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The Mongoliad: Book One (Foreworld #1)

by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo (Goodreads Author), E.D. deBirmingham, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo (Goodreads Author)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 2,163 ratings · 370 reviews

It is the spring of 1241. The Mongol takeover of Europe is almost complete. The hordes commanded by the sons of Genghis Khan have swept out of their immense grassy plains and ravaged Russia, Poland, and Hungary ... and now seem poised to sweep west to Paris and south to Rome. King and Pope and peasant alike face a bleak future--until a small band of warriors, inheritors of...more

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Published April 24th 2012 by 47north (first published September 2010)

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May 13, 2012 Kenton Crowther rated it 4 of 5 stars

A girl, as is the fashion today, acts as the
main protagonist. Cnan is hardy and crafty, a trail
scout and a 'Binder' (what this means not explained
in the text). She is on the side of the knights
of Christendom.

Another protagonist, and on the Mongols' side,
is Gansukh, a young horseman of the steppes who
is sent to tell the Khagan, one of the sons of
Genghis Khan, to curb his drinking. He is too
naive to realize what a dangerous task this could
be.

Soon you are well into a stewpot of strange names a...more

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Aug 03, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

If "Reamde" was Stephenson's "most accessible book" -- which I took to mean that his editors demanded he write a "popular" book -- then "Mongoliad" returns to Stephenson's usual manner of writing books that are challenging for the reader. To put it mildly.

If "Anathem" was intellectually challenging in its intellectual exploration of multiverses, then "Mongoliad" is challenging in its gut-wrenching, emotional depictions of the world in which it takes place.

This world would be eastern Europe, on t...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, i-own-a-copy, 4-stars, read-in-2012, read-in-teenties, ebook, reviewed, foreworld

The Mongoliad is apparently an attempt to answer the question of why the Mongol hordes stopped their sweeping invasion across Europe. An epic tale of historical fiction told as two parallel stories. The first follows a group of knights, a fairly rag-taggle mixture of knights from different countries - many not even speaking a common tongue - but united under their common purpose as the Ordo Militum Vindicis Intactae. Not always a Christian order, but now appearing keen to at least appear part of...more The Mongoliad is apparently an attempt to answer the question of why the Mongol hordes stopped their sweeping invasion across Europe. An epic tale of historical fiction told as two parallel stories. The first follows a group of knights, a fairly rag-taggle mixture of knights from different countries - many not even speaking a common tongue - but united under their common purpose as the Ordo Militum Vindicis Intactae. Not always a Christian order, but now appearing keen to at least appear part of the Christian faith, even if parts of the order still cling to some of the older ways. They are joined by Cnán, a Binder (does anyone have any idea what a Binder is?) who acts both as their guide and as our view into the group. As an outsider she is curious about the order and it's behaviours and that curiosity provides a useful tool to allow us to explore that same curiosity.

The second story is told from the Mongol palace of Karakorum, where Ögedei, the Khagan and son of Gengis Khan, sits in power over the whole Mongol empire. When he's not drinking himself into a stupor. In a device than mirrors Cnán, the palace is joined by a young Mongol, Gansukh, sent to court by the Khagan's brother to watch over the Khagan and try and curb his drinking. Again, as an outsider, we're allowed to use his inexperience to understand the workings of the Mongol court as well as the characters, their histories and all the political interplay.

Each chapter alternates between the two stories; within each chapter the story moves convincingly from one character to another. I assume that of the half a dozen or so authors, each tended to write a single character. This works very well as each character presents a believable and consistent personality through out the story.

Growing out of a group of authors who started to learn western martial arts together - smashing the shit out of each other with swords - I guess it was never likely that a book wouldn't be too far behind. Instead, they went a step further and wrote the book together online. Fans could sign up at the website and for a small subscription they could preview the chapters and supporting material as they were updated - an example of the Kickstarter idea in action, but this way supporters get early access to the book itself.

