Mongoliad: Book 3, by Neal Stephenson

I have such mixed feelings about The Mongoliad.  I wanted to like it more than I did.  I think the problem may lie in the corporate authorship.  Neal Stephenson is one of my favorites, but he does tend to tell some long stories (see his 3 volume, 2,688 page Baroque Cycle).  But The Mongoliad author list stretches on to eight names.  It's like one of those variety shows, where the individual acts are good, but there are just too many, or an all-star game, where the talent on the court is great, but it turns out to be a boring game.

All of that said, I didn't dislike The Mongoliad.  There is plenty to like.  The plot by Western soldiers to assassinate the Khan.  The political maneuvering to replace the pope.  The vivid descriptions of hand-to-hand combat.  The rich feel of the historical and geographical setting.  But the end result seemed over long and bloated.  A great effort, an interesting literary project, but the sum did not end up greater than the parts.