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mish_ren 's review for:
The Mongoliad: Book One
by Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, Erik Bear
Playing Jokers Blog: all suits of genres and bookish news
Why I picked it up: Once upon a time, I watched a YouTube video from Sword and Laser where they interviewed 6 of 7 authors of The Mongoliad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_pkRAEPGOs I was fascinated by it and consequently put it on my Goodreads' "To Read" list. It was only somewhat recently that I bought all three books because of some Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. I recommend the YouTube video if you are curious about the book and the way it was written.
What's it about, very quickly? In short, it is a collaborative, almost crowd-sourced literary experiment. It was originally released episodically on their website, but I read it all in its combined format. There are different story lines converging around the Mongol invasions of Europe. There is an ancient order of knights going on a quest to protect Europe, a Mongol solider tasked with curbing the Khan's drinking, and slaves participating in a circus (read: Gladiator-type fighting).
My initial thoughts: At first, I was disappointed. I had read the bonus story "Sinner" which was explained as a prequel short story to the larger story. But I found there was little connection between "Sinner" and "The Mongoliad". I was left confused by both the story and the amount of new characters I was being introduced to. Additionally, each chapter alternated between the different story lines, which can be very frustrating when you are not familiar with the characters or get too caught up with one story vs. another. But I was fascinated by the historical aspect...and I was in need of an immersive escape.
My conclusions: Once I got into the story, it was a lot of fun. I was no longer confused and I was curious to know what was going on. It is definitely a story that sucked me in, though I am not happy with how Book One finished. It just cut off. It was like the rest of the story failed to load. It is another case of there being multiple books just to do it. Maybe to get more money, maybe for space considerations, but certainly not for the sake of the story. I hope I can remember everything by the time I start reading Book Two.
Why I picked it up: Once upon a time, I watched a YouTube video from Sword and Laser where they interviewed 6 of 7 authors of The Mongoliad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_pkRAEPGOs I was fascinated by it and consequently put it on my Goodreads' "To Read" list. It was only somewhat recently that I bought all three books because of some Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. I recommend the YouTube video if you are curious about the book and the way it was written.
What's it about, very quickly? In short, it is a collaborative, almost crowd-sourced literary experiment. It was originally released episodically on their website, but I read it all in its combined format. There are different story lines converging around the Mongol invasions of Europe. There is an ancient order of knights going on a quest to protect Europe, a Mongol solider tasked with curbing the Khan's drinking, and slaves participating in a circus (read: Gladiator-type fighting).
My initial thoughts: At first, I was disappointed. I had read the bonus story "Sinner" which was explained as a prequel short story to the larger story. But I found there was little connection between "Sinner" and "The Mongoliad". I was left confused by both the story and the amount of new characters I was being introduced to. Additionally, each chapter alternated between the different story lines, which can be very frustrating when you are not familiar with the characters or get too caught up with one story vs. another. But I was fascinated by the historical aspect...and I was in need of an immersive escape.
My conclusions: Once I got into the story, it was a lot of fun. I was no longer confused and I was curious to know what was going on. It is definitely a story that sucked me in, though I am not happy with how Book One finished. It just cut off. It was like the rest of the story failed to load. It is another case of there being multiple books just to do it. Maybe to get more money, maybe for space considerations, but certainly not for the sake of the story. I hope I can remember everything by the time I start reading Book Two.