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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
A fun bit of escapism. In spite of being a collaboration, the tone of the book is very consistent.
The historical detail was good and I started getting into the plot of the book as I got closer to the end. I never did feel like any of the characters really clicked with me, which detracted from the book. I enjoyed it while I was actually reading it but found it forgettable when I put it down. Given the names involved, I thought the book was a disappointment, overall. Still, I'm looking forward to the second book, so it wasn't a complete loss.
Amazing work by all that contributed. I'm so excited for the rest of the series - the plot is compelling, the characters engaging (even the ones we only meet briefly), and while it took me a bit to get into, I managed to read it so quickly I didn't realise how fast time was passing.
This book grew on me slowly. At first I was intrigued, but wasn't hooked. But eventually I grew to really love both the Gansukh/Lian chapters and the Korean/Japanese fighters' chapters. The historical fiction is Neal Stephenson at his best and I did eventually enjoy the chapters with Cnan and the Shield-Brethren.
To some degree the western chapters are a medieval road trip/quest story. The Gansukh chapters are a palace intrigue story. They don't really overlap other than both have Ogedai Khan as a central character.
So, there isn't much yet to say about this story as it appears to be progressing extremely slowly and not only is there not a resolution to anything in this book, it ends on several cliffhangers. I'll read the rest of the trilogy (which I got for $0.99 each on sale on Amazon), but at this point in time I'm not dying to get to them.
Stephenson has done a good job, but I'm more of a SF than a historical fiction person - especially when it comes to this part of the world.
To some degree the western chapters are a medieval road trip/quest story. The Gansukh chapters are a palace intrigue story. They don't really overlap other than both have Ogedai Khan as a central character.
So, there isn't much yet to say about this story as it appears to be progressing extremely slowly and not only is there not a resolution to anything in this book, it ends on several cliffhangers. I'll read the rest of the trilogy (which I got for $0.99 each on sale on Amazon), but at this point in time I'm not dying to get to them.
Stephenson has done a good job, but I'm more of a SF than a historical fiction person - especially when it comes to this part of the world.
I read the Mongoliad trilogy one right after the other (the joys of living near a library) so it's going to be difficult to review this book as one, but I'll try.
While this book did not fill me with page turning fervor, I did appreciate the attention to the often ignored historical period. Also, the books at least feature what logically must be a more globalized medieval society than is usually depicted.
You don't get much by way of character development in the first book, it mostly introduces the situation, and sets the characters on a journey. You do however, get a lot of world building. It's not hard to imagine where the characters are, or the noise that they're hearing, but what really drives the characters are left to your imagination. To my knowledge, there are two books that were written after this trilogy that ties up some of those loose ends, but I haven't read those so I can't really say if everything is resolved.
The fight scenes are extremely detailed, which is great for medieval enthusiasts, but drags for everyone else. Imagining each move is like watching a fight scene in extreme slow motion, which kind of takes the excitement and anticipation out of it.
It was a good novel to pass time with, and the historical details were accurate, as far as the basic research I did. At the very least the novel also got me interested in finding out more about this historical period.
While this book did not fill me with page turning fervor, I did appreciate the attention to the often ignored historical period. Also, the books at least feature what logically must be a more globalized medieval society than is usually depicted.
You don't get much by way of character development in the first book, it mostly introduces the situation, and sets the characters on a journey. You do however, get a lot of world building. It's not hard to imagine where the characters are, or the noise that they're hearing, but what really drives the characters are left to your imagination. To my knowledge, there are two books that were written after this trilogy that ties up some of those loose ends, but I haven't read those so I can't really say if everything is resolved.
The fight scenes are extremely detailed, which is great for medieval enthusiasts, but drags for everyone else. Imagining each move is like watching a fight scene in extreme slow motion, which kind of takes the excitement and anticipation out of it.
It was a good novel to pass time with, and the historical details were accurate, as far as the basic research I did. At the very least the novel also got me interested in finding out more about this historical period.
I enjoyed the way a dark period in history was brought to life in this story woven by several writers working together. There was a realism to the story. The characters also had some depth which I appreciated. Although the story lumbers on, I am looking forward to Book Two.
2.5 stars
While I flew through this book and, therefore, obviously enjoyed it, its flaws prevent me from giving it a high rating. Perhaps surprisingly, given the pedigree of some of the authors involved, chief amongst these flaws are some passages of startlingly bad writing. I mean, sentences or paragraphs that I would re-read thinking I must have misread them the first time around they were so badly constructed. I really should have kept notes as there were several. I remember one being something like “They outnumbered our numbers.” Wow, really?
Many of these read like editing problems - or, rather, a lack of editing. Any half-decent editor should surely have picked up these clumsy sentences. I’m not sure how the seven named authors worked together but I suspect that is the major issue, more care being taken in constructing the storyline and making sure the styles matched as closely as possible than actually ensuring the writing works. Perhaps all the glaring faults can be attributed to one of the authors and the others felt unable to cut him out. There was also some glaringly anachronistic language. I know that, unless it were written in Latin, Old French and Mongolian it can hardly be accurate, but some sentences and words just jumped out at me as inappropriate. For instance, there is the constant use of the word “ass” in its modern American meaning, sometimes in quite rapid succession. Again, this is just bad writing; grab a thesaurus and use alternatives: backside, posterior, rump. Actually, I am beginning to suspect that this and the terrible writing may be able to be laid at the door of the same member of the authoriat.
