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Neal Stephenson et Greg Bear, deux auteurs que l'on connaît surtout pour leurs ouvrages de Science-Fiction, dévoilent le mois prochain The Mongoliad, premier tome de The Foreworld Saga, un projet présenté comme mêlant fiction historique, arts martiaux et fantasy (!).
On découvre maintenant un synopsis détaillé, à retrouver ci-dessous. Stephenson lui-même s'amuse avec humour à mettre en avant ce nouveau roman à l'occasion de cette vidéo.

The first novel to be released in the saga, THE MONGOLIAD: BOOK ONE (47North; May publication; On-sale: April 24, 2012; $14.95 trade paperback; $9.99 digital), is an epic-within-an-epic, taking place in 13th century. In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia.

But the saga unfolds on a truly grand scale for it comes to the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated.

More than just a story, The Mongoliad is an sweeping narrative firmly rooted in history, taking readers back to a time when Europeans thought that the Mongol Horde was about to destroy their world-and it was up to the exploits of one small band of mystics and warriors to turn the tide of history.