wordsofclover's reviews
2085 reviews

In this delightful book, vet Jonathan Hollins shares his experiences working on the Falkland Island as well as St Helena and Tristan da Cunha that make up the British Overseas Territory. From the people, the landscape and the hardy animals he encountered, I think Jonathan Hollins did a great job sharing just how special and life changing his experiences were for him.

It's very hard to pick up a book about a vet and not compare it to the Holy Grail that is James Herriot. While this doesn't have quite the story telling mastery that Herriot has, and contains more general knowledge that is geographical and historical in nature than animal focused, I think the heart and soul of the people Hollins lived and worked with was captured in the pages of this book, much like Herriot did for the Yorkshire Dales.

I personally would have liked some less general knowledge in the book and more interesting and quirky animal stories as one of the main reasons I picked up the book was the veterinary aspect, not the travel destination. I also thought that the grimmer stories involving lambs with jelly skeletons and a mass killing of chickens and ducks for example could have been interspersed with more heartwarming stories as at one point I started wondering if Hollins even liked animals as he spent so much time killing them!

I enjoyed this for the most part, and it gave me an appreciation and a curiosity about St Helena but most particularly Tristan Da Cunha (which sounds like a haven to my introvert soul to be quite honest). 

It's 1260, Persia, as Hulagu Khan continues to ensure the legacy of his grandfather and continue the expansion of the Mongol Empire. In violence, Hulagu conquers Persia crushing local leaders and brave warriors. Kaivon, a Persian general, hates Hulagu but realises the best way pf getting revenge is to infiltrate the Khan's inner circle and destroy it from the inside out while the Khan's new wife Kokochin discovers her own method of rebellion within a secret organisation of female assassins. And closer to home, Hulagu's son Temujin struggles to meet his father's expectations but then discovers a magical gift that could change everything.

This is a book that tries to unpack a lot of history, and tell it in a fast-paced, informative way and I think in many ways it does it really well. The Mongol Empire is a very fascinating, and violent time in human history and I think to try and explain it all in one book is an impossible feat. But this look at the grandsons of the original Genghis Khan, and what his legacy meant for them and the mere ferioucness of the Mongol warriors was enlightening in itself.

I think for me, for some reason I can't quite pinpoint, there was just something missing in this book. And seeing all the other 5-star reviews out there, I'm thinking it must be a me problem rather than the book itself. When it comes to historic fantasy, I'm prepared to take it slow and really fall into the world I'm reading from the history to the characters and that didn't quite happen for me with this one. I think I didn't get on with the pacing of this book, the jumping around of characters and everything felt a little rushed and too easy at times. I would have liked a lot more detail about many things from the travels between cities for Kaivon and the Mongol troops, to Kokochin's training with Layla (and their relationship that went from 0-100 in the space of a sentence). I wanted to really get to know the characters and I really feel like I didn't have the time to appreciate them and who they really were and what drove them (other than revenge and hatred for Hulagu).

I actually think I would have preferred if this book slowed all the way down and only followed Kaivon and Kokochin as people attempting to take down Hulagu and the Ilkhanate from the inside. I actually feel, for me, Temujin's story took away from the interesting chapters that were Kaivon and Kokochin and the magical element in this story left me slightly confused as well (though I know it's historical fantasy so it would be removing the fantasy element but I'm okay with that).

Hulagu's chapters actually felt obsolete because everything we learned about him/from him we could have learned from Kaivon and it would be more fun seeing him from Kaivon and Kokochin's perspective only.

I found this to be easy reading though - and the paperback I had was lovely and floppy which made the reading experience more enjoyable. I still liked this book, and enjoyed my reading experience - I was just disappointed that I didn't get more out of it like I wanted to.