Details About Books Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3)
| Title | : | Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3) |
| Author | : | Conn Iggulden |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 518 pages |
| Published | : | September 1st 2008 by HarperCollins |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. War |
Conn Iggulden
Hardcover | Pages: 518 pages Rating: 4.35 | 16388 Users | 480 Reviews
Relation During Books Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3)
A seriously astounding piece of historical fiction that left me speechless in many ways.“We are not here to earn riches with a bow. The wolf does not think of fine things, only that his pack is strong and no other wolf dares to cross his path. That is enough.”
I can’t help but start this review by saying that I’m thoroughly impressed by Iggulden’s talent for the creation of this series. Genghis’ conquest on its own, even if they’re written or told in a textbook manner, are very attention-grabbing already, but Iggulden successfully elevated the quality of Genghis’ legend so that it became much more engaging and emotional. Genghis: Bones of the Hills is the third book in the Conqueror series, and it—along with the first installment—are my favorites in the series so far. In the previous book, the story focused on Genghis’ conquest of The Chin; this book centered on Genghis’ breathtaking conquest of the Arabs. I must remind you, this series—especially this book—isn’t for the weak of heart; the atrocities and devastations committed in this war were terrifying in every sense of the word. I’m talking about wars with casualties that reached more than hundreds of thousands of deaths; innocents were instantly marked for the afterlife just for living in the opposing city. Genghis: Bones of the Hills is a bleak, intense, and also bittersweet book; it’s heavily centered around war, death, loyalty, heritage, achievements, and what truly matters in life and what legacies will continue after death.
“All men die, Genghis. All. Think what it means for a moment. None of us are remembered for more than one or two generations." He raised a hand as Genghis opened his mouth to speak again. "Oh, I know we chant the names of great khans by the fireside and the Chin have libraries running back for thousands of years. What of it? Do you think it matters to the dead that their names are read aloud? They don’t care, Genghis. They are gone. The only thing that matters is what they did while they were alive.”
Two generations? Little did he know that Genghis’ and the story of his legacy will live on for 800 years and counting!
I’m seriously surprised by how much I grew to care and know about these characters. They were real people that have passed away for a long time now, and despite knowing a bit about Genghis’ conquest, I didn’t know his—and many other characters’s—personality; Iggulden managed to give life, personality, and distinctive voices to the characters. Reading about how far they’ve come since the beginning of the first book was surprisingly poignant and at times, heartbreaking. This was especially evident for Genghis and his relationship with his family and commanders. Iggulden’s characterizations with his head-hopping narration were just outstanding; the family drama and conflict in every character’s relationship felt realistic and suspenseful because of the superb narrative. Without spoiling anything, I also want to state that every single storyline that revolves around Tsubodai and Jochi were some of the main highlights of the book for me. Plus, due to Genghis’ and Chagatai’s unfair treatment towards Jochi, Jochi became a great underdog character to root for.
“Be careful of raising me too high, brother. I have no special strength, unless it is in choosing good men to follow me. The great lie of cities is that we are all too weak to stand against those who oppress us. All I have done is see through that lie. I always fight, Kachiun. Kings and shahs depend on people remaining sheep, too afraid to rise up. All I ever did was realize I can be a wolf to them.”
The previous book, Genghis: Lords of the Bow was brutal; this book exceeded it in every possible way. Not only Iggulden increased the number of action scenes, but he also enhanced the quality of the scenes by making the events and battles he included in this book as accurate, deadly, and detailed as possible. The war against the Arabs was very vicious and ruthless; Iggulden weaved a story about war, vengeance, and the cycle of violence mercilessly. There’s simply no mercy here; the Mongols conquered as if they’re a passing storm that brought utter destruction to every single locale they visited, and they never stay still in one place. Genghis didn’t bring an army when he decided to conquer a city, what he brought to murder was an entire nation, and the retaliation that the Arabs countered with was almost equally destructive depending on which perspective you’re looking at. For those of you who are familiar with A Song of Ice Fire or Game of Thrones season 1, you’ll get to witness the infamous “Golden Crown” scene here. Considering that George R. R. Martin has said that Mongol was one of the inspirations for the Dothraki, I’m pretty sure that this war is the source of his inspiration for the particular scene.
“Men always die in war. Their kings expect it. I want them to know that if they resist me, they are putting their hand in the mouth of a wolf. They will lose everything and they can expect no mercy… This is a hard land and the people are used to death. If I am to rule them, they must know that to face me is to be destroyed. They must be afraid, Chakahai. It is the only way.”
