I got this book because I loved the 1st one - Genghis Birth of an Empire. The person who read the 1st book was excellent. This one is really bad. Th..Show More »e voices sound whiny and the pronunciation of the names is terrible. It is obvious the reader did not listen to the 1st book. I am about 1 hr into it and I'm not sure if I can go on. Maybe I'll have to buy the book. The story is an exciting page turner.

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If you begin reading the first book of the series 'Birth of an Empire', you won't be able pass up 'Lords of the Bow' or 'Bones of the Hills'. Rich wit..Show More »h history, this is one of the best stories that I have ever listened to. Conn Iggulden has done a superb job of taking some pieces of history and stitching them together into a great story.

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Although this is the fourth book in the series of Genghis Khan this book could actually stand alone because this is the next generation afte Ghengis h..Show More »as died. On the other hand if you did hear this book as the first book then you'd most likely want to go through the first three books to get the full rich story of the rise of the Khan empire.

The author starts with the actual history, but then creates a fiction to fill in the blanks. As you listen to the books you get a feeling that you understand the way certain warriors thought. You develope an understanding of how the society functioned, and how certain individuals either excelled or were basically expendable. It's a harsh life with hard decisions on a daily basis, but that was what made them so damn tough.

I really like all four books and I'm pretty sure the story will continue with another book in a year or so...

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This was a great story of shifting power within the Mongol nation. It was very interesting to hear this story because it brought up several Khans tha..Show More »t I wasn’t aware of. I enjoyed the story of Kublai. I liked the way he conquered without leaving total destruction in his wake. I also enjoyed not actually knowing what the outcome of the war with his brother would be. I was very tempted to go look it up in the history books, but that would be like peeking at the end of the story.

Since I am not a history buff, but I know enough to get by, I knew that Kublai was going to become Khan. How did he get there, well that is something that my limited knowledge didn’t know. Well now I have a better idea. That’s one of the great things that I love about historical fiction. When I was in school, history class dragged on and on and on and on. If only I had a few good historical fiction books back then, I would have been a straight ‘A’ student!

These stories of Genghis Khan and his descendants are really great. I don’t know which parts are historical facts and which are historical fiction, but I will always remember this version. I know there is no way for Conn Iggledun to be privy to all the secret discussions etc., but they are so finely woven into the story that it just seems like they belong there. It is so well written that I find myself just wanting to accept the whole thing as truth even though I know otherwise. LoL

I highly recommend this whole series to anyone that wants to know more about the rise of the Mongol nation. Also there is a lot of interesting facts about their specific breed of horses, their lifestyle while out on campaign and the warfare they used to gain the nation.

The Narration Review

This audiobook was narrated by Richard Ferrone and I have grown so used to hearing his narration that I will not be able to think of this series without him. I don’t know if his pronunciation of the names is the correct pronunciation, but it is the way I will forever pronounce them. He has the perfect voice for this set of historical fiction books and he makes the whole series seem so believable, just like he was there. Awesome.


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