Three Palladins [Hardcover]

One reviewer has noted the fact that this novel is not Lamb's best work. That still puts it beyond the best adventures of most novelists. Harold Lamb makes the early life of one of the most influential men in history take on bone and sinew and blood amid the stark wastes of the Gobi. Robert E. Howard read this novel and loved it. Any fan of red-handed adventure owes it to themselves to read this book.

I love Harold Lamb's writings. He was a great historian with imagination, and that's a rare thing. This book is a good example of his historical fiction. Its characters are taken from history--Temujin (Ghengis Khan), Chepe Noyon, Subotai, and Prince Mingan of Cathay.

The book primarily follows Mingan. He is nearly assasinated in Cathay by his rival Chung hi, son of the Dragon Emperor, who dislikes how Mingan is favored by the seers. Mingan flees to the Gobi where he meets a mongol boy his own age named Temujin who is trying to stop horse thieves. Mingan helps stop the thieves and ends up joining Temujin when it is revealed that the Mongol's father is dead and none of the Mongol warlords will follow a mere boy. Temujin must build his kingdom from the ground up, which he does. Mingan is joined by Chepe Noyon and later Subotai, and they are the Three Palladins (palladin meaning "hero"). The three heroes have a fun bantering friendship, and they provide much of the humor. There are some genuinely funny moments.

The plot line is often gripping. Mingan's enemies bind and bury him in the sand up to his neck and leave him to be eaten by jackals. When ants start crawling all over his head, I shuddered. When his friend Chepe Noyon showed up, I breathed a sigh of relief. Later, Genghis' bride to-be Burta is kidnapped, and Chepe Noyon and Mingan go rescue her from Prester John's tower (see the front cover picture).

The main motif seems to be Mingan's conflict of interest. He is a prince of Cathay and has sworn fealty to Cathay, and yet he must serve the Mongol Khan, whom he truly loves. This conflict becomes pronounced when Genghis declares he will attack Cathay with the Horde. It is tragic to see Mingan, who has selflessly served the Khan through thick and thin for 15 years, turn from his friend out of loyalty to his country. But once the Khan has conquered Cathay, the book ends poignantly with the classic words of the Khan to Mingan: "You have served the Dragon Emperor well; you will serve me well."

The Three Palladins is good adventure fiction, but it also feels like literature. It delves into broad themes--fate, loyalty, friendship, weakness, strength, and the brevity of life. The book suffers primarily from being rushed and somewhat underdeveloped. There are points where you feel like you are reading a sketch of a story the author meant to fill out but didn't. However, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. The book did faithfully present the character of Genghis Khan. Many of the events are fictional, but the sketch of the man rings very true--a man full of both dross and gold: energetic, driven, brilliant, even compassionate to his friends, but also proud and cruel. His political philosophy: "As there is only one sun in the sky; so there should be only one Khan over the whole earth." His provincialism: When the barbaric Khan conquers lush Cathay, he stands in the opulent throne room of a fabulous city and doesn't think of its splendor, which he can't understand. He just munches some dried milk curds. Excellent portrayel, Mr. Lamb.

One caveat: Lamb wrote this in 1923, and the prose is a bit harder to read than modern prose, and Lamb does assume the reader has some knowledge of the Mongols. But for anyone who wants to work a little, the book is a good read. PS: The subtitle "Tales of the Werewolf Clan" appears nowhere on or in the book. Strange.

Excelent,Lamb exceeds himself in this novel. It worths 100% the purchase.

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