Lords of the Bow (Conqueror book 2)

by Conn Iggulden

book data

240 ratings, 4.09 average rating, 51 reviews (more data...)

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4		41%
3		17%
2		4%
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published

March 25th 2008 by Delacorte Press

binding

Hardcover

isbn

0385339526 (isbn13: 9780385339520)

description

Conn Iggulden’s novels are grand historical tales of conquest and vengeance, cruelty and greatness. Now the acclaimed author of Genghis: Birth of an E...more

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01/02/09

Eamonn Gormley rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Part 2 in the series picks up at the end of his campaign to unite the Mongol tribes with an epic battle with an alliance of Naiman tribes who didn't want to submit to his will. They paid a heavy price.

Ghengis picks up a few useful people, like the Shaman Kochku, along the way and assimilates him into his united tribes. We get to see the logistics of the undertaking, and we start to see an insight into his initial inability to understand what a city was or what it was for. For examp...more Part 2 in the series picks up at the end of his campaign to unite the Mongol tribes with an epic battle with an alliance of Naiman tribes who didn't want to submit to his will. They paid a heavy price.

Ghengis picks up a few useful people, like the Shaman Kochku, along the way and assimilates him into his united tribes. We get to see the logistics of the undertaking, and we start to see an insight into his initial inability to understand what a city was or what it was for. For example, there's a tribe to the west that has received an ultimatum to join him or else. They submit to him but it takes them a while to make the journey across the plains because they have been influenced by the Persians to their West and have all but abandoned the nomadic way of life, and built permanent buildings that they decide to dismantle and move with them. Ghengis dismisses a lot of their cultural achievements at first since he doesn't see the value of writing or knowledge about anything other than warfare.

Eventually he turns his attention to the Xi Xia kingdom to the south and marches his army across the desert to get at them, only to be stopped by a high wall jammed into a gorge and is initially stumped about how to break through. I could go on summarizing the story from here but I don't want to spoil the book too much for people that don't already know the history of his campaign.

The story goes right up to the siege of Nenking (Beijing) and the long period when the Chin inside the city held the Mongols at bay.

The more interaction he has with neighbouring people, the more he understands the value of knowledge, and he eventually starts to use engineers to fashion new weapons capable of breaking city walls. Many of his soldiers have to make the transition from warrior archers to operators of machinery.

A striking feature of the book is the candid portrayal of the sheer brutality and ruthlessness of this leader. Slaughtering the entire populations of cities as a means of using terror to spread his reputation, mass executions of prisoners who surrendered, using prisoners as arrow-fodder to spearhead his attacks, it doesn't make for easy reading for someone used to living in modern civilised times. But it does make me grateful to have been born in Europe in the late 20th century rather than the plains of ancient Mongolia.(less)

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06/30/08

Karlan rated it:

Read in June, 2008

Do read the first book before beginning this sequel. It would probably stand alone but what Genghis Khan accomplished will seem more amazing if the reader understands his early life. It is violent and exciting and a real page turner.

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04/08/09

Jodi rated it:

bookshelves: books-about-china

Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: Chinese History readers

I didn't find this book as gripping as I did the first book in the series - perhaps it was because I do not know very much about the history of China at this point in time or about Genghis Khan. I liked the first book more I think, because it went into detail about Genghis's boyhood and how he became a warrior where this book was more about fighting. I have to admit that I loved the seen where he encountered the wall and his coming to Yenking (Beijing) because I could picture it in my mind hav...more

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10/10/08

Aaron rated it:

I first really got into Iggulden's work when he was writing a series of books following the life of Julius Caesar. This is the second novel in another series, though, you probably guessed from the title that it follows the life of Genghis Khan. While the first novel in the series focus on the rise of Genghis from an exile from one of the many Mongol tribes to the uniting force of a Mongol Empire, this volume he sets his eyes on the Chin Kingdom, the neighboring Chinese that have looked down and ...more

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08/25/08

fbuser1412633581 rated it:

Read in April, 2008

"To drive Your Enemy Before You, and hear the lamentation of the women."

Poor China - seems they can't get a break these days. Like it's not bad enough with the "Free Tibet" crowd and the Olympic Torch fiasco, here we've got Conn Iggulden piling on, sending Genghis Khan and his fearsome horde crashing through the "Chins" walled cities and wrecking the kind of havoc made popular in John Kerry's now infamous "Jenghis" Khan testimony to Congress i...more "To drive Your Enemy Before You, and hear the lamentation of the women."

Poor China - seems they can't get a break these days. Like it's not bad enough with the "Free Tibet" crowd and the Olympic Torch fiasco, here we've got Conn Iggulden piling on, sending Genghis Khan and his fearsome horde crashing through the "Chins" walled cities and wrecking the kind of havoc made popular in John Kerry's now infamous "Jenghis" Khan testimony to Congress in post-Vietnam America.

