Wolf of the Plains, Conn Iggulden

Publishers: HarperCollins

Pages: 449

Main Characters:

Temujin, Bekter, Khasar, Kachiun

Wolf of the Plains is the first book in Conn Iggulden's epic Conqueror series based around the life and legend of Genghis Khan. I have to say that I read this book a few years ago so this review will only be a short overview. What I will say is that I remember loving this book as it was my first introduction to Conn Iggulden’s work and it propelled me into both his Conqueror series and his Emperor series (both of which are excellent!).

The first book in this series tells us the tale of Genghis’s (Temujin’s) childhood. It starts off with Temujin and his family at the top of their tribe’s hierarchy, after all their father Yesugei is the Khan. Life is good for Temujin; he has the freedom to do what he likes. The only worry he has is his elder brother Bekter and the rivalry they both have over who will be Khan next. However this life is destroyed when their father Yesugei is attacked on his route home from a neighbouring tribe. After his death, Temujin, his brothers and his mother are thrown out of the tribe as power is usurped by Yesuegi’s bodyguard Eeluk.

Temujin must look after his exiled family whilst removing his greedy brother Bekter and avoid the men sent to kill his family by Eeluk. With pure dertermination and grit, Temujin must gain vengeance for his family and retake the throne that is rightly his. He must unite all of the tribes on the Plains to see his plans come to fruition and create the Mongol nation and attack his true enemies the Chin. But will he be able to do it?

I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Conn Iggulden’s other books such as his Emperor series or to anyone who has an interest in the Mongols and the legend of Genghis Khan.

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Conqueror, Conn Iggulden

Publishers: HarperCollins

Pages: 526

Main Characters:

Kublai, Mongke, Hulegu, Arik-Boke

 

Before I start my review I would just like to say that I will be reviewing the other four books in this series at a later date. This is because I read them quite a while ago and it will take me some time to re-read them and remember what happens!

Conqueror is the fifth (and I’m very sad to say) and final book in Conn Iggulden's amazing Conqueror series. The book picks up five years after the death of Ogedai Khan. The great empire Genghis carved out from the lands of the Chin and the Persians has been left leaderless for too long. Guyuk, Ogedai’s son is chosen as the new Khan. However after his untimely death, his cousin Mongke is chosen as the new Great-Khan.

Mongke wants to see the great nation of Mongolia return to its traditional ways and not be bogged down and made corrupt by the Chin that administer it. To return to old ways, Mongke sets his two brothers Kublai and Hulegu the task of conquering new lands and people for the nation. Hulegu goes west into the lands of the Caliphate of Baghdad and creates his own Khanate there. Whereas Kublai goes south-east into the lands of Mongolia’s old enemy, the Sung. In the lands of the Sung, Kublai becomes the leader of men his bother always wanted him to be and conquerors countless cities and people. However Kublai’s expedition is cut short as his brother Mongke is murdered by the infamous Assassins.

Declaring himself Khan, Kublai decides he must return to Karakorum (the centre of the Mongol empire). However on his route home, Kublai discovers his younger brother Arik-Boke has also declared himself Khan and is ruling in Karakorum! This means war for the nation of Genghis as his two grandsons will fight for their birth rite. But will the winner of the war be able to hold the nation together? Or will the enemies all around the empire pounce on their weakness?

I absolutely loved this book! It was so fast paced from the very beginning. Throughout the series Iggulden does an excellent job of describing the characters that carved an empire out of nothing. An empire that would last centuries and have more land mass than both the Rome of Julius Caesar and the empire of Alexander the Great! He does a brilliant job of portraying the lands the two brothers fight in, as well as the tactics and techniques used by the Mongolian tumans in battle. The only slight criticism I would have about this book is the emphasis Iggulden puts on cannons. I know that cannons were used at this time but I do not know if they were as effective as Iggulden suggests in this book? I am no expert on the matter, but I do know that cannons were always hard to move and not very accurate, even a few centuries after this book was based. But Iggulden has them hitting the targets every time and moving quickly into position to fire. Maybe it is because they were based on Chinese design? And because their technology was so far advanced compared to that of Europe’s, it meant their cannons were much more effective? If you know anything about artillery from this time, please let me know! Apart from that small issue the book was great!

