not exactly to the Mongols taste but sometimes unavoidable.

Interesting detail and real historical fact is the tactic Genghis and the Mongol invented to cower the besieged city into surrender. On the first day of the siege they would put up a big white tent. This tent symbolized the possibility for the city to surrender without bloodshed. Without the besieged city’s surrender the Mongols would put up a red tent the next day – indicating that surrender was still possible but now only the women and children would survive. If necessary the next day a black tent would be raised – meaning surrender was now impossible and everybody inside the city walls would be killed. Implemented without exception this was of course a perfect way to install fear in cities that where next on the Mongol’s route.

Iggulden simply is a master storyteller. His style makes the reader feel right in the middle of the action and paints a vivid picture of the day to day life in an army on the move and also of the life and machinations in the Chin cities.

The end of the book lets us see a brooding Genghis who longs for the plains of home and who wants to see his sons grow up (although they are not equally loved by their father...) And with just a little knowledge of history we know Genghis still has to look to the West… Anyway: enough promise for the last book!

Conclusion: Lords of the Bow is a deeply satisfying sequel to Wolf of the Plains and appetizing prequel to the last book in the series: Bones of the Hills. Outstanding!

9 / 10

Review: Wolf of the Plains (Birth of an Empire)

Excellent historical fiction.

A remarkable story of heroism and adventure, of a boy who had to become a man too soon, of a family and a tribe who had to learn to win to survive. A man without a tribe was at great risk, so the young boy abandoned with his siblings on the harsh Mongolian plains had to struggle to avoid death. He survived both starvation and hostile attacks by learning remarkable leadership skills and gathering a group of outsiders like himself. Hunted and alone, he dreamed of uniting the tribes into one house, one nation. He became a great warrior. He would become father to his people. He would be Genghis Khan.

I read this book a while ago and didn’t get to writing a review yet. But a review is in order, because this book deserves the highest recommendation imho. For me there’s just a fine line between an enjoyable historical novel or a good fantasy book – I like my fantasy light, with low key magic. I enjoy good stories however that focus on massive battles, political machinations and adventure in various interesting settings. The real world can be as good a stage for me as a well developed fantasy world. Because the (13th century) Mongolian plains that make up most of the stage of this book was almost like a ‘new’ world to me it is easy to recommend this book also to readers who tend to stick exclusively to (epic) fantasy.

Wolf of the Plains is the story of Temujin, who would be later known to his people and the world as Genghis Khan. Temujin was born a son of the khan of his tribe, the Wolves. Although there’s little written account of the life of Genghis Khan, there are some facts known of his early life. It is known that when his father died Temujin, his mother and siblings, were cast out of the tribe and left to die on the frigid Mongolian plains. Temujin’s older brother was too young to take on his father’s position and they were abandoned. Circumstances made Temujin leading figure in the survival of his family and his slow and difficult rise to a position of power.

Historical purists or fanatics always have criticism on historical fiction because authors take creative liberties. I am not a purist nor fanatic but I simply enjoy an engrossing story with characters you care about. Iggulden carefully explains in his afterword where he took some artistic liberties and what is based on actual fact. Even so: it’s not called historical fiction for nothing. So don’t expect a history book but a straight up action packed and fast paced read that’s hard to put down.

Another reason that makes this book a high quality read is Iggulden's description of the life as lived by 13th Century Mongol tribesmen. He clearly thoroughly researched the era and the people (as he explains in his notes). Their way of life really comes alive and is completely believable: The strong tribal structure, the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols, the prowess with bow and arrow, the importance of horses and good horsemanship; what they ate; the drinking of the blood of their living horses when there was no food available; the constant warfare and uneasy, shifting alliances between the tribes, and the warfare and tensions between the Mongols and other races in the area such as the Tartars in the north and the Chin in the south.

This book covers Temujin’s youth. So keep in mind that this is the first book in a three book series! We get to know Temujin through his hardships in his early years and we see him develop in a hard, brutal, ambitious, vengeful and intelligent leader of men. Funny thing is that we get to see the development of his empire through the Mongol eyes. History tells us Westerners that the Mongols were a ruthless an barbaric kind of people who paved their empire by ways of death and destruction. And although Iggulden does not try to sweeten the picture of the exploits of Genghis and his peers and ruthlessness was definitely part of their tactics, the fact that we see it ‘from their side’ does make you think. We are more inclined to think of Alexander the Great or Julius Ceaser or Richard Lionheart as great conquering heroes. But people like Atilla the Hun and Genghis Khan are barbaric tribesmen in our collective history’s eyes. Depends on which continent you grew up I guess…

But I digress… Wolf of the Plains (Birth of an Empire in the US) is a terrific start to a three book series. And although the pace of this first installment may be a little bit slower than that of two following books it’s a truly wonderful book. Don’t let the slow start put you off, but enjoy the atmosphere / ‘worldbuilding’ and the introduction of the characters. Soon enough you’ll be engrossed in the life and trials of Temujin and hungry for the next installment!

9 / 10

Review: The Lies of Lock Lamora

Slick, Stylish & Fun!