If there's one thing a book of this sweeping epic magnitude really needs it's maps! Maps! Maps! Maps! Characters are moving across Europe, and referencing places even further afield, but honestly without a detailed understanding of the geography and history of the time it gets confusing. Very confusing. Very quickly. I can't see any reason for the lack of inclusion of maps in the Kindle edition - there are maps on the website and I assume they are in the paperback edition, leaving only the Kindle edition appearing to be a rush-job.

The other problem the book has is that it doesn't end. Well, the book ends, obviously, but the story doesn't - a style of writing that I've found increasingly annoying with George R.R. Martin's mammoth series A Song of Ice and Fire, where the story just stops, ready to be picked up again in the next book. Didn't book series used to be stories within a larger story? Each book capable of standing on its own but designed to be read within the wider context. Now it seems that series are just not possible to dip in to, you have to read from the start (and hope that your author doesn't wait a couple of years before delivering the next - yes, I'm looking at you George). Each book is now just a very big chapter in the even larger novel. It seems so frustrating...(less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Felicity Green rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: too-horrible-to-finish

I'm bailing. In fact, I'm trading this book in for something better, like a Harlequin Historical or some hinky paranormal romance, which will probably be more believable and contain more acute, intelligent characterization than Mongoliad. Gack. This clunky mess almost killed my love for Neal Stephenson and thus I am stopping before it succeeds. I did, however, learn something from this fiasco: books should not be written by committees of weapons nerds.

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May 02, 2013 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars

A number of the multitude of authors involved in this project are among those I regularly read, so I was curious how this collaboration would turn out. The answer is about what you would expect with that many hands in the pot. There were chapters that I very much liked, and other chapters that left me underwhelmed. Despite a couple of reasonably strong female characters, this was definitely a boys book. The attention to detail - excruciatingly, logistic detail - in most of the battle scenes was...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Melissa Proffitt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, action-adventure, military-fiction

This book has about a million authors, but it doesn't read like it does. It's also got about a million viewpoint characters (well, more like eight) so I had my usual negative reaction to being dragged out of one story I loved into another one I wasn't so interested in. In general, I did like most of the plotlines, though I don't care for authors introducing new POV characters in the middle or even near the end of a book; it feels like it dilutes the story. On the other hand, one of those new POV...more

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Dec 29, 2012 MD rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe I will like it better when (if) I read the next book in the series and get to something resembling an ending. As it is, this entire book appears to be setting the stage for something to come next. I expect multi-part books to end with either an ending that makes it stand alone or at least a cliff-hanger that leaves the reader eager to know what comes next. Sadly, this book just seems to stop mid-narrative.

The story mainly follows characters spread over three locations:
1. An abandoned mona...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Prof X rated it 2 of 5 stars

There is a LOT of potential in this book. The story is interesting, and I imagine that the story is also historically informative. However, I finished the first book without having been made to care about a single one of the many characters. It's not that the characters are off-putting (except for the alcoholic khan, who manages to be both frustrating and boring at the same time). It's just one is given no reason to find them interesting, to side with them, to hope or fear for them, or even to d...more

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Kath You didn't feel that those most in tune with nature were fairing much better than others?

The effect of all these traumatized people, especially the y...more
Jan 08, 2013 08:14am

Prof X I didn't get the sense that there was anything about being close to nature in the book -- and if it were, it would be ironic given that this book is p...more
Jan 10, 2013 03:45pm

Kath Thanks for your reply
Apology for the delay in response.

I do think the point needs to be made. Mainstream media reports tragedy porn 24/7 now. People n...more
Mar 12, 2013 06:57pm

Dec 11, 2012 Sandie rated it 5 of 5 stars

In the 13th century, Europe was at a crossroads. The Mongol hordes had captured much of the existing world and was now poised to attack Europe. Who could stand in the way of such a powerful army? Led by Onghwe Khan, grandson of Genghis, there seemed no way to avoid the brutality and utter devastation such an invasion would bring.

