The Sky Worshipers

A beautifully written historical fiction set at the time of the Mongol Empire. In 1398 a manuscript is discovered relating to the previous century. This manuscript is written by three different women over the course of the thirteenth century. The book tells the story of these three women, all of them captured by the Mongols, how they are affected by their captors and how they in turn have influence over the Mongols. The impact of their stories is felt as the concluding chapters revert to 1398 and the characters react to the message of the women.
This is a well-researched story, I learnt so much about the Mongol Empire. It is very atmospheric and the historical period is brought to life through the language which is very descriptive and often poetic. I found the first half of the book fast paced and really engrossing the later chapters sadly seem to lose some momentum and the pace of the story slowed quite a bit.
Overall this was an interesting and enjoyable read.

Set in the 13th Century, The Sky Worshippers portrays the life and times of Genghis Khan and his progeny. Told from the viewpoint of several different women who were captives turned royal in the Mongol Court, this story tells the horrors of this time without being a book solely about war and bloodshed.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning about Mongolia and its rulers during this time period. I had very little previous knowledge about Genghis Khan other than the fact that he was a ruthless warrior. I know know much more about him and his people. I recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period or who has an interest in conquerors. It is a relatively clean book with only a handful of curse words scattered throughout the story. The violence is strong given the nature of the story. There are no graphic sex scenes found in the book.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I had been looking forward to reading this book for a while. I binge watched all 5 seasons of Resurrection Ertugrul last summer and already had a pre-conceived idea about the Mongol empire from watching that. If you liked that series, you will love this historical fiction! It is well researched, fact-based, and full of twists and turns. Also, the Seljuk Turks and Ogodei Khan appear in both TV series and this book. I appreciate that this book is clean, without expletives, intimacy, or terribly graphic scenes. The author did an excellent job researching the history and important people before writing this. There is adventure, love, action, empathy, and wisdom in this story. The interaction of Mongol, Turkish, and Persian civilizations is well described here. The instances of peace between different religions showed a different point of view that Western history paints. I particularly enjoyed the descriptive writing and human touch of the princesses' descriptions. A map (of the time) and a family tree/diagram would have helped me orient myself and keep the many characters clear in my mind. The short stories of civilian life and suffering included in their journals was also moving. I will definitely order this for my school and encourage its use in world history.

I was drawn to read this because I wanted to learn more about the Mongol Empire and in particular Genghis Khan who is considered a brilliant military strategist who conquered vast lands whilst retaining his nomadic culture.

This novel does speak of the ‘mighty Khan’ but the focus is mostly set on the fate of three different women who were kidnapped by the Mongols over the space of the 13 Century. Each woman has detailed how she was captured and how she adjusted to life with the Mongols, and in turn how they were able to bring any influence to bear or not.

It is a powerful piece of fiction writing and the characters of the women sing out loudly and it is fascinating; the language is poetic and quite beautiful and conjured the vast steppes and horizons vividly.

I was enraptured for about two-thirds of the book and then, sadly, it seemed to drag on and (for me) lost its impact and I found that I was just wishing for it to finish. Perhaps this says more about me than the book – maybe I just lost focus. Whatever!

This is a powerful, well written, well researched story which I have no hesitation in recommending particularly if you watched the television programme on Genghis Khan.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

A richly woven story of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. This epic novel, full of excitement and adventure, love, passion and cruelty reveals the harsh realities of life not only for women of that time but the Mongolian people as a whole. This novel is a real page turner and highly recommended.

I loved the use of Genghis Khan as I really hadn't read many books that use him and his time period as a setiign. This was a wonderfully done story with interesting characters.

Genghis Khan, 13the century was a master among men. Born in what is now Mongolia desert in a red tent & rising to conquer areas like none before him or after. His methods were different than those before him as his armies grew & spread, his own bloodline & that of his peoples created many ethnicities that are noted today. This is a fictitious history of such as told through the works of his taken wives & individuals around him. Light amusing with a swift brush of harshness, in most cases, it touches on his life, actions & thought processes in the manner of a wisp of gossamer silk. This is a fast read that once again without the grit like another more historical fiction might give rise for someone interested in reading up more about Genghis. He chose his third son to be Khaqan of the Khans which was fair & foul & who married a Persian princess. Putting this son in charge probably saved a lot of lives but their reign of terror continued & spread. This tale then continues on down. A grandson of Genghis marrying a direct relative of Polish King after disseminating Kiev rus & Poland to continue on to Hungary & Bulgaria. This woman became the third historian to take over the writing of the fantasy secret history of the Mongols.