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Summary
Summary
From the author of the bestselling The Dangerous Book for Boys
From Conn Iggulden, #1 bestselling author of six historical epics and coauthor of the international sensation The Dangerous Book for Boys, comes a magnificent new work of fiction. Here, the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, stalked by enemies seen and unseen and plagued by a divided family, leads a sprawling force of horsemen beyond the realm of their known world. He will bring a storm to Arab lands and face the armies of the shah in all their strength.
From the fierce cold plains of Mongolia to the Korean Peninsula, Genghis's brothers, sons, and commanders have made emperors bow, slaughtering vast armies of fighting men. But as Genghis enters a strange new land of towering mountains and arid desert, he stirs an enemy greater than any he has met before. Under his command, Shah Ala-ud-Din Mohammed has thousands of fierce Arab warriors, teeming cavalry, and terrifying armored elephants. When Genghis strikes, the Arabs prove their mettle. On the verge of defeat, Genghis is forced to leave his own vast encampment, and the women and children in it, in the path of an enraged, savage enemy.
While the Mongols--men, women, and children--fight back, as secret assassins are sent into the night, another battle is taking shape. Two of Genghis's sons, Jochi and Chagatai, are steeped in enmity. Warriors choose between them, and a murderer commits an unspeakable crime. Soon the most powerful man in the world, who has brought devastation to this land, must choose a successor. And when he does, it will touch off the most bitter conflict of all.
In a novel that ranges from the fertile lands of the Chin to the dust and rock of Afghanistan, Conn Iggulden weaves the epic story of history's most enigmatic conqueror --those who feared him, those who defied him, and those whose bones he left behind.
Author Notes
Conn Iggulden is a British fiction writer, born in 1971. He studied at English at the University of London. Iggulden headed the English Department at St. Gregory's Roman Catholic School in London and taught English there for seven years. He left teaching to write his first novel, The Gates of Rome. Iggulden has also co-authored the #1 New York Times bestseller, "The Dangerous Book for Boys". His title Trinity is the second of the series of books covering the Wars of the Roses, when the English noble families were at war with each other. Book 4, Ravenspur: Rise of the Tudors, was released in May 2016
Excerpts
Excerpts
Chapter One THE WIND HAD FALLEN on the high ridge. Dark clouds drifted above, making bands of shadow march across the earth. The morning was quiet and the land seemed empty as the two men rode at the head of a narrow column, a jagun of a hundred young warriors. The Mongols could have been alone for a thousand miles, with just creaking leather and snorting ponies to break the stillness. When they halted to listen, it was as if silence rolled back in over the dusty ground. Tsubodai was a general to the Great Khan, and it showed in the way he held himself. His armor of iron scales over leather was well worn, with holes and rust in many places. His helmet was marked where it had saved his life more than once. All his equipment was battered, but the man himself remained as hard and unforgiving as the winter earth. In three years of raiding the north, he had lost only one minor skirmish and returned the following day to destroy the tribe before word could spread. He had mastered his trade in a land that seemed to grow colder with each mile into the wastes. He had no maps for his journey, just rumors of distant cities built on rivers frozen so solid that oxen could be roasted on the ice. At his right shoulder rode Jochi, the eldest son of the khan himself. Barely seventeen, he was yet a warrior who might inherit the nation and perhaps command even Tsubodai in war. Jochi wore a similar set of greased leather and iron, as well as the saddle packs and weapons all the warriors carried. Tsubodai knew without asking that Jochi would have his ration of dried blood and milk, needing only water to make a nourishing broth. The land did not forgive those who took survival lightly, and both men had learned the lessons of winter. Jochi sensed the scrutiny and his dark eyes flickered up, always guarded. He had spent more time with the young general than he ever had with his father, but old habits were hard to break. It was difficult for him to trust, though his respect for Tsubodai knew no limit. The general of the Young Wolves had a feel for war, though he denied it. Tsubodai believed in scouts, training, tactics, and archery above all else, but the men who followed him saw only that he won, no matter what the odds. As others could fashion a sword or a saddle, Tsubodai fashioned armies, and Jochi knew he was privileged to learn at his side. He wondered if his brother Chagatai had fared as well in the east. It was easy to daydream as he rode the hills, imagining his brothers and father struck dumb at the sight of how Jochi had grown and become strong. "What is the most important item in your packs?" Tsubodai said suddenly. Jochi raised his eyes to the brooding sky for an instant. Tsubodai delighted in testing him. "Meat, General. Without meat, I cannot fight." "Not your bow?" Tsubodai said. "Without a bow, what are you?" "Nothing, General, but without meat, I am too weak to use the bow." Tsubodai grunted at hearing his own words repeated. "When the meat is all gone, how long can you live off blood and milk?" "Sixteen days at most, with three remounts to share the wounds." Jochi did not have to think. He had been drilled in the answers ever since he and Tsubodai had ridden with ten thousand men from the shadow of the Chin emperor's city. "How far could you travel in such a time?" Tsubodai said. Jochi shrugged. "Sixteen hundred miles with fresh remounts. Half again as far if I slept and ate in the saddle." Tsubodai saw that the young man was hardly concentrating, and his eyes glinted as he changed tack. "What is wrong with the ridge ahead?" he snapped. Jochi raised his head, startled. "I . . ." "Quickly! Men are looking to you for a decision. Lives wait on your word." Jochi swallowed, Excerpted from Genghis: Bones of the Hills: A Novel by Conn Iggulden All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.