Neal Stephenson and his co-writers have imagined this world and tell readers the story of the struggle to retain Europe. Ancient manuscripts were given to the famous ni...more In the 13th century, Europe was at a crossroads. The Mongol hordes had captured much of the existing world and was now poised to attack Europe. Who could stand in the way of such a powerful army? Led by Onghwe Khan, grandson of Genghis, there seemed no way to avoid the brutality and utter devastation such an invasion would bring.

Neal Stephenson and his co-writers have imagined this world and tell readers the story of the struggle to retain Europe. Ancient manuscripts were given to the famous nineteenth century explorer, Richard Burton. He started translating them but died before he could finish. These manuscripts were found recently in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. The Mongoliad series is based on these manuscripts. Stephenson is joined by some of the finest names in fantasy and swordsmanship. They include Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, E.D. deBimingham, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey and Cooper Moo.

One of the groups desperately determined to stop the Khan was a group of knights of the Skjaldbraedur Shield-Brethren. Led by Feronantus and composed of warriors from many lands, they decide on a plan that they hoped would be surprising enough to succeed. They determined to ride forth in a small group and assassinate Onghwe. If they could succeed, all the various branches of the Mongols would return home to determine who the next Khan would be. Although the possibility of success was extremely low, a group of knights, led by a woman named Cnan, started on their journey to find and kill the Khan.

This is the first book in the Mongoliad Series. The book is told in alternating chapters between the stories of the knights and the Mongol court, specifically a young warrior named Gansukh and the Chinese slave, Lian, who educates him in the ways of the Khan's court. It is rich in historical fact and gives a compelling look at the devastation of the Mongol horde and its conquering tactics. This book is recommended for readers who love swordsmanship, ancient rites, and global history. (less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Nigel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At the leading edge of the Mongol Empire as it flows remorselessly into Europe, a group of knights from an obscure martial order hatch a mad scheme to thwart the invasion. The group splits, the young warriors to fight in the Khan's circus, the other, more seasoned men head deep into Mongol Territory to assassinate the Khan of Khans.

There's a lot going on here, a lot to take in, and it doesn't help that we seem to begin the novel in the middle of the story. It feels as of a few chapters have bee...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Jenny GB rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked this one off the library new books shelf on a whim. I liked the sound of the content matter and the collaborative nature of the book when I looked into it. Historical science fiction/fantasy writing also intrigues me so I was ready to like this one. It has some good things going for it. For so many authors, the writing is fairly smooth. There is a lot of action in this book and a lot of it seems based in a good knowledge of martial arts. I thought it was a big shame that I couldn't acce...more

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Sep 10, 2012 James Cambias rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fun book about manly medieval men hitting each other with swords. Setting it in Mongol territory means that pretty much any manly man in Eurasia can turn up and hit someone with a sword. It's almost like one of those "greatest warrior" TV shows -- can a Samurai beat a Crusader? Can a Magyar take down a Teutonic Knight? This isn't a criticism; the authors obviously picked a time and place when they could have fun with swordfighting heroes.

The characters are a mixed bag. I found the Mongol warri...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Michael O'Connell rated it 3 of 5 stars

I give this book three out of five stars based upon what may still be yet to come. Keep in mind that I got an advanced copy from Klout. It was not a final edit so many of my issues with the narrative may have been corrected.

I have always wanted to read Stephenson as I hear only good things. Time is always the enemy. So what did I think? It started slow, very slow but the hint of what was coming started early. This is the story of two converging tales. One of Christendom in the wake of the Mongol...more I give this book three out of five stars based upon what may still be yet to come. Keep in mind that I got an advanced copy from Klout. It was not a final edit so many of my issues with the narrative may have been corrected.

I have always wanted to read Stephenson as I hear only good things. Time is always the enemy. So what did I think? It started slow, very slow but the hint of what was coming started early. This is the story of two converging tales. One of Christendom in the wake of the Mongol onslaught. The other, a tale of the sons of Genghis Khan who were left to rule after his father's death.

The first is told from the point of view of a "Binder." We aren't told what a "Binder" is but learn bits and pieces as her story unfolds. Cnan was mysterious but the pace was slow. The so-called warrior monks were colorful and offered an interesting glimpse into the various factions and nations that made up 13th Century Europe.

