255
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #111,183 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
"The Tiger Would Pity the Fawn, The Wolf Would Weap Over It's Lamb Before the Mongol Would Cringe Over The Corpse of a Child"
While there are seven authors, the voice of Neal Stephenson is unmistakeable at times. His narrative is often more along the lines of Cryptonomicon than Snow Crash, which depending on your taste may or may not be to your liking (I definitely preferred the latter to the former). I say this because there is considerable "situational dialog", for lack of a better description, where characters have discussions and the reader is slowly brought up to speed. While I found his presence obvious, there are times when it vanishes so I believe this was a good collaborative effort.
The story begins in 1241. Ogedei has succeed Genghis as Khan of the Mongol Empire and his hordes are ravaging Eastern Europe while the new Khan is seduced into court life and overindulgence. The Mongol horde is loose and ravaging Eastern Europe as the population descends into terror. A band of heroes decide a military victory is impossible and there is only one solution; so they set out on an impossible quest.
One character I found interesting was Istvan, who they refer to as a "Madjar", which I assumed to be a nomadic Magyar since he is a highly skilled horse archer. One reviewer was put off by the suggestion of the Mongols being depicted as too brutal. I disagree. Having read all the English-written historical source material on this subject I personally think not a single fiction author has come close to depicting it.
The Golden Horde which devastated north and west led by Jochi & Batu left very little living in their wake. It was a war of extermination and in 1241, the beginning of The Mongoliad, Batu was about to overtake Vienna. The devastation he left behind tells of mountains of human skulls and remains, a vast desolate wasteland; the results of Nazi style cleansing-efficiency. Consider during Genghis' time his empire contained 110 million people with a global population of 400 million and it is estimated 40 million died as a result of his aggression. Compare that to the 60 million who died in WWII out of a global population of 2.3 billion. I applaud the authors for capturing some of the Mongol brutality.
The Mongoliad is set in exotic locations and no commonality of language, much like a viking adventure, which adds to the authenticity. The book is fairly well researched and the diverse team of authors all lend a quality to this complex tale. The first 50 pages take a while to get going, but once the stage is set the reward is a very unique and original adventure that ultimately spans the centuries as the trilogy progresses. I enjoyed the book immensely and look forward to the next installment, due out September 25. I highly recommend!
