GENGHIS: Birth of an Empire
Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385339518
ISBN-13: 9780385339513

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• Author Talk -- May 4, 2007

Genghis Khan, known as the founder of Mongolia, was not always a conqueror. He started out as Temujin, one son among many of the khan (or leader) of the Wolf tribe. Violence was a way of life, and warriors were the only ones who could survive. The Wolf tribe itself was one among many small squabbling tribes, roaming the vast grassy plains of Mongolia and killing each other over livestock. It might sound petty to us, but in the incredibly harsh climate of what would become Mongolia, whether or not you own a horse might mean the difference between life and death.

Temujin discovers this hard fact firsthand when his father is killed, the tribe's leadership is usurped, and he and his remaining family are cast out of the tribe. Temujin, his three brothers, their mother and a newborn sister are abandoned without shelter, provisions or weapons. The only question is if starvation, the weather or another tribe will be what finally polishes them off. The feisty little family gets it together, surviving on a tough length of string smuggled out of the camp, which they use for fishing and setting snares. It's cold in this book --- very, very cold --- all the time.

Temujin learns a hard but valuable lesson about the necessity of working together, inspiring his later vision of uniting the tribes of the plains. It's a long often violent struggle. A brutal environment breeds brutal people, and Temujin fights every step of the way to build his own tribe from the tribeless nomads who wander the steppes and create a fighting force to challenge other tribes. Mercy is an alien luxury, and Temujin's will to win and desire for vengeance are remorseless.

The cost of his vision is very high, and Temujin is not always the one who has to pay it. His brothers and tribesmen are not immune from his authority, and there are constant battles as he struggles to maintain his position. Worse, Temujin's wife is kidnapped by a competing tribe; the fight to get her back is among the most compelling scenes in the book.

We know Temujin will continue to fight to hold the tribes together and expand his empire, likely the subject of Iggulden's future works. Known as the author of the Emperor novels --- four books about Julius Caesar --- it appears that GENGHIS: BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE also marks the birth of a new series. "Epic" is not too strong a word; Iggulden clearly feels the attraction of men of destiny, lone people who shape their times to their will and enjoys sharing their stories with his readers.

This first book gives us Temujin's youth and brings us up to the point where he manages to unite the tribes and takes on the identity by which we know him: Genghis Khan, ruler of the sea of grass.

   --- Reviewed by Colleen Quinn (CQuinn@9368@yahoo.com)

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