Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey, etc.: The Mongoliad: Book Three

[sparkchaser]

I finally finished The Mongoliad: Book Three on Saturday.

Amazon's blurb is fairly accurate:

The final book of the Mongoliad trilogy from Neal Stephenson and company tells the gripping personal stories of medieval freedom fighters to form an epic, imaginative recounting of a moment in history when a world in peril relied solely on the courage of its people.

The shadow of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II hangs over the shattered Holy Roman Church as the cardinals remain deadlocked, unable to choose a new pope. Only the Binders and a mad priest have a hope of uniting the Church against the invading Mongol host. An untested band of young warriors stands against the dissolute Khan, fighting for glory and freedom in the Khan’s sadistic circus of swords, and the brave band of Shield-Brethren who set out to stop the Mongol threat single-handedly race against their nemesis before he can raise the entire empire against them. Veteran knight Feronantus, haunted by his life in exile, leads the dwindling company of Shield-Brethren to their final battle, molding them into a team that will outlast him. No good hero lives forever. Or fights alone.

I found the story more engaging than Book Two. I was over half-way through Book Three and I couldn't see what the resolutions for the various story arcs were, so kudos to the authors for that. The resolutions were all handled in satisfactory or better ways, so kudos again. Beloved characters die and loathed characters live but I guess we can't really be expecting a fairy tale ending, can we?

I really on have two gripes with Book Three:

The actual ending I feel fell a bit flat, in a typical Neal Stephenson fashion. I suppose this was done on purpose just in case they wanted to continue the series, and if that was the case, I will be buying the future books.

No real explanation of the Spirit Banner, its link to the events in Book One, and the Chinese raid. If there was one, I missed it.

I give it 3 stars.

 

[Meadow337]

I'm still bogged down in the beginning few pages of book 2 which I just can't get past. There doesn't seem much point to getting and reading book 3 if I can't read book 2 even if it is supposed to be better.

 

[Sneezy]

I warned you it had a trademark Nealeriffic ending.

 

[sparkchaser]

Aye. You did.

 

[pontalba]

Book One is still languishing on the shelf....unread. One of these days.

 

[Peder]

Good man, Sparky!
Some day I'll finish Cryptonomicon, started maybe a decade ago . And I liked it as far as I got. Go figure. Til then, I'm stuck . . .
Congratulations