The Mongol story is told from the point of view of a Mongol warrior, Gansukh. He is enlisted by one of the sons of Ghengis to try to prevent another, the new "Great Kahn," from drinking himself into complete uselessness. He is a warrior but he knows not the ways of so-called court life and is must be schooled by a Chinese slave. It is a good story, but like so many other threads started, it is incomplete.

There are many valid complaints about this book. The loudest is that too many authors have spoiled the story. It may be valid as this one ends mid-stream with nothing but questions but the point that there is too much fighting does not ring true for me. If you consider that the Mongol army slaughtered on tenth on the world’s population, one would expect quite a bit of carnage. I wouldn’t pick up a read because it was gory, but if it should be part of the story it should be good.

Overall, my sneaking suspicion is that once this trilogy is written, a great tale will be have been told. I also believe it would be so much better if it were re-written by one.

Originally posted on my blog.(less)

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Jul 23, 2012 John rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was prepared to give this book a begrudging 3 stars, followed by plenty of disclaimers in the review here. The book is full of the sloppiest sort of overwriting: meandering conversations, telling instead of showing, overwrought descriptions of scenery. It's a struggle to care about any of the characters. The authors clearly had a greater interest in the minutiae of history and the technical details of swordfighting than they did in telling an interesting story about compelling people.

And then...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Kelley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Review: I know, I know. I'm a hideously vile reviewer for giving something by Neal Stephenson (and other fabulous authors) a 2 star rating. I'm sorry, but I have to. Between the slow plot and the long-winded descriptions, I couldn't keep my eyes open. This took me forever to finish.

Trust me, my own rating breaks my heart, because I really wanted to love this book. I thought the origin of this book was badass and I dug the social media element of it. (I even created a username on the official web...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was great! Not as dense as your typical Stephenson, but with the fantastic range and scope and depth.

I was a little concerned about this, given it's a collaborative work written by a bunch of fantasy authors after they created a club for playing with ancient weapons. And true, there is a lot of fighting in this book, but it's actually pretty compelling - it turns out that when a fight is described analytically and tactically by people who know what they're talking about, it comes across al...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Warwick rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won't touch sword and sorcery fantasy fiction with a long stick but I occasionally find myself reading stuff that is right alongside it, to the point that you non-genre folks probably think it is splitting hairs to separate them.
This is an historical fiction, very “boys own” charting multiple storylines as they converge on something around the repulsion/retreat from eastern Europe of the third Mongol Khan.
There is rag tag knights and Mongol warriors and secret crusaders and all that guff. But...more

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May 30, 2012 Marlene rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally published at Reading Reality

The Mongoliad, of which Book One has just been published, is any number of things. It's the first book in something its seven creators call The Foreworld Saga--more on that later. It's also a cooperative effort with seven, count them, seven authors--but it isn't a collection of short stories. It's a novel, at least as published.

It started out as an experiment. A serial novel, published online at mongoliad.com, then the result edited down and published as a...more

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May 02, 2012 Boris Limpopo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Greg Bear, Erik Bear, Mark Teppo, Neal Stephenson, Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo, E.D. deBirmingham (2012). The Mongoliad: Book One (The Foreworld Saga). Las Vegas: 47North. 2012. ISBN 9781612182360. Pagine 443. 4,38 €
The Mongoliad

amazon.com

Non stiamo parlando di un libro serio. Stiamo parlando di una fantasia geek di un gruppo di appassionati di armi marziali soprattutto occidentali (e non è una contraddizione in termini). Capita che questi appassionati siano anche autori di libri di fiction e di...more Greg Bear, Erik Bear, Mark Teppo, Neal Stephenson, Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo, E.D. deBirmingham (2012). The Mongoliad: Book One (The Foreworld Saga). Las Vegas: 47North. 2012. ISBN 9781612182360. Pagine 443. 4,38 €
The Mongoliad

amazon.com

Non stiamo parlando di un libro serio. Stiamo parlando di una fantasia geek di un gruppo di appassionati di armi marziali soprattutto occidentali (e non è una contraddizione in termini). Capita che questi appassionati siano anche autori di libri di fiction e di computer games (l’unico ben noto a me, e di conseguenza a voi affezionati lettori di questo blog, è Neal Stephenson, di cui abbiamo parlato più volte, ad esempio qui, qui e qui) e che quindi, inevitabilmente direi, costruiscano una storia a partire dai loro giochi a fil di spada.

