F. M. Deemyad

Ghengis Khan is not a figure I run into very often in my historical fiction reading but once in a blue moon he does show up and I find the stories somewhat fascinating as they are so very different from the usual stories out of England and France that I usually read. The Sky Worshipers is more about the women on the periphery; those married to his sons and the women who gave birth to his grandsons including Kublai Khan.

While many women inhabit the tents of the Mongol warriors it is the journal in which they write their stories that is the background star of this story. For as they each share their lives, thoughts, and that what goes on in what they see as the greater world the reader sees how the world was perceived. They were not a peaceful people as for the most part they were nomadic conquerors. Time came when great cities were inhabited but life was lived for these warriors on the move.

There was much history to be told but at times I felt myself drifting out of the story and that is never a good thing. I kept trying to pinpoint exactly why and I really couldn’t figure out why; the writing is solid, the story is interesting. The only thing I can figure is that it did get a little one note now and again. Perhaps it was just not the time for me to be trying to immerse myself in the desert. I am keeping the book to give it another go but for now I am just left slightly unsatisfied. It wasn’t a bad book by any stretch; there is a lot of good going on here. The Sky Worshippers gives the reader a peak into the lives of a people that are often seen solely as marauders.… (altro)