The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a ghost that walks through walls. Half the city believes him to be a legendary champion of the poor. The other half believe him to be a foolish myth. Nobody has it quite right.

Slightly built, unlucky in love, and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. He certainly didn't invite the rumors that swirl around his exploits, which are actually confidence games of the most intricate sort. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich, the poor never see a penny of it. All of Locke's gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves, the Gentlemen Bastards.

Locke and company are con artists in an age where con artistry, as we understand it, is a new and unknown style of crime. The less attention anyone pays to them, the better! But a deadly mystery has begun to haunt the ancient city of Camorr, and a clandestine war is threatening to tear the city's underworld, the only home the Gentlemen Bastards have ever known, to bloody shreds. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends will find both their loyalty and their ingenuity tested to the breaking point as they struggle to stay alive...

Obviously I am later than anybody jumping on the Lock Lamora bandwagon. Super hyped in 2006 / 2007, but I managed to ignore it – for some reasons the jacket description and the setting didn’t really appeal to me. So I had this one sitting on a book shelve for almost two years and I gave it a try because I just finished The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney and I wanted something less military and less bloody. It was certainly less military...

The Lies of Lock Lamora brought me back to childhood memories of when I first consciously started enjoying being absorbed by a good book. I remember reading (too) late in bed with a little light on and being transported with a fantastic adventure to a make believe world. This is exactly what ‘Lies’ did. (Even though the content is definitely not for children – there’s a lot of violence and strong language.) This book is just plain old fun!

The plot is nothing too complicated. The story is situated in Camorr; a city state reminiscent of Venice with a renaissance / gothic vibe with hints to be a much bigger world. Very well done! Minor criticism: the book could have used a map. (But hey: there’s internet, so a map is easily found). The book jumps back and forth between present and past. The flashbacks (called interludes) are short enough not to distract from the main story and important enough to be interesting. Alternating between past and present is a tricky thing to do but Scott Lynch did it just right.

The story starts as a caper-tale full of scheming, planning and thieving and turns about halfway in a pretty violent and bloody tale of war and revenge. As I said: nothing to complicated – but he overall ‘vibe’ of this book is what makes it special. This is an old fashioned adventure full of twists and shocks, with interesting characters in a beautifully realized world that draws you right in. A book that makes you think about how it will continue during the day, during work or under the shower or other mundane activities has to be fantastic! Another sign this was an truly excellent book is that I really did not want it to finish…

What also made this book stand out over others was Lynch’s flair for language; his descriptions are imaginative, lyrical and vivid, and the dialogue is witty to the extreme. I really liked the eloquence; the way people talk in this book – something that may not seem realistic when you look at our own world, but which was perfectly acceptable for me as the way of conversation in Camorr and which adds a lot of humor to the story.

The Lies of Lock Lamora goes (close) to the top of my all time favorite list and I will start reading the sequel right away even though I had planned to start another book. That says it all!

Conclusion: strongly recommended for everybody who like a good old fashioned adventure story in a fantastical setting. Slick, stylish & fun!

9 / 10

Review: The Ten Thousand

On the world of Kuf, the Macht are a mystery, a seldom-seen people of extraordinary ferocity and discipline whose prowess on the battlefield is the stuff of legend. For centuries now, they have remained within the fastnesses of the Harukush Mountains. They have become little more than a rumour.

In the vast world beyond, the teeming races and peoples of Kuf have been united within the bounds of the Asurian Empire which rules the known world, and is invincible. The Great King of Asuria can call up whole nations to the battlefield. His word is law.

But now the Great King’s brother means to take the throne by force, and in order to do so he has sought out the legend. He hires ten thousand mercenary warriors of the Macht, and leads them into the heart of the Empire.

Is it possible to be a fan of fantasy books and don’t like magic? If the use magic is presented in a ‘believable’ way I have no problem with it; unfortunately to my taste magic is often too contrived or convenient for my (too limited..?) imagination to capture. I have no problem with elves, orcs or trolls – but when they or some uberwizard starts shooting fireballs from their staff or freezing time or something else which can miraculously save the day I’m turned off from maybe an otherwise interesting story or a well build up world.

I am a historical fiction fan boy but I also like to read a good story in a fantasy setting; sometimes maybe even more so because of the fact that knowledge of the ‘real’ history cannot conflict with the enjoyment of the story. So give me a book that tells a good tale in a believable fantasy world but without much (miss)use of magic and I am a happy man.

Enter The Ten Thousand. This is my kind of book. We have the isolated Macht, a human race that lives isolated from the rest of the empire; physically separated by sea and because of events centuries in the past. These Macht are a hard people, warriors to the bone, who’s phalanx fighting style combined with their discipline and endurance make them a formidable foe. This is book is clearly based on the classical tale of the Greek mercenary army that was hired by a pretender prince of Persia to overthrow his brothers reign. The Macht can be compared to the Spartan warriors of legend and the continent they live on is like ancient Greece with its city states. In this book a story similar to Xenophon’s Anabasis unfolds – a pretender brother hires the Macht to take his brother’s throne and takes them to the heart of the empire where a battle will take place between the pretender’s Macht army and the emperors own army. The outcome of this battle sets the stage for the rest of the book.