As I said above, this was a truly brilliant book from an excellent series and I am really sad it has finished! I think Iggulden could go so much further with Kublai Khan’s story! But I suppose it is not unknown for an historical fiction author to finish a series and then return to it at a later date. I do hope it happens with this one!

Great book and series, I would suggest it to anyone who is a fan of Iggulden’s Emperor Series.

For author’s official website click here

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Emperor the Gates of Rome, Conn Iggulden

Publishes: HarperCollins

Pages: 591 (Paperback 2003)

Main Characters:

Gaius, Marcus,

The Gates of Rome is the first book in Conn Iggulden’s epic Emperor Series. Set in the dying days of the Roman Republic, Gates of Rome follows the childhood and early political life of Gaius (Julius Caesar) and Marcus (Brutus). After the death of Gaius’ father, it follows the boys from their childhood farm to the dangers of Rome and the dangers of Roman Politians, where they come under the protection of Marius, Gaius’ uncle.

From here the boys take two different paths. Gaius follows his uncle into politics as they set themselves up to be the rulers of Rome, defending the city from the imminent attack of Marius’ greatest rival Cornelius Sulla. Meanwhile, Marcus seeks his own fortunes in the Roman Army. Been a son of a prostitute, Marcus’ prospects are very limited. He joins the Fourth Macedonian regiment in Greece and finds he has a natural ability to lead men. Along with this, he is also a great swordsman and these two factors help for his quick advancement in the Roman Army.

This was a great book. I think it is the first time I have ever read a book without knowing who or what the story was about. I obviously knew it was set in Rome, but I had no idea the story was about Julius Caesar! This is because the character of Caesar is known by his childhood name of Gaius until near the very end of the book, and the same is said for the character Marcus, as you don’t find out he is Brutus until the last page! All in all this made the book very interesting to read as I didn’t know what was going to happen.

The book is really well written. To write about a time period where not many sources still exist is hard for any historian. But to bring it to life like Iggulden does is unbelievable, using his discretion in places such as Gaius’ childhood where no information remains to paint a picture of an average child’s life in a minor aristocratic family in Rome.

This was a very good book filled with action, murder, conspiracy and betrayal (just the average day for a Roman politician!). I would suggest this book to anyone who has read the Marco and Cato series by Simon Scarrow or for anyone who is into Roman imperial history or Julius Caesar.

For author's offical website click here

Emperor the Death of Kings, Conn Iggulden

Publishers: HarperCollins

Pages: 658 (Paperback 2004)

Main Characters:

Julius, Brutus

Death of Kings is the second book in Conn Iggulden’s Emperor Series. It follow Julius and Brutus after the fall of Rome to Sulla, as Julius is forced into exile after been banish from the city and Brutus is fighting an uprising in Greece. Julius’ fate sees him join a naval legion as he scours the Mediterranean looking for Pirates. After fighting, been caught and escaping the pirates, Julius finds himself in Greece fighting an uprising by King Mithridates, eventually beating the King and finally returning to Rome in a hail of glory.

Meanwhile after his two year term has ended in the legions, Brutus returns to Rome with the ambition of finally finding out who his mother is and why she abandoned him as a child. The meeting with his mother shocks Brutus as he finds how much power she has over the Senators of Rome. With his mother’s help, Brutus convinces the Senate to reform the Primigenia legion, disgraced after Sulla attacked the city of Rome, but a source of power to help Julius when he finally returns.

This was another great book, like the first it was full of action, battles, murder and conspiracy. It is also very exciting because during this book Spartacus’ rebellion happens and Iggulden portrays it brilliantly, describing the feelings of the slaves and the events of the battle with so much detail and feeling. The ending is also brilliant as it sees Julius and Brutus shipped off to Spain and Gaul by the jealous and slightly scared Pompey. This gives a great ending to the book because history tells us the Caesar really made his name as a general in his conquest of Gaul, so I can’t wait to read the next book!