And like it's predecessor, "Genghis: Birth of an Empire", "Genghis: Lords of the Bow", is a raucous, swashbuckling mayhem fest that is at the same time intelligent and illuminating - a rare peak under the covers of a man as ruthless as he was a great - make that extraordinary - field general and tactician. A man who through sheer determination and the magnetism of his personality united tribes of the northern plains that had been warring among themselves for centuries, succeeding in bringing their foes of far superior resources literally to their knees. As with "Empire" before it, "Lords of the Bow" puts a human face on Genghis - but just barely this time. For unlike the man-child we were introduced to in the first volume, we see the transformation from the child turned out on the steppes to die to a conqueror larger than life, the vanquisher who tramples his enemies not out of cruelty, but simply of cold efficiency. Iggulden resists the temptation of putting a politically correct kind face on the Genghis of nightmares, penning a masterful portrait of a leader with military brilliance of Alexander, forged with the diabolical cleverness of Machiavelli.

"Lord of the Bows" reads a lot like an Eastern version of the venerable Bernard Cornwell, and in fact, the similarities between the tactics and success of the English long bow and the short, composite bows of Genghis' pony-mounted denizens are uncanny. Battle scenes are gripping and realistic. The author's depiction of the battle of Badger's Pass is a rare literary treat, as fascinating in the strategy and tactics as it is entertaining and suspenseful. But to allay any fears that this is simply a book military maneuvers, take heart: the story is spiced with politics, treachery, deceit, and chicanery - a stunning profile of justice and accountability honed and hardened by Mongolia's unrelenting climate and terrain.

Yet more fascinating than the conquests and the carnage is the "why" - is rape and pillage really the end, does conquest and submission trump occupation and even unimaginable riches, painting a curious dilemma as Genghis and his tribes leave a broken Chin empire behind and return to their beloved seas of grass and snow?

In short, another remarkable and enjoyable effort from Conn Iggulden has me anxiously waiting for the final chapter in the saga of the inimitable Genghis Khan. Well done!
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09/18/08

Chris K. rated it:

This book evokes that of an epic novel, embracing the sheer scope of Genghis’ undertaking to unite the Mongol horde and conquer vast territories in breath, beyond that of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire.

The magnitude of this quest is centered on this one human who embodies a wisdom, vision, perseverance and true arrogant greatness to accomplish the goal. Along the way you find that he has his doubts and weaknesses like any other man, but he manages to rise above the ordina...more

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06/24/09

Faith Mortimer rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in June, 2009

So far I am thoroughly enjoying this book. I read the first one in this series and got hooked. I particularly enjoy the depth of research that Conn has gone into in writing these novels about Genghis Khan.He even went to sar as to live with the Mongul people for six months to discover their ways. A great writer, puts masses into his work. Pacey, fast action and adventure with good dialogue and well-rounded characters.

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04/17/09

Stuart rated it:

Read in April, 2009

Part two of the Genghis Khan story. This is the way I like my history...as a story! Having said that, though this would be a magnificent movie with a cast of thousands in a huge arena before the gates of modern Beijing, the first story centred on the deserted and betrayed family was more gripping than the tribe of thousands facing the might of 13th Century China.

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03/25/09

Michelle rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Iggulden is a teriffic author. This is the second book I've read by him and I couldn't put either one down until I had read them from cover to cover. I love the historical notes that Iggulden includes at the end, just to put everything together in the end. Fantastic read!

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05/15/09

Kim rated it:

bookshelves: historical-fiction

Read in May, 2009

A continuation of Birth of an Empire, I didn't find this installment anywhere near as compelling as the first book in the series. Lords of the Bow doesn't provide as much the same focus on the character's personal lives as BoaE did, instead focusing on Genghis' conquests in the East. While entertaining, the focus on Genghis' family life was very much reduced, especially when compared to the first installment.

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02/10/08

Jennifer (JC-S) rated it:

bookshelves: owned

Read in April, 2008

I have enjoyed both novels in 'The Conqueror' series. The first novel dealt more with Temujin of the Wolves as a man and aspiring leader. In the second novel, Temujin the man is Genghis Khan and the focus is on how he melds the tribes into a nation and launches an assault on the Chin.

This novel ends in 1215 (a significant date elsewhere in the world as well) and I am looking forward to the next novel. If you are tempted to read this novel, I suggest reading the first in the series...more

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05/12/09

Mike rated it:

bookshelves: read-kindle

Read in May, 2009

I absolutely love historical fiction and this particular trilogy brings home the depth of the Mongol experience and put the history in perspective. Those of you who are fans of the genre will love these!!!

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04/08/09

John rated it:

Read in April, 2009

Again, a superb historical novel by Conn Iggulden. I've learned more about Genghis Kahn and how he became the type of man he was, and how he thought. I also learned more about the life of the Mongols and their interactions with other peoples. I thoroughly enjoyed both Kahn novels and am anxiously looking forward to the next one.

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12/03/08

Bcoghill rated it:

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Bcoghill by: Second of a series
recommends it for: Pressfield fans

fast paced action kind of story. ignores the complexities to Ghengis Khans life when it does not suit the story. But that is okay. A story is a story and you (and I) have read the history elsewhere.

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04/03/09

Gail/Ladyvolz rated it:

Read in April, 2009

Love this series; this is second in trilogy of Genghis Khan as he units all the Mongol tribes and expands his conquered lands by taking over various Chin cities and lands.

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03/23/09

Charlie rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Excellent book really enjoyed it - learn quite a lot of the history in an engaging way

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