HarperCollins has launched an exclusive interactive iPad edition of Conn Iggulden’s bestselling novel Conqueror.
The book is the fifth and final instalment of Iggulden’s epic series featuring the Khan dynasty.and tells of the rise to power of Kublai Khan, Genghis’s grandson.
Kublai used unparalleled and original military tactics to unite a nation and, at the height of his reign, ruled over a fifth of the world.
The publisher says the book “matches its exciting subject matter as it also breaks new ground, this time by pushing the boundaries of the ePub format” with the inclusion of an interactive map.
The map covers the whole of Khan’s epic journey and offers the reader an enhanced experience of a multi-faceted and fast-moving plot.
Readers can load the map from any point in the book and see the location (and journey up to that point) of Kublai’s army before “seamlessly” returning to the text.
The map is powered by GestureKit, a bespoke Javascript coding framework developed by The Bespoke Pixel.
Other features of the ebook include commentary on each stage of Kublai’s army’s epic journey, with an intuitive slider feature for reference and ease from start to finish.
The book also includes audio clips providing a pronunciation guide read by award-winning actor Richard E. Grant, as well as “a witty and engaging” discussion about Kublai by Iggulden.
Sam Hancock, Digital Project Manager at HarperCollins, said: “We’re delighted to offer Conn’s fans—amongst the most dedicated of any authors’—this interactive edition of Conqueror. Cartography is becoming incredibly important as digital developments progress, and what we’ve done here is seek to augment people’s reading experience by offering them an interactive map and commentary which help them track Kublai Khan’s army’s complex journey in Conqueror.
“Rest assured we are committed to using innovative developments to the ePub format to give readers even more interactive experiences that compliment the authors’ narratives.”