Genghis: Bones of the Hills
by Conn Iggulden
List Price:
Our Price: $7.53
You Save: $17.47 (70%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.28 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Conn IgguldenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-24
ISBN: 0385339534
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Book Reviews of Genghis: Bones of the Hills
Book Review: Historical Fantasy
Summary: 2 Stars
This author has yet to write a book that does any justice or honor to the history he is making money off of. His "Emperor" series is a historical abomination, and this Mongol series is barely a notch above. With all the rave reviews on Amazon, he obviously has strong publishing support as his books have been money makers and I have no doubt they will come along to discredit this review.
If we are to discard all attempt at being intelligent by not caring at all about the historical content and choose rather to critique the book on the sole merits of story telling, then the story probably deserves 3-stars. As the 3rd book in the series, it is probably the weakest. Conn introduces many characters from the historical histories, and some have decent development while others are thrown in with little or no explanation leaving it up to the reader to make it up for themselves.
Many of the events are rushed and given inadequate attention as the Conn tries to zoom through a huge swath of history without taking the time to do much of it justice. Starting around page 373 (of 397), Conn rushes through 2 sieges, skips a return to Mongolia, rushes into the campaign to destroy Xi Xia, and fabricates a totally lame fantasy death for Genghis before rushing through a very poorly detailed funeral and burial. Given the importance of the latter events, the book would have been better served by cutting into 2 books and spending a little more time on everything along the way. Instead it is all crammed into one.
I read a lot of historical fiction and while I am well aware of it being fiction, the best books at least transmit a fairly accurate academically accepted chain of events. The Conn has yet to embrace this and chooses to craft a story that on balance is essentially pure fantasy. For someone like myself who has intimately read these histories, it is very frustrating to slog through such a format. I would prefer to read a story where I am continuously impressed by the author's knowledge of the subject and be transported into the realm in some believable manner. All of this author's books completely fail on this level, and I feel like I am reading the work of someone who knows so little about their chosen subject.
Just as his Caesar character in Conn's "Emperor" series completely failed to convince me that I was reading about the Caesar I had come to know from all the primary sources I have read on Republican Rome, not a single character in this series has resonated with any degree of accuracy. In some cases, Conn has taken an actual character from the Histories and related some of their qualities and events, and given that character the name of another actual person. One example is the character "Arslan", meaning "Lion", which is the name Conn gives to describe the actual character Jarchigudai, and rather than Genghis's best friend being Bo'orchu, Conn combines the two to be "Arslan". Presumably he likes the name Arslan better. This struck me as both unnecessary and at worst misleading.
On the historical front, there is a loose series of events that very roughly followed the actual history, but the problem is none of it is accurate and is therefore of almost zero value. Good historical fiction, like Eiji Yoshikawa's "Taiko", should convey a good sense to the reader of who the people were and what actually took place. Within that context, a good writer has tons of liberty to craft a good story. The Conn makes no attempt at this whatsoever in any of his books, and "Bones" is no different.
His description of Mongol warfare is awful. The impression I get is he has no clue about their archery or how they used it in maneuvers. He has the Mongols charging in and firing 1-2 arrows before they either toss their bows on the ground or hook them on the horn of their saddle, when in fact they would have fired volleys of over a dozen arrows before engaging. While this may seem like a small detail, the subject of this book deals with the world's greatest archers and mounted horsemen. Apparently, the Conn has never bothered to read the Yasa, Genghis's laws that brought death upon any soldier who discarded their bow in combat. In fact, according to the Yasa, if a soldier threw down his bow, upon penalty of death it was the responsibility for the man behind him to dismount and retrieve it and hold the offender accountable for future punishment. In addition, his concept of the range and effectiveness of the Mongol bow is completely incorrect and none of their adversaries, be them in China or Kwarazm, could match the Mongol range. Regardless of any of this, Mongols held their bows as sacred. They took a long time to make and were very valuable; not something they would casually toss away when they were well disciplined to preserve them.
In addition, the brutality of the Mongols is well known, but nowhere in the series did I get the sense of the scope and scale of this brutality. He mentions messengers numerous times, but never gives any adequate description of how the system functioned or the sense of what it must have been like for these hard men to do their job. In one instance he has the "Shah" drinking coffee; a New World plant still yet to be discovered. the Conn also makes a big issue in all the books about Genghis's Borjigan "Wolf" clan, but his concepts are completely off the mark of how the Mongols perceived the wolf from their myths. There is nothing accurate about his wolf references whatsoever from a Mongolian perspective; rather it is more a modern western ideal.
This barely scratches the surface of my historical grievances, but hopefully you get a sense for the overall poor quality of this book. I really don't have much good to say about it. Conn had the potential to be a good historical writer, but the mark he has already left with 7 books places him in a truly poor category. Since there are so few historical fictions on Genghis, I continue to buy and read these hoping to be surprised, however it is no shock that once again I am sorely disappointed. If you need a mindlessly entertaining story, this will work so long as you realize you will be left with a very false impression of Genghis Khan and his Mongol warriors.
Summary of Genghis: Bones of the Hills
From the author of the bestselling The Dangerous Book for BoysFrom 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.
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.12
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar Books and other products
The Field of Swords (Emperor, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2005-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $47.98
The Gates of Rome (Emperor, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2003-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.90
Price in other shops:
Emperor: The Gods of Warby Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2006-03-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.07
Price in other shops:
Genghis: Birth of an Empireby Conn Iggulden
Dell; Published: 2008-02-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.64
Price in other shops:
Genghis: Lords of the Bowby Conn Iggulden
Dell; Published: 2009-02-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Genghis: Birth of an Empireby Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2007-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Khan: Empire of Silver: A Novel of the Khan Empireby Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2010-12-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.13
Price in other shops:
Genghis: Lords of the Bowby Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2008-03-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops:
Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khanby Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press; Published: 2011-12-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.85
Price in other shops:
Genghis: Birth of an Empire: A Novelby Conn Iggulden
Bantam; Published: 2010-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.54
Price in other shops: