The Mongoliad: Book Two

by Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland

Overview

This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors.

The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream.

Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history.

Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612182377
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	09/25/2012
Series:	Foreworld Saga
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Neal Stephenson is primarily a fiction author and has received several awards for his works in speculative fiction. His more popular books include Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle, and Anathem.

Erik Bear lives and writes in Seattle, Washington. He has written for a bestselling video game and is currently working on several comic book series.

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning the thriller, science fiction, and fantasy genres, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin’s Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Joseph Brassey lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two cats. He teaches medieval fighting techniques to members of the armed forces. The Mongoliad is his first published fiction.

Nicole Galland is the author of I, Iago, as well as The Fool’s Tale, Revenge of the Rose, and Crossed: A Tale of the Fourth Crusade. An award-winning screenwriter, she is married to actor Billy Meleady and, unlike all her handsome and talented co-writers, spends no time at all hitting people with sticks in Seattle.

Cooper Moo spent five minutes in Mongolia in 1986 before he had to get back on the train—he never expected to be channeling Mongolian warriors. In 2007 Cooper fought a Chinese long-sword instructor on a Hong Kong rooftop—he never thought the experience would help him write battle scenes. In addition to being a member of The Mongoliad writing team, Cooper has written articles for various magazines. His autobiographical piece “Growing Up Black and White,” published in the Seattle Weekly, was awarded Social Issues Reporting article of the year by the Society of Professional Journalists. He lives in Issaquah, Washington, with his wife, three children, and numerous bladed weapons.

Mark Teppo is the author of the Codex of Souls urban fantasy series as well as the hypertext dream narrative The Potemkin Mosaic.

Hometown:

Seattle, Washington

Date of Birth:

October 31, 1959

Place of Birth:

Fort Meade, Maryland

Education:

B.A., Boston University, 1981

Website:

http://www.nealstephenson.com

Editorial Reviews

Having launched an epic cast of characters into motion in The Mongoliad: Book One, Stephenson et alia face the challenge of keeping most of them moving without getting too far ahead of the plot of this alternate history of the 13th-century Mongolian expansion into Europe. The focus shifts to Rome, where Father Rodrigo arrives with a mysteriously apocalyptic message for Pope Gregory IX, who has just died. Wounded, delirious, and barely aware of his surroundings after surviving a devastating Mongol onslaught in Hungary, Rodrigo is thrust into the machinations to elect a pope who will stand against the Holy Roman Emperor. Several Shield-Brethren skirmish with the Mongols as they journey to Karakorum to assassinate Ogedei Khan, and others antagonize the Knights of the Livonian Order. Suggestions of revelations to come combine with expertly crafted fight sequences and immensely enjoyable characters to hold the reader’s interest despite the story ending no further along than it was at the beginning. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Suggestions of revelations to come combine with expertly crafted fight sequences and immensely enjoyable characters to hold the reader’s interest.” —Publishers Weekly

“I loved this book. The action was some of the best I’ve read in a while. Each fight is important to the story. The battles range from one-on-one to ten-on-sixty. Each one is the right kind of detailed and wonderfully inventive. The characters are well drawn and multi-faceted…The plot pulled me to the next page relentlessly. I was thrilled when it was time for a battle, and I was thrilled when it was time for character development. I spent the entire time excited to see what this book had in store next. I am now excited to see what the next book has in store. I cannot recommend this one enough. Five Lovable Mongol Hordes out of Five.” —Ben Rhodes, Fanboy Comics

“Fact and fiction are seamlessly blended to create a detailed vision of 13th Century Asia and Europe, and the fear of the overwhelming Mongol horde is palpable. The violence is detailed but not gratuitous, and the fact that likeable characters aren’t safe proves the authors are not afraid to make sacrifices in order to provide a wonderful story.” —Geek Planet Online

“…A sprawling, character-rich, action-packed epic that’s part history, part alternate history, part fantasy, part martial-arts saga…Jumping from place to place and character to character, the book has a potentially huge audience, not just fans of the individual contributors and readers of Book One but also the much larger fan bases for martial-arts epics, alternate history, and historical fantasy.” —Booklist

From the Publisher