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Historical person
1186–1241
Ögedei Khan was the third son of Genghis Khan and succeeded him as great khan in 1229. During his reign Mongol armies completed the conquest of the Jin dynasty, invaded Korea, expanded in the Middle East and swept through Rus’ and central Europe. Ögedei developed Karakorum as an imperial centre and supported postal and administrative systems, but heavy drinking damaged his health.
His death in 1241 halted the European campaign and opened a prolonged regency. His reign demonstrates that Mongol expansion depended on a broad command system rather than the presence of Genghis Khan alone.
Conn Iggulden’s Empire of Silver makes Ögedei the contested successor to Genghis Khan, showing him securing the khanship, establishing Karakorum and trying to hold the expanding empire together while Batu and Subutai campaign in the west. Neal Stephenson’s The Mongoliad: Book 1 turns him into the target of the Shield-Brethren’s desperate assassination mission, while The Mongoliad: Book 2 follows their approach to his court through territory dominated by Mongol power. In The Mongoliad: Book 3, Ögedei’s court becomes the centre of the action, shaped by imperial ritual, succession rivalry and the Circus of Swords. Katabasis begins after his death, using the resulting succession crisis to explain why the Mongol advance into Europe abruptly stalls and why the surviving westerners are left stranded deep inside the empire.
Series
Legends of the Condor Heroes begins in 1205, when the Southern Song court has lost northern China to the Jurchen Jin dynasty and Temüjin is uniting the Mongol steppe. Guo Jing, the son of a murdered Song patriot, grows up among the Mongols before returning south, where his…
All books in this series
The Conqueror series traces the rise of Temujin as Genghis Khan and the expansion of the Mongol Empire under his descendants. Across five novels it follows tribal unification, campaigns in China and Central Asia, the invasion of eastern Europe and the succession struggles that eventually bring Kublai Khan…
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The Mongoliad Cycle is a collaborative medieval adventure set during the Mongol invasions of Europe. The first three volumes follow the Shield-Brethren and their allies as they travel east to strike at Ögedei Khan’s court, while a parallel struggle in Rome concerns the papal succession and the political…
All books in this series
Standalone books
Non Fiction
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.