Ne traggono prima un sito, in cui il romanzo si sviluppa interattivamente o quasi: mongoliad.com. Poi il sito diventa un libro, o meglio una serie, il cui secondo volume è annunciato per fine settembre.

Il che fa sì che questo primo volume resti incompiuto come una sinfonia di Schubert o come l’autostrada Salerno-Reggio Calabria, senza nemmeno la foglia di fico di suggerire una fine provvisoria. Sapremo aspettare.

I paraphernalia offerti dal sito sono abbastanza divertenti (la cosa migliore è l’enciclopedia compilata dai fan) ma del tutto irrilevanti.

Gli stessi autori si prendono in giro, come ben illustra questo finto trailer di Neal Stephenson:

Necessariamente, un romanzo ambientato nel 1241 richiede almeno qualche frase in latino. Ma uno si aspetterebbe che gli errori non siano inevitabili, e che autori tanto perfezionisti da ricreare le scene di combattimento interpellando esperti da tutto il mondo si avvalgano dell’opera di un editor o almeno di un correttore di bozze. E invece no, ed ecco che scappano strafalcioni che ai miei tempi avrebbero meritato un brutto voto:

“Ego audio Domine. Animus humilis igitur sub ptoenti manu Dei est. Mundus sum ego, et absque delicto immaculatus. Verbum vester in me caro et ferrum erit.” [3842]

Ma persino in un romanzo leggero leggero come questo qualche piccola frase memorabile si riesce a trovare:

“Warriors fight, Gansukh; that is their purpose in life. But eventually, there is no one left to fight, and they must learn how to think.” [829]

“There is no justice. Your Christian God looks down on all and sees every sparrow, but cares nothing for the children. He is a god of birds.” [1505](less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Michael Laine rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Alternate Reality Historical Fiction Fans

Recommended to Michael by: Klout.com

Because I’m a nerd (Space/Technology geek with a high-ish Klout.com score) I got an “advanced readers copy – uncorrected proof” version of the novel last week.

I wolfed it down. I started and finished ‘The Mongoliad’ this weekend – and ignored the ‘to-do’ list that was supposed to happen on Saturday/Sunday. It’s a simple read, and straightforward plot. Some characters expand over time and evolve a little. The pacing is good and the fight scenes are graphic and detailed.

Honestly, this is not the...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm not going to get into the whole "Mongoliad" project much, which is pretty interesting, but t I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it completely. As far as I understand, the story was originally done as a series of shorter portions released via smartphone and tablet apps, a compilation of which makes up this book. Nominally, it is written by Neal Stephenson, but I think they just use his name for recognition as there are a number of collaborating authors. This all started, apparently be...more I'm not going to get into the whole "Mongoliad" project much, which is pretty interesting, but t I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it completely. As far as I understand, the story was originally done as a series of shorter portions released via smartphone and tablet apps, a compilation of which makes up this book. Nominally, it is written by Neal Stephenson, but I think they just use his name for recognition as there are a number of collaborating authors. This all started, apparently because Neal was dissatisfied with his description of sword-fights in the Baroque Cycle, which lead to this project as well as his supercool-in-principle sword fighting video game. This book received more mixed reviews than I'm used to seeing for Neal's books, so I put off reading it for sometime. However, I shouldn't have second-guessed Neal. I really liked this book. Fortunately, I had read a book about the Mongol Empire a while ago, so I had some foundational knowledge to give the book some context, but it was the whole idea of the Ordo Militum Vindicis Intactae that really resonated with me. This book is set during the Mongol invasion of Europe, when it seemed that no army could stop their advance. There were two main story-lines in this book, one following the Shield-Brethren and the other following the Mongol politics in Karakorum. I will say that, considering this was all brought about due to an interest in European sword techniques, it took quite a while for swords to be used. However, there was a lot of care taken to describe exactly what was happening, especially in the gladiatorial duel. This book reminded me of a line in "The Last Samurai" where Tom Cruise is describing the samurai and says "I have never known such a dedicated people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue..". That sort of devotion really speaks to me, and you see that in Shield Brothers as well; the sort of idealized idea of a Knight. This book ends rather abruptly, probably due to the serial nature of the original format, but it doesn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. I'm looking forward to the rest of it. (less)