Another great book, I would again suggest it to anyone who has read the Marco and Cato books by Simon Scarrow, or to anyone who has an interest in Caesar or Ancient Rome.

For author's offical websire click here

Emperor the Field of Swords, Conn Iggulden

Publishers: HarperCollins

Pages: 632 (Paperback 2005)

Main Characters:

Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus 

Field of Swords is the third book in Conn Iggulden’s amazing Emperor Series. Field of Swords follows Julius and Marcus to Spain where Julius takes up his position of governor in the Roman province. Julius finds himself lacking in Spain, feeling that his talent and ability is been wasted in the back water of the Empire. After uncovering gold in the Spanish mountains, Julius decides to return to Rome to further his ambitions and run for Consulship. After a successful campaign and support from two of Rome’s most influential Senators, Julius reaches the post of Consul. After cleaning up the gangs in Rome’s alleys, Julius turns his attention to finding military glory for himself by invading Gaul and carving a new province for Rome.

Meanwhile Brutus is still Julius’ loyal sword. After winning a sword tournament in Rome, Brutus starts to see the corruption behind the Senators in the capital. With Julius turning a blind eye to the corruption of the politicians and the romance between Julius and Servilia (Brutus’ mother!) Brutus becomes more resentful towards his friend.  This is not helped with the apparent war mongering Caesar has in Gaul and Britain, when his legionaries and his friend are at the ends of their endurance.

This was great book, it was jam packed full of events, from Julius’ time in Spain, his campaign to become Consul and his military exploits in Gaul. There is also Brutus’ story line that develops in this book as he starts to see Julius as not the friend he remembers from childhood but the cold General he has become. Iggulden also covers other minor stories such as the leader of the Gaelic resistance Vercingetorix. I really enjoyed Iggulden’s style of writing in this book. I really like how in different paragraphs he is able to switch between characters so easily making the book so much more detailed and exciting to read, as you know how all the characters are reacting to the same event.

Like I said this was a really good book and so far has possibly been my favourite of the series. Like I said in my other reviews I would suggest this book to anyone who has read any of Simon Scarrow’s Marco and Cato books or anyone who is just into Caesar and Ancient Rome.

For author's offical website click here

Emperor the Gods of War, Conn Iggulden

Publishers: HarperCollins

Pages: 507 (Paperback 2006)

Main Characters:

Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus

This is the final book in Conn Iggulden’s epic Emperor Series, and what a finale. The novel sees Julius and Marcus return to Italy to take on the Dictator Pompey. After a return to Rome, Caesar sets himself up as the freely elected Consul of Rome and follows his chase of Pompey to Greece. The rift between Marcus and Julius is torn apart with Julius’ grasp on power. After Caesar makes Mark Antony his fellow Consul the friendship is ended and Brutus takes up arms against Caesar as he rides to Greece to fight alongside Pompey.

After the defeat of Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar forgives the betrayal of Brutus and accepts him back as one of his generals to chase the fleeing Pompey to Alexandria. Arriving on the shores of Egypt, Caesar finds that Pompey has been killed by the Egyptian King. Staying in Alexandria, Julius seeks to gain revenge for the death of Pompey and for the insults the Egyptians give to the Romans, this is where Julius is introduced to Cleopatra.

This was another brilliant book and it completes a brilliant series. The whole series is full of action, conspiracies, love and betrayal and the ending to this book is so sad as we see the end of a friendship that has lasted throughout the life of both Julius and Marcus. Some of the events seem so amazing and it is unbelievable that they actually happened! An example would be that Cleopatra was snuck into Caesar’s room in a rolled up carpet! It just makes the story so brilliant.

What a series, I have read Iggulden’s Genghis Khan Series and that was as good as this series. I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Roman history or Julius Caesar, such a brilliant series give it a read.

For author’s official website click here