The blurb
An imaginative and sprawling epic fantasy reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war.
1260, Persia:
Due to the efforts of the great Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire covers a vast portion of the known world.
In the shadow of his grandfather, Hulagu, ruler of the Ilkhanate, is determined to create a single empire that covers the entire world. His method? Violence.
His youngest son, Temujin, struggles to find his place in his father’s bloody rule. After another failure, Temujin is given one last chance to prove himself to Hulagu, who is sure there is a great warrior buried deep inside. But there’s something else rippling under the surface… something far more powerful and dangerous than they could ever imagine…
Reduced to the position of one of Hulagu’s many wives, the Blue Princess Kokochin is the last of her tribe. Alone and forgotten in a foreign land, Kokochin is unwilling to spend her days seeking out trivial pursuits. Seeking purpose, she finds herself wandering down a path that grants her more power than a wife of the ruler may be allowed.
Kaivon, the Persian rebel who despises the Mongols for the massacre of his people, thirsts for revenge. However, he knows alone he cannot destroy the empire. When given the opportunity to serve Hulagu, Kaivon must put aside his feelings and risk his life for a chance to destroy from within an empire that aims to conquer the world.
Family and war collide in this thrilling and bloody reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia.
The review
Sorry to Stephen Aryan for the delay in writing this review. It was released when I was on holidays, and I was on deadline before I went away.
Anyway, now I’m back, I’ve more time to write up my reviews of the books that I’ve loved over the last few months.
The Judas Blossom was one of those books!
I mean, it’s a historical fantasy for a start. It’s also set during a period of history that I don’t know much about – which made it doubly exciting to pick up.
And Stephen Aryan didn’t disappoint. His writing is crisp, succinct, and flows beautifully. He evokes the 12th century Mongolian Empire expertly and has crafted several intriguing characters for us to follow.
We have Hulago Khan, the warlord in charge of the Mongolian expansion, and his much-maligned son Tamujin, who must prove himself to his father. There is Kaivon, a Persian warrior, whose homeland has been invaded by the Mongolian Empire, and there is Kokochin, a princess of a fallen Mongolian tribe, who has been forced into an arranged marriage with Hulago. Finally, we have a secret organisation known as The Twelve, who have their own desires and motivations around what they want to happen to the Mongolian Empire.
Thus, we have many perspectives, many reasons for wanting the Mongolian Empire to succeed or fail. For those who like multi-POV epic fantasies, this story is for you, even if you haven’t given historical fantasy a go yet. There is a favourite character for everyone in this story as with any multiple POV’ novel, we have an array of activity. War. Love. Revenge. Subterfuge. Power.
The fantastical elements are introduced gradually, and then it builds over the course of the novel. I do think, however, that we will see it a lot more in the second and third novels. I don’t want to say anymore about this element as it would spoil parts of the novel and one of the character arcs. All I will say is that it’s very intriguing and I’m excited to see what happens next with this plot strand.
I’d say that readers who love David Gemmell for prose and world building will also enjoy this. It has the same page-turning quality as The Rigante series and some excellent battle scenes too.
A top 2023 read for me – highly recommended!