Lords of the Bow

By: Conn Iggulden

Narrated by: Russell Boulter

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

The gathering of the tribes of the Mongols has been a long time in coming, but finally, triumphantly, Temujin of the Wolves, Genghis Khan, is given the full accolade of overall leader and their oaths. Now he can begin to meld all the previously warring people into one army, one nation. But the task Genghis has set himself, and them, is formidable. He is determined to travel to the land of the long-time enemy, the Chin, and attack them there.

The distances and terrain - the wide deserts, the impenetrable mountains - make it a difficult venture, even for the legendarily speedy Mongols. But the greatest problem is confronting complex fortifications, a way of fighting a settled urban population - which the nomadic Mongolians have never come across. Finding ways to do that, and keeping his tribes together in a strange environment, presents another new and exciting challenge for Genghis Khan. Not only must Genghis succeed in this incredible campaign, but he must also reconcile the restless factions among his own generals, mediate between his ambitious brothers, and cope with his own reactions to his growing sons.

The young warrior has become a notable and victorious military commander of thousands. He must now learn to become a great leader of peoples of many different races and religions. Lords of the Bow is a deeply satisfying novel, epic in scope, convincing, and fascinating in its narration of an extraordinary story.

©2008 Conn Iggulden (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London UK

Wonderful, historical fiction

After listening to the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden, which I enjoyed enormously, I wasn't sure about listening to this book series. Thankfully at the recommendation of my brother I did.

Okay, it starts off a bit slow and sometimes you find yourself thinking who is he again? So many names, I got a little mixed up with the characters early on. Please don't let this put you off purchasing or listening, this book / series is absolutely brilliant. I found myself taking the long round to places I was going just so I could listen a bit longer!

Just incredible how Conn manages weave his stories around some facts and create a compelling story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great listen

Mixes fact with fiction and really brings the events to life and left me really wanting to know more, it does not read like a history lesson at all though, a very entertaining story - the history is very well kept intact here, it is not altered to a degree where it is a problem. Well narrated, excellent characters. Highly recommend this book and I really do hope we have more available from this author very soon at Audible.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Wrong Reader

With audiobooks the reader is as important as the writer. S/he can make or break the book. I fear this reader has broken it. After hearing Jason Isaacs rendering of 'Wolf of the Plains', I was keen to listen to the next instalment in the series but failed to check whether the second book was also read by Jason Isaacs. Big mistake. This reader cannot decide whether to put on an American accent or stick to British, and the mix of sounds is intensely IRRITATING. I am not even sure I shall last the course.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A great series

Any additional comments?

This series by Conn Iggulden is not my usual genre but I'm loving it. In the first book we saw how Gengis's hard childhood forged him to be the brutal warrior that brought together the Mongol tribes.
This second in the series is just as thrilling if a little bloodthirsty and it tells the story of his conquest of the Chin Emperor. The Mongol people are a hard people who live by simple rules. As an army they are really mobile not needing much in the way of supply lines because they drink blood from their animals and eat dried curds from their milk. The bows they use are very advanced compared to their enemies and can shoot much further. The warriors themselves are tough and fierce. Genghis is ruthless in his warfare taking no prisoners and striking fear into his enemies.
The narration is excellent and I found it useful for knowing how to pronounce some of the Mongol names. I tended to switch between listening and reading.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Gripping

This is the first Iggulden book I have read and I loved it. I like the mix of history and fiction and the narration was very strong. Highly recommended

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent

Well written and more important for an audio book narrated very well indeed. The story brings to life the history of this time and makes for an exciting listen, carefully blended with just the right amount of action and connivance so good I had to listen to it a second time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

couldn't stop listening

I bought this for our family holiday. We couldn't stop listening to it. This is a compelling story well told. Highly recommended. I read his trilogy about caesar and knew he was a good writer. We need more form this author.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Narrator unsure of his accent

The book is good! I read all these a few years ago and felt like having another go on Audible. The story and the writing is as good as you'd expect anything from Conn Iggluden to be.

The narrator really got on my nerves. He is clearly British and reads with a distinctly English accent. He then starts pronouncing certain words with an American accent. it is perhaps a small thing, but it really got my back up every time it happened (which was very often)
But he does have a pleasant reading voice and does OK as a voice actor for different characters.. better than some I've heard..

excellent

Great second book in this series. credible characters and good history. I would prefer not to hear the future plot at the end of this book as it ruins the next one.

Better than most but not the best for Iggulden

I was unfortunately a bit disappointed by this book after how much I had enjoyed the Wars of the Roses and Caesar series'. It just felt a little flat with fewer colourful characters than his other books.

It read like the second in a series - lots of back referencing exciting sounding past adventures but without any detail on the excitement of them. I checked several times to make sure I'd not missed a book somehow.

That said, it's still a good romp and I finished it quickly as it flew by so I'd recommend it above other authors but I don't know if I'll finish the Khan series.

Genghis the lord of war

Very illuminating and interesting period of history. Full of action and detailed characters well presented by the narrator