Genghis: Birth of an Empire | Conn Iggulden | ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY FABULOUS BOOK!

Genghis: Birth of an Empire | Conn Iggulden | Great read

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Genghis: Birth of ...

	Genghis: Birth of an Empire Conn Iggulden Dell, 2008 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

He was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Temujin?s young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts: the betrayal of his father by a neighboring tribe and the abandonment of his entire family, cruelly left to die on the harsh plain. But Temujin endured?and from that moment on, he was driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon.

Through a series of courageous raids against the Tartars, Temujin?s legend grew. And so did the challenges he faced?from the machinations of a Chinese ambassador to the brutal abduction of his young wife, Borte. Blessed with ferocious courage, it was the young warrior?s ability to learn, to imagine, and to judge the hearts of others that propelled him to greater and greater power. Until Temujin was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of a thousand warhorses, to subject unknown nations and even empires to his will.

From the Hardcover edition.

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ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY FABULOUS BOOK!

This is one of the most fun, most adventurous, exciting books I have ever read! It is so wonderful for me to find miraculous books, since I read so much and I tend to think, Well, this is the last great book..... But then this came along. I bought it because of the great reviews the film MONGOL has been receiving, and I always like to read the book first. I knew almost nothing about Ghengis Kahn before reading this, other than his bad reputation (to put it mildly). But he is not bad, he is a human being who was hurt, angry, vengeful, and most of all a nuanced warrior-with-reason. The book is fast-paced to the point where I was walking around the house with it in my hand, going from room to room to do what needed to be done such as eat dinner, etc. and was hard-pressed to put it down. I can't wait to read the sequel and don't know if I can hold out for the paperback or not.

We saw the film MONGOL last night and it is also fabulously photographed and is a wonderful portrayal of the people of early China/Mongolia. They are sympathetic warriors if that term may be used, with a sense of humor and of fairness. The actor who plays Ghengis is mesmerizing. It's a great movie!

Most of all, I have learned about another period in our vast human history, and this era is one of the most exciting of all. The book is fabulous. I can't think of another word to describe it. Please read it!

And now..... on to Conn Iggulden's books on Rome, and I am very excited about reading them, too.

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Great read

This book is great. I would have to put it as one of the best books I've read. It moves along at a great pace and it is all action, not drawn with boring details like some books are. Highly recommend.

Enjoyable Historical Fiction

Really enjoyed this novel. Not sure how accurate any of the historical information is, but it made for a good story. Author kept the pace quick and kept the characters interesting.

Entertaining fiction with inpressive historical background

I generally prefer non-fiction history but this book was an exception. Conn Iggulden obviously did his research carefully before crafting a novel with a historical background during a time and place not often visited by writers. Genghis: Birth of an Empire takes the reader inside the world of perhaps the most savage and effective warlord ever known, and does it with clarity and compassion.

That said, I had a problem with some of the dialogue and personal relationships. Some seemed too domesticated for a man existing in an era that was anything but tame. It was a bit of a reach for me to understand a man who consistently displayed such tenderness for friends, family, friends and pets before embarking on vicious encounters during which he killed his own brother, led raids that terminated with rapes and vicious murders, and conducted stealth missions focused on disemboweling a sleeping adversary. I would expect a man like Genghis Khan to be a bit more unruly in his normal life. I also suspect that the weather and terrain would have been more extreme in that part of the world than depicted by the author. The outdoor scenes were never really portrayed as being particularly debilitating.

I found the descriptions of battle scenes, armoring, weaponry and tactics to be well written with authenticity and credibility. The story moved along, although the ending was obviously aimed at a sequel, making it somewhat flimsy. All in all, this book can be recommended for those who enjoy good historical fiction about a turbulent time. Personal impressions of the man remain to be formed by the reader, which might be what Iggulden intended in the first place.

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Wonderful historical fiction

I am a lover of historical fiction. Give me a Patrick O'Brian book instead of the TV anytime. This was the first book I have read by this particular author and I enjoyed it immensely. I will not bother giving a summary of the story since that has already been done. I will say this, I normally do not like hearing the phrase "I just could not put it down" but I am guilty now of saying it myself about this book. I read constantly, usually 2-3 books at a time, I rarely have a book that I "cannot put down" no matter how much I like it, however this was one such book. I gave it four stars though I wish I could give it 4.5, five stars is a rare thing for me to bestow but this one was close.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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