Now that I’ve finished the book, I look back and I find myself shaken by the number of pivotal events (SO MANY) that happened in this 400+ pages installment; they’re exciting, thrilling, and astonishingly tension-packed. I honestly can’t decide whether I loved Genghis: Birth of an Empire or Genghis: Bones of the Hills more as a single installment; both were just amazing in a different way. I do know that Genghis: Bones of the Hills further maneuver Conqueror towards becoming my favorite historical fiction series of all time. The terrifying atrocities, unforgettable strengths, extraordinary tactics, and legendary conquest displayed in this book were all extremely well-told. Judging from where this book ends, it seems safe to call the remaining two books in the series the second part. I’ll take a one week break from reading this series and get back to it after I recover from being stunned by the incredible turn of events, but I eagerly look forward to reading the remaining of the series and fingers crossed it will be—at least nearly—as good as this book.
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Itemize Books Conducive To Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3)
| Original Title: | Bones of the Hills |
| ISBN: | 0007201788 (ISBN13: 9780007201785) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Conqueror #3 |
| Characters: | Genghis Khan, Börte Üjin, Khasar, Kachiun, Temüge, Hoelun, Subutai, Jelme, Jebe, Ögedei Khan, Chagatai Khan, Yao Shu, Sorghaghtani Beki |
| Setting: | Songdo (Kaesong)(Korea, Democratic People's Republic of) Otrar(Kazakhstan) Kaifeng(China) …more Samarkand(Uzbekistan) Panjshir(Afghanistan) Peshawar(Pakistan) Herat(Afghanistan) …less |
Rating About Books Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3)
Ratings: 4.35 From 16388 Users | 480 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books Bones of the Hills (Conqueror #3)
The tribes are united under the horsehair banner, the Jin and Xi Xia have been thoroughly smashed and their ancient suppression and subversion of the Mongols avenged, and now it's time for the newly-born Nation to relax and discover its true identity--tent-dwelling, nomadic steppe dwellers or city-ruling urban conquerors--or perhaps a mix of both."NO FUCK THAT! THE SHAH JUST INSULTED ME BY KILLING A GROUP OF MY SCOUTS! WE RIDE!"-Genghis KhanThat's right; Bones of the Hills is much like thePosted to The Literary Lawyer Good but not Great - 3 Stars This third book which wraps up the Genghis Khan Trilogy/Story Arc, left me feeling a bit disappointed. Having been wowed by the first two books in the series, I went into this one expecting the same level of excitement, battle and intrigue. What I got was watered down version of the first two. To be honest, I believe much of disappointment stemmed from the fact that, unlike the first two, I listened to this one in the audio format.
This is the third book in a 5 book series. The series is like a historical fiction surrounding the rise of the Mongol Nation. The first three books in the series focus on Genghis Khan so this was the last book on him. It is a great comeback after kind of boring 2nd book! The author added a section in back clarifying where he augmented history which I really appreciated. Iggulden is a great story teller and also a brilliant researcher which comes out clearly in the books. This book, like those
Another cracking read from Mr Iggulden. Loved the characterisation and drama between Ghengis Khan's sons. A driving pace, a host of great characters brought to life and, of course, some seriously epic battles! Wonderful stuff.
The third instalment of Conn Iggulden's Conqueror series and the final part of his Genghis trilogy. Having finished - for the moment - conquering northern China, Genghis takes his armies west to invade the Middle East.Once again, Iggulden delivers an incredibly readable novel of historical warfare. The story is action-packed with inventive and fluidly-written battle sequences, each different from the last. There are no repetitive scenarios here; instead, the author strives to deliver something
I liked this way more than Lords of the Bow. So far this is my favourite of the series.Why did I like it more? There was definitely less of Temuge and Kokchu, neither of which I particularly liked in the previous book. Kokchu was too simplistic a character in my opinion, and Temuge annoyed me whenever he came up. Both are in this book, but they are way more tolerable here.The battle scenes, while written in the same style as Lords of the Bow, seemed to draw me in a lot more as well. And although
Book 1: 5*Book 2: 5*Book 3: 5*The author quite simply weaves a great story. I've said it in reviews of the first few books but there's a thin line with a character like Genghis where you go too far and it becomes unbelievable. Or too far and the violence is gratuitous. These were different times in a harsh land where some acts rival Deadhouse Gates in the level of atrocity and battle. Genghis condemning every man, woman and child to death after starving them out after six month, reaching a death
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