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May 04, 2012 Simon rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Mongoliad: Book One, written by seven authors altogether, depicts an adventure set in the 13th century about war and the devastation laid to the world by the Mongolians. A band of orderly knights and monks set out on a quest to rid the evil that has brought so much destruction to so many people. Their journey is sure to be labeled as foolish since the odds are clearly against them but it seems that they have no choice. I admit that I know absolutely nothing about Genghis Khan as a brutal con...more The Mongoliad: Book One, written by seven authors altogether, depicts an adventure set in the 13th century about war and the devastation laid to the world by the Mongolians. A band of orderly knights and monks set out on a quest to rid the evil that has brought so much destruction to so many people. Their journey is sure to be labeled as foolish since the odds are clearly against them but it seems that they have no choice. I admit that I know absolutely nothing about Genghis Khan as a brutal conqueror and so I was surprised to see that this book actually talks about him, or rather, his sons. I thought it was made believe but upon a little searching on Wikipedia, it turns out that these characters actually did exist during that time. This was fairly interesting to me since I love to read about history but as for the story itself, The Mongoliad could have been more interesting. While the first book does make for a pretty decent introduction of characters and whatnot, it doesn't do much to make me want to read the next book in the series.

The Mongoliad has several story arcs that tie in altogether and so you'll be presented with a dozen or so characters. Some of them are fairly interesting but many of them just aren't that fun to read about. When this happens, you tend to not care about the characters overall and whether they live or die in the story. One major group consists of Cnan, Percival, Feronanthus, Roger, Finn, Istvan and a whole bunch of other characters that could be considered the main characters in the group, especially with Cnan. The authors do a pretty poor job of describing the physical traits of these characters and so throughout the book, you'll have a hard time painting a face to the name in your head. Cnan is known as a Binder but just exactly what a Binder is isn't described enough. I got away that a Binder is a messenger of some sort. The other characters seem to be either knights, monks or of a physician type. The problem is that not much back history is told for these other characters and so again, you can't really relate to them too much. In the second group, you have what I term the Karakorum group of Gansukh, Lian, Chucai, and Ogedei. The authors seem to have put more effort and time into building these characters, especially with Gansukh.

With a total of seven different writers contributing to the project, you would think the book would be one jumble pile of mess. Surprisingly, the authors did a very good job of writing the book so that you don't really notice the fact that so many authors were in on the project. The bad news is that the authors sometimes write in a way that they assume you already know all the historical jargons of the past. Remember, this book takes place in the 13th century and so you wouldn't know what exactly a "ger" is or who the god/goddess called the "Blue Wolf" is. Luckily, some jargon does get explained further along but I wouldn't be holding my breath. As far as location details go, this area isn't exactly clear as well. We get hints here and there but it can get quite puzzling sometimes. Luckily, these pieces of information aren't really necessary to enjoy the overall story of the The Mongoliad which is pretty simple overall. I just wish some these things would be corrected in the second book of the series. I will admit that the book flowed pretty nicely from chapter to chapter, although there were times when I felt dreaded to read about Cnan's group (each chapter alternates between different character groups/set).

As far as action goes, there are a couple of these set pieces throughout the book. However, I sort of expected more grand scale battles. There is one fight scene that literally spans a couple of chapter and seemed to me dragging and majorly overdone. I will also say that I sometimes had a hard time picturing the fight choreography in my head. Its not that the authors were being complicated but for some odd reason, I had a hard time concentrating on some fight scenes.

