The Mongoliad: The Foreworld Saga, Book 1

By: Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo, Mark Teppo

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In the late 19th century, a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados provided Sir Richard F. Burton, well-known expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, a collection of long-lost manuscripts to translate. Burton’s work was subsequently misplaced, only to be discovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Treiste.

From Burton's translations and the original source material, the epic tale of The Mongoliad was recreated. The story chronicles the journey of a small band of warriors and mystics as they fight to save Europe from the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century. It also exposes the secret workings of powerful clandestine societies that have been driving world events for millennia.

This fascinating and enthralling first novel in The Mongoliad trilogy fuses historical events with a gripping fictional narrative. Co-written by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, E. D. deBirmingham, Mark Teppo, Joseph Brassey, Erik Bear, and Cooper Moo, The Mongoliad: Book One is an unforgettable epic.

©2012 Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson, E. D. deBirmingham, Mark Teppo, Joseph Brassey, Erik Bear, and Cooper Moo (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Really good a must

Would you listen to The Mongoliad again? Why?

Yes I love lukes performances and I got lost a little in the story

What did you like best about this story?

The enter tangled characters an events

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

Everything not many can give each character such life to the point u develops honest emotiomal connections to every person in the story. Truthfully his performances in other books is the reason I finally chose this story but I became hooked to the story

Who was the most memorable character of The Mongoliad and why?

I loved so many too many to list

Great!

Enjoyable from start to finish. The authors did a great job tying fiction with fact, and the narrator is incredible.

Very good

Enjoyed the story and the narration was excellent! I always enjoy Luke Daniels' work and intricacies to make the story and characters come to life!

Good Story, Too Many Characters

Really good story, but just way too many characters with difficult to remember names, who each played almost important roles as each other, that it was a little difficult to keep track of everyone.

An epic adventure and somewhat unexpected.

An epic adventure and somewhat unexpected. I look forward to reading and hearing more., I chose this book because Greg Bear was one of the authors and I love his writing.

Adventure

I liked how you could get different perspectives from a different cultural standpoint when switching through the characters point of view. I feel it added to the story nicely.

Not Neal Stephenson

Don't come looking for Stephenson style. This is a collaboration, and not a great one. Luke Daniels does what he can, but I can't recommend this.

Well done!

What did you love best about The Mongoliad?

Big fan of Neal Stephenson's work, so no surprise that I found this a compelling and epic tale. Ready for the release of the next book.

Too many Cooks

Too many cooks spoil the soup. An old and true cliche that fits both the kitchen and writing books. Matter of fact few duets work well, with Preston and Child being the exception.

I am fascinated by all things Chinese. As a Sci-Fi fan and a fantasy fan, I find the Chinese past and present to be the fantasy for real. The are real, but so different from western society. I loved Conn Iggulden's Khan series and was hoping this would be a continuation of that. I am also a big fan of the game Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This seems to fit the time period between Ghengis and Romance.

This started out alright, but by the end I was bored out of my gord. There are some fight scenes in this that take hours to play out. There is no character development. There are no George R. R. Martin surprises.

I hope that one good writer takes up this project, cause I would like to hear the story and then I would really like to see a modern writer rewrite Romance of The Three Kingdoms. There are lots of exciting material that a writer could make a career out of it.

Narrator had a tough job with lots of characters to portray. He did make each one distinct although I doubt that the Khan spoke through his teeth 24 hours a day. The narration which is the biggest part of the book was very lack luster.

Not my cup of tea

Listening to the story, I found it hard to keep track of all the characters. So many names - and I had no idea how they were spelled. Seeing things in print helps my comprehension and understanding of who is who.

I also found it hard to really care about any of the characters. But if you're into a pseudo-historical story about crusaders and Mongol hordes, you might like this.