King Genghis I (2021)

By Jonathan Yolan

Fiction/Adventure

It’s a bad day in Brooklyn. Turan Mugayev has just lost his girlfriend and his job. Rudderless, he recalls an invitation to visit his boyhood home of Genghistan, formerly Kushtamenistan, issued by the king himself. Turan hops a flight to the Central Asian country, enters the city of Shpagatt, the government seat, and has an audience with the king.

Turan winds up running Genghistan’s PR and overseeing social media for the government’s Ministry of Information. Sort of. It would be a lot easier if the testy Minister of Information wasn’t so testy. Active, unblocked Internet access would be helpful, too. (Even if Turan is stuck with the boss from hell, he can still pass the time with a good book.)

Meanwhile

Meanwhile, back at the palace, the king is gearing up for a big speech at the United Nations. There’s also some nastiness going on with active terror cells and “weapons of war” in the south as well as Russian and Chinese and other foreign interests. And a coup attempt. Oh, yeah. Anyone caught trying to leave the country disappears.

It’s a full day in Genghistan.

It gets even more complicated when the beautiful Tatiana enters the picture. But maybe, just maybe, Turan will have a chance to redeem his father’s legacy and restore Dad’s good name. Will Turan find true love and foil a revolt to boot?

Caveat

The main issue I had with this book is the title. It kind of goes thud. Yes, it’s part political fantasy/satire. But some readers won’t get that. It also doesn’t really tell readers much about the story.

That being said, King Genghis I is a quick moving adventure novel with heaps of international intrigue and internal cat-and-mouse power plays both overt and covert. It’s clever and agile, with solid writing and a generous dose of humor. 

Our rating 3.5