My only complaint is that so many of these great leaders and names have sadly departed for the rewards of the Elysian Fiields, but I’m sure that other heroes will emerge.

The story of Temujin and his rise to uniting the tribes against the Tartars is a powerful one. Temujin goes through a lot of hell from the age of twelve onward, from being abandoned on the steppe during winter, to being imprisoned in a pit and being urinated on, to having his wife kidnapped and raped by Tartars. Once he started uniting the tribes, even I felt like riding with the young khan. While he's not always likeable, he's definitely a charismatic character. This was a very enjoyable read and I sincerely hope that this series will continue as I’m definitely a fan!

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Together with his greatest rival, mark Antony, Octavian will stop at nothing to avenge his father’s death. The Conqueror Series Genghis: Birth of an Empire Temujin, the son of Khan, was raised in a clan of hunters who migrated across the rugged lands. Yesugei is eventually be One important thing to note, and surprising to me, is that Iggulden utilized a head-hopping narrative to tell the multi-perspective narration. For those of you who don’t know, I hated this kind of storytelling style; I tend to find head-hopping confusing and distracting. However, Iggulden was tremendously skillful in implementing this narrative; I never felt lost and I was able to easily follow which character’s head I’m in. Not only the flow of the prose never disrupted by the head-hopping narrative, but I also found myself completely engrossed by every POV switch; it was entertaining to see Iggulden juggles the variety of characters perspectives and emotions in scenes that are full of tension and drama. Do remember, this almost never worked for me, the only other books where I found this style working for me was for Dune by Frank Herbert and Paternus by Dyrk Ashton, and if I may be honest, none of them did it as well as Iggulden in this book and hopefully series.

The only part of Iggulden's fictional experiment that works is his secondary characters. They keep the book entertaining, but largely fall into the crushing stereotypes of the surrogate father (Tuburk), the mentor (Renius), the fortune-teller (Cabera), and the first love (Alexandria). If they were played by actors, a critic would praise them for managing to make the most out of a horribly written screenplay with ineptly designed characters. The story tells of the early years of Temujin, or Genghis Khan as most people would know him. We begin in the Pre-Teen years of Genghis and we learn how his relationship with his father and his brother, molded him into the man he would become. The novel covers much the sparsely documented childhood experience from his family's banishment, to his imprisonment and on toward his ultimate quest for victory. I was born in the normal way in 1971, and vaguely remember half-pennies and sixpences. I have written for as long as I can remember: poetry, short stories and novels. It’s what I always wanted to do and read English at London University with writing in mind. I taught English for seven years and was Head of English at St. Gregory’s RC High School in London by the end of that period. I have enormous respect for those who still labour at the chalk-face. In truth, I can’t find it in me to miss the grind of paperwork and initiatives. I do miss the camaraderie of the smokers’ room, as well as the lessons where their faces lit up as they understood what I was wittering on about.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. This book is generally about Pericles, Statesman and supreme Leader of Athens against their fearsome enemies of Sparta, until the outbreak of the plague, and during this leadership he's assisted at first by Ephialtes and later on by Myronides, and always not far behind Pericles there's his friend, the awesome and once banished Strategos on land and sea for Athens, Cimon. With politics and war, there is little time for rest, the author keeps up a relentless pace that is suited to the story. With so many things going on the author navigates the reader through history and includes a great deal of factual information and accounts. he does mention, that occasionally he has moved an event or skipped over the odd more mundane fact to keep the story flowing. He does this with great flair as the story never once lets up or feels like it has a dull moment.

The author ensures, as always, that all the main characters are well-rounded and believable in every sense. Pericles in particular, is a very complex character who does not always take the right decision, to the detriment of Athens or his family. The most disappointing aspect is that it doesn't really capture the classical period. The characters lift right out and it could honestly have been set anywhere and any time. I loved this book! It is an extremely gripping narrative while providing the reader with an accurate picture of the historical events of the time, thereby promoting learning while reading. It is very well researched. Genghis Khan is dead, but his legend and legacy have not yet left the plains. Ogedai, his son, has built a white city on a great plain which becomes the capital of a new nation. During this time, new enemies are coming together to find out which Genghis has the strength of a Khan. In the epilogue Iggulden mentions that he has condensed the real time line of events to fit his story arc. Personally I think Iggulden could have achieved this without doing so. But this did not diminish my enjoyment of the tale. Regardless the novel is historically accurate. He has successfully recreated the ancient Greek world bringing it to life. This is what gives me immense pleasure to read authentic and unbiased historical fiction.I love that with historical fiction you can get transported to a different place and time, but in this book if you renamed the people and places you would have a hard time figuring out where the book was even set. There is absolutely nothing descriptive that makes it truly feel like you're in Roman times. The historical accuracy is questionable at best (according to the postscript, many of the few details known about Julius Caesar as a youth were changed for the book). That in itself I don't mind, but here it is just another disappointment. The story is cookie cutter and simple, with all attempts to add surprise or intrigue clunkily done. Nearly all of the characters were completely one-dimensional and emotionless. I even had a hard time telling the two main characters apart - they were interchangeable for most of the book. In short, there were no redeeming qualities about this book. Si no estás muy puesto en Historia –y no has leído la “spoileadora” sinopsis- casi mejor porque así tendrás la sorpresa de reconocer a alguno de los personajes mediada la novela. Si ese reconocimiento llega pronto o te lo ha destripado la sinopsis queda el placer de leer sobre la infancia novelada de los mismos.

That said, the ending shows you that this is just the beginning and leaves you with more questions than answers. It's not really a 'stand alone' read, as you'll want to know more, much more. But it is a damn good and interesting read on one of the world's greatest ever leaders and his life.However, I chose to ignore this while reading the book. Because when I read a book, I don't read it for accuracy. I read it because it's entertaining. And this book was definitely entertaining. This is the sequel to The Lion and is the fourth in the Athenian series that begins with The Gates of Athens and Protector. I recommend them all if you’re interested in Ancient Greek history. Their arrival inside of the walls while the sun sets is going to set off a series of explosive events. Before the sun rises again, five destinies are going to have been made, and lost, in the city of Darien. Even though the sun goes down, the city is going to know no slumber. For long slumbering passions have awoken. Fortunes are going to be lost and won, and lives are going to be claimed and staked. And one story long waiting to be told are going to catch fire in their telling. This book is not only just an intriguing coming-of-age, survival-themed and 'rags to rich' story, it also gives us a vivid picture of how life on the Mongolian harsh plain was like at that time. I also like how the different tribes' way of life is described with rich details. (the author is known for going to Mongolia for research) The Sword Saint” is the third novel in the “Empire of Salt” series and was released in the year 2019. Empires have fallen, cities have been broken, and there is darkness coming. Success has only drawn a cold gaze. One false king looks for dominion. His soldiers are going to bring despair and desolation to Darien. With treachery on every side, the ancient capital looks ready to fall.