The ending to The Mongoliad: Book One was the most disappointing. Being how this is the first book in the series, I expect the author to at least leave a decent cliffhanger ending so that readers can't wait for the next one. However, things just abruptly ends! Many questions were not answered and if this is what the authors idea to be of a "cliffhanger" to hold readers over until the next book releases, then I do not agree with them at all. I will conclude that this series has potential for me to see it to the end and although the first book in the series have some flaws, I believe it deserves a second chance and so I will judge the series more accordingly once I've read the second book. (less)

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Jan 19, 2013 Valissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: flail-house

Honestly I really loved this book. There isn't a drawback to it, it was well edited, exciting, and historically fascinating. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book.

I tried reading this via the interactive webpage (The Mongoliad), which is full of really cool video and extras, but I have an extremely hard time reading on electronic sources. Call me old fashioned.

So why only 4 stars for a book that obviously deserves 5? Because I have been horribly spoiled by Joe Abercrombie, who...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nw-authors

Genghis Khan's descendants are fighting hard to expand the Mongol Empire, while those who lie in their path want to avoid getting trampled. "The Mongoliad: Book One" is well-written historical fiction on the micro level but suffers from too-many-characters, not-enough-plot on the macro level.

We first get to know Cnan, an Asian-descended traveler who specializes in delivering messages across long distances without getting caught. After delivering a message to a group of virginal monk/knights some...more Genghis Khan's descendants are fighting hard to expand the Mongol Empire, while those who lie in their path want to avoid getting trampled. "The Mongoliad: Book One" is well-written historical fiction on the micro level but suffers from too-many-characters, not-enough-plot on the macro level.

We first get to know Cnan, an Asian-descended traveler who specializes in delivering messages across long distances without getting caught. After delivering a message to a group of virginal monk/knights somewhere in Russia or Hungary, she decides her mission aligns with theirs and sets out on a quest of sorts. These folks hate the Mongols and hope to thwart their cause.

Then we're introduced to a young Mongol warrior who knows hunting, fighting and roaming well, but who's now been assigned to the court of Ogedai Khan -- Genghis' son -- with the mission of protecting the Khan from his own failings. The warrior takes a slave-woman as his tutor as he attempts to navigate a world far more politicized than any he's ever imagined. These folks exist to advance the Mongols.

Then we get to know another group of knights, this one with motives more questionable than Cnan's allies.

*Then* we get to know some low-level fighters who engage in arena battles to entertain the Mongols, and aren't very pleased with this assignment.

As more and more characters are introduced, the reader may have flashbacks to George R. R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" series. Martin doesn't know how to turn down a new side-plot about a new character, but at least he threads life-or-death tension throughout his multiple character logs, and each new person he introduces comes with his or her own personal plot. The characters in "The Mongoliad" are interesting, but their plots are not well articulated.

And then the book abruptly ends. I'm not sure what the story is about, what the conflict is, where things are headed. This book left me wanting to learn more about the Mongol Empire and the lives of ordinary people within it, but not particularly interested in the fates of the characters I'd just spent several hundred pages getting to know. I won't be reading book two, but I am interested in finding other writing about the era.(less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Mongoliad is a perfectly pleasant way to waste a few hours while you wait for George R. R. Martin to write The Winds of Winter.

At least that's what it is in its present form; in its original form, as a sort of collaborative multi-media presentation, it may have been more interesting. I'm not interested enough to pay the $49.99 to find out. As it is it's an alt-history (I don't know how much "alt") written, as another commenter put it, "by a committee of weapons nerds." The result is page upo...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-free-ebooks

I enjoyed reading this first book of a three book series. The book was free from Amazon, and there are two more books in the series. The book was written by several authors with complementary writing styles. The mechanics of writing were good.

