Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

Before we begin, I would like to confess that I am an unabashed Conn Iggulden fan, having read many of his books and enjoyed each of them immensely. One of my favourite series was his Emperor books in which he breathed life into the well known historical facts about one Julius Caesar Esquire. This can be a tricky thing to do for many reasons, but I felt that Iggulden did a stellar job in adding life to what for most of us is a historical caricature. In Wolf of the Plains, he takes on the same challenge with Genghis Khan, uniter of the Mongol hordes, conqueror of China, and at the time of his death, builder of the largest empire the world had known. Piece of cake, right? Be warned though, this is rife with historical detail. People are brutally killed and women are raped, so bear this in mind should you choose to read this. On with the review.

Disclaimer – I read this in August, so forgive me if I’m a little hazy on some of the details.

So, what’s it all about?

The Wolf of the Plains is the first book in a series and tells of the young Genghis, Temujin, son of a clan chief, and the beginnings of his rise to be so much more. From early on, it’s obvious that Temujin is a natural leader, but when his father dies and his family are kicked out of the clan, we see his other traits – tenacity, ruthlessness and survival instincts – as he keeps his family alive in less than ideal circumstances. As the story develops, we watch as he unites the Mongols against (what would now be) Russian invaders, then enlists the Chinese to help out. Above all, though, we can see the beginnings of what made Temujin a step above the rest- his instincts. Whether it’s keeping his family alive on the Steppes or dealing with the Chinese, taking their aid, adopting some of their technology, then turning his nose up at them when they expect his loyalty, young Genghis appears to have had his finger on the pulse even then.

Is it any good?

I mentioned earlier that an important part of historical fiction was filling in the gaps around the facts, adding life to the characters we believe we know.  Iggulden does an even better job here than with Emperor. We can postulate about Genghis Khan’s positive traits for days, but we also can’t ignore the fact that he was a ruthless killer, and his atrocities are on record for all to see. What does the author do that keeps us engaged instead of taking the moral high road and putting the book down? He makes us like Temujin. He makes us want him to succeed, even though we know the truth. This is what makes for great historical fiction. We know what Genghis Khan did in his life – the great and not so great things – and after we have finished the book we will go back to frowning on his actions – but for those 400 pages or so, we are unabashed Temujin fans. This is why Wolf of the Plains sets the gold standard for historical fiction.     

Verdict

Simply outstanding!

Format: Audiobook

Obtained from: Bought

Listening time: 14 hrs 19 ms

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

ISBN: 9780007201747 (hc)

Narrator: Stephen Thorne