A couple of years ago I read and reviewed Khan: Empire of Silver from Conn Iggulden's Conqueror series that covers the turbulent time between Genghis Khan's death and Kublai Khan's ascension. I wrote, "Iggulden takes us on a roaring ride--all battles, military strategy, and new weapons (including proto-cannons)--lots of blood, death, and unimaginable destruction....Very few women make an appearance." Stephanie Thornton rights that imbalance with her book in the voices of key women in Genghis Khan's life: Borte, his chief wife; Alaqai, his daughter; Fatima, a captive slave and scribe to the Golden Family; and Sorkhokhtani, his daughter-in-law. 
 I enjoyed this book very much. The language is beautiful, level of detail extraordinary, and stories fascinating. Thornton vividly brings to life little known powerful women from an important historical period (but for the sudden death of one man, the Mongols were poised to sweep through Europe). The setting is visceral filled with sweeping steppes, towering mountains, and freezing deserts. The women worked incredibly hard (as did most women in history) doing the majority of the tasks to keep the people alive and the culture thriving. Thornton divided her book into four sections, set in consecutive time periods, each dedicated to one of four women, written in first person, and continuing the story of all the women. Of all the stories, the first about Borte, Genghis' first wife, appealed to me the most. She was the founding mother who suffered the most and gathered daughters by blood, adoption, and marriage, who carried on her legacy, ruled nations, and protected their people. 
 Paradoxically, my enjoyment and admiration for the book is the reason I gave it four stars rather than five--I wanted more. I felt that such powerful characters could have carried whole books by themselves and were shortchanged with a hundred or so pages each, especially the final one Sorkhokhtani, the formidable mother of Kublai Khan, who barely rated thirty-five pages (including the Epilog which wasn't in her voice). Sorkhokhtani ruled an empire as regent for her sons larger than any ruler in Europe, nimbly traversed the deadly politics of the Mongol court and successions, and raised the only grandsons of Genghis that seemed to have any ability to carry on his legacy. The scant references to her in the other women's stories and her truncated section of the book did poor justice to her importance to the Mongol story. 
 But wanting more is a good complaint. I highly recommend this book.