The book actually reads as though it is the write-up of a Roleplaying campaign - albeit rather a dull one - and the descriptions at the back of the dramatis personae, complete with ink line sketches, further reinforces this. (Spotting whether authors are roleplayers is actually something of a hobby of mine; you can often spot the tell-tale signs).
The characters are engaging enough, although not especially well drawn - and some of the shield-brethren have the air of cardboard cut-outs with a single defining characteristic to distinguish them. Again, something that made me think of extras in an RPG.
Not unexpectedly from a book from Neal Stephenson (although I have no way of knowing whether he wrote these particular sections) there is the occasional, sometimes heavy-handed, infodump, but I still felt that the world was under-explained, the setting unclear perhaps because the authors could picture it but failed to get that across to the reader. I couldn’t tell whether this was straight historical fiction, or history with a slant. At times I found myself wishing it was written by Mary Gentle and then, not only would we get her superb writing, but the wonderfully fleshed out reality of the historical setting would be shot through with fantastical anomalies that both enhanced it and made the reader examine it more closely.
All this said, the first volume of this series was an enjoyable read and I will probably continue with the series. The setting seemed to solidify somewhat toward the close, perhaps due to the style becoming more uniform or maybe simply because of to the gradual build up of detail, and I am intrigued to see how the arc of the two stories will intersect. As well as, perhaps, to find out whether the events are broadly historical or introduce elements that would never be found in the most detailed history of that time.
While I flew through this book and, therefore, obviously enjoyed it, its flaws prevent me from giving it a high rating. Perhaps surprisingly, given the pedigree of some of the authors involved, chief amongst these flaws are some passages of startlingly bad writing. I mean, sentences or paragraphs that I would re-read thinking I must have misread them the first time around they were so badly constructed. I really should have kept notes as there were several. I remember one being something like “They outnumbered our numbers.” Wow, really?
Many of these read like editing problems - or, rather, a lack of editing. Any half-decent editor should surely have picked up these clumsy sentences. I’m not sure how the seven named authors worked together but I suspect that is the major issue, more care being taken in constructing the storyline and making sure the styles matched as closely as possible than actually ensuring the writing works. Perhaps all the glaring faults can be attributed to one of the authors and the others felt unable to cut him out. There was also some glaringly anachronistic language. I know that, unless it were written in Latin, Old French and Mongolian it can hardly be accurate, but some sentences and words just jumped out at me as inappropriate. For instance, there is the constant use of the word “ass” in its modern American meaning, sometimes in quite rapid succession. Again, this is just bad writing; grab a thesaurus and use alternatives: backside, posterior, rump. Actually, I am beginning to suspect that this and the terrible writing may be able to be laid at the door of the same member of the authoriat.
The book actually reads as though it is the write-up of a Roleplaying campaign - albeit rather a dull one - and the descriptions at the back of the dramatis personae, complete with ink line sketches, further reinforces this. (Spotting whether authors are roleplayers is actually something of a hobby of mine; you can often spot the tell-tale signs).
The characters are engaging enough, although not especially well drawn - and some of the shield-brethren have the air of cardboard cut-outs with a single defining characteristic to distinguish them. Again, something that made me think of extras in an RPG.
Not unexpectedly from a book from Neal Stephenson (although I have no way of knowing whether he wrote these particular sections) there is the occasional, sometimes heavy-handed, infodump, but I still felt that the world was under-explained, the setting unclear perhaps because the authors could picture it but failed to get that across to the reader. I couldn’t tell whether this was straight historical fiction, or history with a slant. At times I found myself wishing it was written by Mary Gentle and then, not only would we get her superb writing, but the wonderfully fleshed out reality of the historical setting would be shot through with fantastical anomalies that both enhanced it and made the reader examine it more closely.
All this said, the first volume of this series was an enjoyable read and I will probably continue with the series. The setting seemed to solidify somewhat toward the close, perhaps due to the style becoming more uniform or maybe simply because of to the gradual build up of detail, and I am intrigued to see how the arc of the two stories will intersect. As well as, perhaps, to find out whether the events are broadly historical or introduce elements that would never be found in the most detailed history of that time.
3.5 Stars
Mini-Review:
For such a long book, not a whole lot happens.
- Great setup for the multiple characters. Interesting mix of historical & fabled characters/places.
- Excellent visuals with little words for violent acts but not a whole lot for describing anything else.
- 2 Thumbs Up for fights, use of weaponry, riding, etc
- Surprised by the elegant romance that's tossed into the story. Potential tragedy?
- One of the more interesting narration jobs done by Luke Daniels. Nice!
- I feel like I need to go & read some of the other authors now to see if I can figure out who wrote which parts.
Mini-Review:
For such a long book, not a whole lot happens.
- Great setup for the multiple characters. Interesting mix of historical & fabled characters/places.
- Excellent visuals with little words for violent acts but not a whole lot for describing anything else.
- 2 Thumbs Up for fights, use of weaponry, riding, etc
- Surprised by the elegant romance that's tossed into the story. Potential tragedy?
- One of the more interesting narration jobs done by Luke Daniels. Nice!
- I feel like I need to go & read some of the other authors now to see if I can figure out who wrote which parts.