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hankstram's review against another edition
3.0
i could say that it had potential as a series but there was too little happening in this book so it was disappointing. i bought the book, not the series!
songwind's review against another edition
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.
noranne's review against another edition
2.0
Finally finished this. It took forever and felt longer. The story wasn't bad, but the pacing was so off and many of the characters inconsistently developed that I just couldn't get into it. I suspect that the problem was due to collaboration, but whatever it was, I won't be picking up the next ones. I might Wiki what happens, though.
towanda81's review against another edition
3.0
This book has all the hallmarks of being written by committee. Superb world building and excellent characterization, but a lack of actual character development. We often came to characters in the book or relationships that were far more interesting than those on the main stage but they were quickly lost. The journey of Raphael and Andreas was interesting. The relationship between Ogedei and Gansukh or Lian's quest for escape was of more interest to me than the love story between Gansukh and Lian.
The female characters were poorly formed and boring. Cnan's motives were completely unclear and other than having the hots for the too-perfect Percival, I can't figure why she's there. Percival is the exact replica of the irritatingly lawful paladin in every tabletop game and no story character should be that wooden or perfect. Rafael, the half-Arab doctor is a great character but always seems to come in second to other characters.
I naturally adored the medieval alternate history and the setting descriptions were fantastic. But as a piece of storytelling, this was disappointing.
The female characters were poorly formed and boring. Cnan's motives were completely unclear and other than having the hots for the too-perfect Percival, I can't figure why she's there. Percival is the exact replica of the irritatingly lawful paladin in every tabletop game and no story character should be that wooden or perfect. Rafael, the half-Arab doctor is a great character but always seems to come in second to other characters.
I naturally adored the medieval alternate history and the setting descriptions were fantastic. But as a piece of storytelling, this was disappointing.
earthgirl207's review against another edition
2.0
Good, but a bit long and disjointed. It's written by several authors and started as a sequential storytelling/social media experiment, and to some extent, that shows. More thorough editing could have tightened up the book; one of my pet peeves was that very sketchy details would be used to set up something, like the Circus of Swords, but every time the event was mentioned again, a few more details would be added, often slightly contradicting what had been said before.
Stylistically, I also think I prefer books with one main storyline, instead of jumping between several concurrent events. I suspect this might be a convention the authors borrowed from epic fantasy, which I don't normally read.
I lost interest towards the end, but the concept is interesting and I do want to know what will happen in the rest of the series. The book would have been greatly aided by inclusion of a map showing the archaic place names that the narrators kept using. I kept my phone on me so I could google instead. I'll probably finish the series, but not for awhile.
Stylistically, I also think I prefer books with one main storyline, instead of jumping between several concurrent events. I suspect this might be a convention the authors borrowed from epic fantasy, which I don't normally read.
I lost interest towards the end, but the concept is interesting and I do want to know what will happen in the rest of the series. The book would have been greatly aided by inclusion of a map showing the archaic place names that the narrators kept using. I kept my phone on me so I could google instead. I'll probably finish the series, but not for awhile.
mehitabels's review against another edition
4.0
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 [a:Joe Abercrombie|276660|Joe Abercrombie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207149426p2/276660.jpg], who writes fight scenes so spectacularly that nothing can really equal it. Which is astoundingly ridiculous, because if you look at The Mongoliad website you can watch the authors actually fighting with the weapons and choreographing the fights! I think really it is just my love of fiction over reality that reduces the star power of this 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 [a:Joe Abercrombie|276660|Joe Abercrombie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207149426p2/276660.jpg], who writes fight scenes so spectacularly that nothing can really equal it. Which is astoundingly ridiculous, because if you look at The Mongoliad website you can watch the authors actually fighting with the weapons and choreographing the fights! I think really it is just my love of fiction over reality that reduces the star power of this book.
inbal_mayo's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Zug vs Hakwon is one of the best battles I've ever read, I will take no notes.
Content Warnings
Do not get attached to anyone, you have been warned.
cripsolabl's review against another edition
5.0
Took me a while to get into this book but now I cant wait to read the next 2 books in the series. I can see this easily be adapted to a movie.
tlwick's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't get into this one. It's rare that I don't finish a book, but this one just didn't capture my interest and I found myself choosing other books to read so I returned it *gasp* unfinished. Perhaps the ending makes the book, guess I'll never know. The writing wasn't bad, in fact I liked the prologue the best and kept looking for more like it. I say give it a try if you like the Inquisition period / Mongol conquest period - it just wasn't my particular cup of tea.
sticksnstout's review against another edition
5.0
Lots of stories throughout, took a while to get the characters straight. Great fight scene where it switches pov between fighters. Definitely going to read the next one.