A group of warrior monks are on their way to kill the Khan. A Mongolian warrior has been sent to the Khan's court to keep the Khan from drinking himself to death. A female is guiding the monks to the Khan, and a female slave is at Court teaching the Mongoli...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: speculative-fiction

I was a little leery of this work. When I first learned of it via the CLANG Kickstarter project I thought it odd that a number of authors were credited with writing this one story. Having been in a kitchen with too many cooks I expected disaster at worst, bland disconnected rambling at best. I'm happy to say I was disappointed in my expectations.

That's not to say that I was overjoyed with the work itself.

I'm a big fan of Neal Stephenson, have read most if not all of his work, and know to expect...more I was a little leery of this work. When I first learned of it via the CLANG Kickstarter project I thought it odd that a number of authors were credited with writing this one story. Having been in a kitchen with too many cooks I expected disaster at worst, bland disconnected rambling at best. I'm happy to say I was disappointed in my expectations.

That's not to say that I was overjoyed with the work itself.

I'm a big fan of Neal Stephenson, have read most if not all of his work, and know to expect grand ideas expressed through intricate story lines based on thoroughly researched background. I don't know most of the other authors and so wondered how they would all work on a story with one voice.

I don't know the actual mechanism they used to achieve cohesion but they succeeded. I never really noticed any roughness in the narrative, no glaring holes in the plot, no surprise character appearances or disappearances necessitated by poorly thought out developments. It all worked. Things developed as they should without the hand of god interceding.

Still, there was an itch I just couldn't scratch.

Maybe it's that part of my mind was running a constant subroutine looking for trouble, that expected less-then-full-on-Stephenson. Maybe I was being too harsh without being conscious of it. Whatever it was, I came away a little disappointed.

The characters were a little "less" than I am accustomed to. Not that Stephenson's characters are all overblown but they almost all are very distinct, very strong, and that seemed to be dimmed somehow.

I also missed the sly humor with which Stephenson usually salts his work. It showed up occasionally but it wasn't as present as I would have liked.

So, if this is the way I feel about the book, why a "4-star" rating?

Well, it's a good read.

The characters are well drawn, the story sufficiently intricate, the geographical sprawl immense (as it should be when dealing with the Mongol Empire still a-building), details of place, time, and culture were pleasing. I wish I could have given a partial "star," say 3.75, but I can't.

Even though the first volume ended in a way that left me with an urge to say, "meh," I look forward to the 2nd volume due out in September. Who knows? Maybe my pesky mental subroutine will stop running and I'll find the story more engaging. (less)

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May 23, 2012 Kam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

When one is friends with people who love to read, and one talks to those people about not just the books being read, but their personal reading habits, things tend to come out: personal preferences in the material that people read. One of the most common has to do with spoilers. Some readers hate them like the plague, and I've known more than a few flame wars started online because someone decided to be a troll and posts the spoilers without warnings of any kind. I, on the other hand, am what I...more

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May 14, 2012 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction

Once again, I got stranded at the beach with nothing I felt like reading, despite extensive preparations. Luckily, while in the past this has meant scavenging of other people's reading materials or desperate quests for bookstores, now I have my Kindle. So I was able to download The Mongoliad: Book One.

In the marketing of this book, Neal Stephenson's name has been used heavily. Given that and the subject matter, and I was expecting something pretty strongly resembling a Neal Stephenson novel. Sa...more

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May 06, 2013 Angie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is basically an open-source book, and it's amazingly entertaining- it gets the 5 stars for consistency of characters and individuality of characters; that is, they all feel fleshed out and like actual people without descending into too much smarm or cliche.

In a ridiculous departure, instead of summarizing or paraphrasing I'll just direct you over to the wikipedia page for an explanation of how the book was put together. To summarize, one of my favorite authors, Stephenson, didn't like how s...more

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About Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, cryptography, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff...more

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Quotes from The Mongoliad: Book One

“Every true heart needed a pragmatic counterweight, and every cynic an idealist to lift his spirits.” — 1 person liked it

“War did not just level, it plowed the field, raising the muck and sinking the stubble.” — 1 person liked it

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