Empire of Silver: A novel of the Khan Empire by Conn Iggulden Delacorte Press HK$208
Conn Iggulden's fourth book in his Conqueror series took even some of his die-hard fans by surprise. He told them he was working on something else completely and then suddenly Empire of Silver was on the bookshelves.
Iggulden is known for his epic historical novels that leave readers feeling as if they've just watched a long, panoramic movie. His descriptions are captivating and his characters reach across centuries to play out their stories in the making of empires. This particular series is about Genghis Khan, the enigmatic Mongolian conqueror who is only now being rehabilitated after years of being cast as the quintessential villain, the mindless killing machine who scythed a path from Mongolia all the way to Europe. In Bones of the Hills, the third book, Genghis dies and it seems the story ends. But not so. Genghis is only the beginning: his legacy remains today. So Iggulden has a wealth of material for sequels.
Like most great men, Genghis was a failure as a father. His first son, Jochi, was born after his wife had been kidnapped by enemies. No one could know for certain that Jochi was indeed Genghis' son. His second son, Chagatai, was aggressive, arrogant and constantly causing trouble for Jochi. So in a painful decision, Genghis named the third son, Ogedai, as his heir.
Ogedai had never been a healthy man and, in the novel, Iggulden attributes his weakness to heart problems and not just to drinking as many people do. Empire of Silver opens with Ogedai elevating Jochi's son Batu from a life as an outcast, to a respected position in his army. Jochi had betrayed Genghis and was killed for his troubles, his family and tribe reabsorbed into the Mongolian nation, his family disgraced.
Ogedai was in no hurry to take control of the empire. He took two years to build the city of Karakorum from where he intended to run the empire, putting off the ceremony in which he would take oaths of allegiance from his uncles and brothers until the entire city had been built.