'The Mongoliad' by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, et al.

The Mongoliad (Part 1&2), Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, et al (3)

While Neal Stephenson seems to be the leader of this group of authors, apparently this trilogy was written as a committee with daily working meetings and writing assignments. This becomes more obvious through 2 of the 3 books (I have yet to read the third).  The chapters are from various characters points of view, which switch during the second book. The overarching story follows the Mongols in the generation after Genghis Khan and their multiple adversaries as they continue conquering westward towards Europe.  While I liked the general theme of everyone versus the Mongols from an historical perspective, the multiple voices became distracting.  The reader never actually aligns or cares for a character – there are just too many.  I had to wonder if this was a likely affect that was fueled by the multiple authors (7!). I am engaged enough to read the last book and given the lack of wrap-up or ending for the first two, I hope it is worth it.