We get to know Rictus, a city-less warrior who will make a name for himself; Jason, a war leader who discovers a new goal in his life during the campaign; Vorus, a Macht who lived in Kuf for over twenty years and is a general in the army of the emperor, the Kefren Emperor and his pretender brother Arkamenes; Arkamenes’ concubine Tiryn and more secondary characters – some more interesting than others (I would have liked to see more of Proxis and his motivations; I didn’t care much for Gasca).

The battle scenes are what makes this book shine – the reader is taken right to the middle of the battle lines and feels part of the dying; the blood and the guts. I would have liked to see more of the political machinations and the motivations of the main characters. Because of the relative shortness of the book I found that the characters were a bit 2 dimensional and less developed than the world they are part of. I found Kuf to be an interesting world, with a well explained and believable history. Apart from the fictional world of Kuf, the only real fantasy element in this book were the humanoid races of the Kefren and the Juthan (and the Qaf, but they play only a marginal role). The end was a little abrupt and a bit of a blow (eventhough I saw it coming...)

The only gripe is I have with this book is that it could and maybe should been have longer... It’s close to 500 pages in (smallsized) paperback, but with not a lot of words per sentence / page – so it’s a relatively quick read. I would have liked to see a bit more character development, some more of the history of this world and I would have liked to see more background of the different races. Ah well – maybe more stories in Kuf in the future?

Conclusion: Recommended. The Ten Thousand is a quick and fun read for anyone who love an alternate history full of action, blood and guts and who prefer their fantasy with a realistic feel.

7.5 / 10

Review: Acacia, the War with the Mein

An assassin sent from the frozen North on a mortal mission. A mighty empire under siege by its oldest enemy. Four royal children in exile or captivity, bent on avenging their father's death. Prepare yourself to be astonished and transported by Acacia.

Having read en enjoyed Durham’s solid historical novel ‘Hannibal’, I was more than a little curious to his first venture in the ‘epic’ fantasy realm: Acacia, the War with the Mein.

Mixed feelings about this one... Good thing was that I was immediately sucked into the world Durham created with his distinctive descriptive style. The story starts with an assassin, sent by the Mein - a race exiled about 20 generations ago to the uninhabitable, frozen north. He sets out to Acacia, the idyllic island named after the empire where King Leodan holds court. Leadon is an intelligent, sensitive and maybe even soft man. He lives for his four children, and has always protected them from the realities of the world; mainly the reality of where the wealth and position of the Akaran rule is based on. The empire is founded on slavery, the trafficking of drugs (called Mist) and the trading of a ‘Quota’ of children to an unseen peoples; the Lothar Aklun. Leodan would like to see things differently but is effectively powerless to change the reality of his world.

The book is set up in three parts. In the first part we see Leodan’s internal struggles and we get to know his children, his advisor and a general of the army. We also get introduced to the Mein and their motivations to conquer the known world and the steps towards this goal. In the second part the Mein rule and the children are young adults and scattered throughout the empire. The way this came to be is described through flashbacks. We will simultaneously get to know personalities and ‘new’ lives of the four Akarans. In the third part they have come to grips with their past and their destinies and the story comes to a conclusion.

The world building is done very well. We get a believable history, interesting cultural differences and we get introduced to the ‘ways of the world’ regarding the Mist and the Quota. (More than one parallel with the word we live in can be found in Durham’s world...) We can clearly see the beginnings of a much bigger story that can be told about the offstage parts of the world and its inhabitants. Lots of potential here!

But it is not a perfect book. One point of criticism is that the story was too light on dialogue to my taste. The descriptive style, although beautifully done, bogs done the flow of the story a bit. When there is dialogue it is as good as any writers, unfortunately there is not a whole lot of it. Rather than dialogue, there is whole lot of introspection going on, which gives us the info we need. That’s why I couldn’t begin to care much about any of the characters. Also, some actions of some characters either don’t make much sense (for instance the killing of a messenger early in the book), or seem contrived (the development and actions of Corinn in the last pages of the book come to mind).

Even with the negatives in mind I am pretty positive about this book. I like my fantasy ‘light’ – like an alternate history or a parallel world – but with a realistic feel and therefore not too heavy on the magic. There are magical elements here but they are not overdone. Durham’s style of writing and painting the picture of the world is beautifully done. I liked the moral ambiguity of some of the characters. The Mein chieftain was not just a villain and proved to be no worse a ruler than Leodan was. And even though I didn’t care for all the main characters a much as I should, I am still curious how they will develop in the future.

And, nothing to do with the story, the cover art is beautifully done. A big part of selling a book is marketing and presentation and it’s done perfectly here. I already saw the cover of the next book and for me it is impossible not to want this book on my shelve. Hideous cover art has prevented me from buying books in the past (I still want to read Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy but I cannot buy these books with the ugly covers...) Acacia doesn’t have this problem.

Conclusion: Acacia, War with the Mein is a solid and enjoyable debut in the fantasy realm and allthough far from perfect holds big promise for future books.

7 / 10