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A review by songwind
The Mongoliad: Book One by Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear
2.0
A historical adventure in two parts,
The first part deals with the fictional Order of the Virgin Defender, a group of crusading knights. They have gathered for a tournament held by the Great Khan's son, with the fate of Christendom on the line. Instead of fighting, they take it on themselves to try to assassinate the Khagan, so his generals will be forced to return to Mongolia to pick a successor. Trying to make their way across Mongol-held eastern Europe makes for a few adventures along the way.
The second part of the story is about a Mongol warrior sent by the Khagan's brother to keep an eye on the amount the great Khan has been drinking. (The historical Ogedei had a major drinking problem.) Gansukh learns quickly that his job will be much harder than he thought, and that the court has its own way of operating which he'll have to learn to be effective.
The book ends just as Gansukh is starting to find his way, and before the knights have left Europe. It leaves it feeling like an introduction rather than a first novel.
While I enjoyed the characterizations and some of the scenes in this book, the overall product left me cold. I don't think I'll be picking up the rest of them.
Spoiler
which do not come into contact during this book.The first part deals with the fictional Order of the Virgin Defender, a group of crusading knights. They have gathered for a tournament held by the Great Khan's son, with the fate of Christendom on the line. Instead of fighting, they take it on themselves to try to assassinate the Khagan, so his generals will be forced to return to Mongolia to pick a successor. Trying to make their way across Mongol-held eastern Europe makes for a few adventures along the way.
The second part of the story is about a Mongol warrior sent by the Khagan's brother to keep an eye on the amount the great Khan has been drinking. (The historical Ogedei had a major drinking problem.) Gansukh learns quickly that his job will be much harder than he thought, and that the court has its own way of operating which he'll have to learn to be effective.
The book ends just as Gansukh is starting to find his way, and before the knights have left Europe. It leaves it feeling like an introduction rather than a first novel.
While I enjoyed the characterizations and some of the scenes in this book, the overall product left me cold. I don't think I'll be picking up the rest of them.