Sorqoqtani - 'Munificence and Benefaction' Shirimun and the sons of Ghaimish opposed the election of Mangke as Great Khan. They prevaricated and would not attend the quriltai to endorse the appointment. When they did at last set out for the Mongol homelands, it was with mischievous intent - or so the contemporary historians would have …
Author: Andrew G Lockhart
My name is Andrew Lockhart and I grew up in Coatbridge, Scotland. I studied at Glasgow University. After spending three decades in planning, statistics and international sales and marketing, I am now an author, family historian and owner of Magda Green Books. Apart from writing (and reading great books) and blogging, my other interests are science, music of all sorts, and traveling the world.
Women Behind the Throne – Part Two
Sorqoqtani Makes Her Move Toregene Khatun managed to delay the quriltai until 1246 but by then she was ill. She must have recognised that her son Guyuk was a weak man, even more of a drunkard than his father but without Ogodai’s good nature. The quriltai formally endorsed Guyuk as Great Khan. The coronation was …
Women behind the Throne – Part One
Sorqoqtani and the Mongol Succession [adapted from Chapter 5 of my book The Lion, the Sun and the Eternal Blue Sky] In Mongolia, where Temuchin (Genghis Khan) is honoured today as a national hero, women enjoy a remarkable degree of economic and social independence compared to their counterparts in some other Asian countries. And, when …
The Future in the Fire
from The Il-khan's Wife (In my novel The Il-khan's Wife, Gobras is a priest, patriarch of the followers of Zoroaster. Although old and blind, he often has dreams of future events . . . . ) *** 'The fire in the hearth was low and Gobras was dreaming. So often now, in the solitary silence …
Righteous Medicine – Unholy Malice
A House Divided by Margaret Skea [I received an advanced reading copy of A House Divided in exchange for a fair review.] ‘I have eaten crushed orchid leaves, powdered fox’s lungs and crab’s eyes; drunk wolf oil and tincture of foxglove; been bled and leeched till I think I have little blood left; told to …
Mark Twain's Rules for Good Writing
There's more good advice here than in a dozen books on the subject!
Nine Good Reasons
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Forget the film! Whatever its merits or demerits, the movie starring Will Smith has almost no connection at all with the short story collection having the same title. Three of Asimov's characters - Susan Calvin, the robopsychologist, Robertson, the head of US Robots, and Lanning, one of its directors, do …
The Origins of Modern Fantasy
The Blazing World of Margaret Cavendish 'At last the rain came, and upon a sudden all their houses appeared of a flaming Fire; and the more Water there was poured on them, the more did they flame and burn;' I was doing some research into the history of fantasy literature when I came across a …
That which does not kill us . . . .
The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagerkrantz translated by George Goulding '. . . . makes us stronger', as the saying goes. That Which Does Not Kill Us (Det som inte dödar oss) is the original Swedish title of this new novel about Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist and Millennium Magazine. David Lagerkrantz has …
Christianity's Hidden Goddess?
Mary Magdalene by Lynn Picknett 'On the feast day of SAINT *** Mary Magdalene . . . in the year 1209 something utterly horrific and bewildering, yet at the same time somewhat magnificent, took place at Béziers . . . France. [E]very last inhabitant of the town went willingly to their deaths at the hands …
Magda Green Books 