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The Foreworld Saga
The Beast of Calatrava: A Foreworld Sidequest
After a battle left Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa’s face terribly disfigured, the knight of the Order of Calatrava abandoned his sword for a pastoral existence. But his beastly appearance horrifies all those who cross his path—with the exception of his adoring and pregnant wife. Can he keep Louisa and their unborn child safe from the war that is coming to Iberia?
As Ramiro prepares for his child’s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend--named blades carried by heroes of old--believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain--the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul.
As Ramiro prepares for his child’s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend--named blades carried by heroes of old--believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain--the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul.
114 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2015
About the author
Mark Teppo
79 books97 followersMark Teppo has written more than a dozen novels across a number of genres. He's a book-seller, paper-hoarder, and troublemaker. Not necessarily in that order.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 24, 2014
Audiobook from Brilliance Audio
Narrated by Luke Daniels
Length: ~3.5 hours
Note: This book is available individually (as I listened to it) or as a part of the book SideQuest Adventures No. 1, which includes The Lion in Chains, this story, and The Shield-Maiden: A Foreworld SideQuest.
As with The Lion in Chains, this story is a "sidequest" in the Foreworld Saga, basically a side story to the main-line books intended to give readers more information on certain characters. Unfortunately, unlike The Lion in Chains, even after I finished the book, I wasn't 100% certain where this fit within the grand scheme of the world. The main characters in this story were not in the main Mongoliad books, and without taking some time to look at the print/ebook versions of this and the other books, I'm not sure I could draw a straight-line reference. I'm equally uncertain as to when, relatively speaking, this book takes place (relative to the events in The Mongoliad: Book One).
More frustratingly, I found myself lost while listening to this story. As happened other times during my reading of the Mongoliad main-series books, it was easy to get confused as to which character was which and who was who. If I haven't said it before, this is a series begging for a good wiki with a character roster, and possibly a map. While these things may show up in a print/ebook edition, they were not easy to find on the web for quick perusal while listening (at least, I couldn't easily find anything). The overall thrust is that it's a story about a former knight, abandoned for dead when his order was defeated, who has turned into "The Beast of Calatrava," basically a disfigured killer, killing to protect his property and the people (generally) of Iberia, no matter their creed. In parallel, the Templars have arrived in Iberia on a crusade, and brought with them some other soldiers, including some monks, on the search for a legendary weapon. Much of the book is dedicated to The Beast's personal demons and the growing tension in the "Christian Army" that includes the Templars, monks, and other religious figures, and moves these characters around like chess pieces in seemingly unrelated matches. In the last 30 minutes or so of the audiobook, the story lines somewhat converge, and the ending comes more or less as might be expected.
I don't know what to say about this story. It really seemed to wander, and was hard to follow along. While I was somewhat used to this in the main Foreworld books, I was able to accept temporary confusion, knowing it would get brought together later, and that my persistence would pay dividends. In this story, with everything being self-contained, that payoff wasn't there, and in the grand scheme, I'm not sure why much other than the last 30 minutes of the story made any difference...and, since this story doesn't relate directly to the main-line books, it didn't feel like it made "sense" in the bigger picture. Without the tie-in to the larger world, this could have been any story set in the same world, so therefore didn't feel as satisfying.
It will be interesting to see how the final book in SideQuest Adventures No. 1 plays out, whether it will be more like the first story (which was great) or this one (which was unsatisfying).
Narrated by Luke Daniels
Length: ~3.5 hours
Note: This book is available individually (as I listened to it) or as a part of the book SideQuest Adventures No. 1, which includes The Lion in Chains, this story, and The Shield-Maiden: A Foreworld SideQuest.
As with The Lion in Chains, this story is a "sidequest" in the Foreworld Saga, basically a side story to the main-line books intended to give readers more information on certain characters. Unfortunately, unlike The Lion in Chains, even after I finished the book, I wasn't 100% certain where this fit within the grand scheme of the world. The main characters in this story were not in the main Mongoliad books, and without taking some time to look at the print/ebook versions of this and the other books, I'm not sure I could draw a straight-line reference. I'm equally uncertain as to when, relatively speaking, this book takes place (relative to the events in The Mongoliad: Book One).
More frustratingly, I found myself lost while listening to this story. As happened other times during my reading of the Mongoliad main-series books, it was easy to get confused as to which character was which and who was who. If I haven't said it before, this is a series begging for a good wiki with a character roster, and possibly a map. While these things may show up in a print/ebook edition, they were not easy to find on the web for quick perusal while listening (at least, I couldn't easily find anything). The overall thrust is that it's a story about a former knight, abandoned for dead when his order was defeated, who has turned into "The Beast of Calatrava," basically a disfigured killer, killing to protect his property and the people (generally) of Iberia, no matter their creed. In parallel, the Templars have arrived in Iberia on a crusade, and brought with them some other soldiers, including some monks, on the search for a legendary weapon. Much of the book is dedicated to The Beast's personal demons and the growing tension in the "Christian Army" that includes the Templars, monks, and other religious figures, and moves these characters around like chess pieces in seemingly unrelated matches. In the last 30 minutes or so of the audiobook, the story lines somewhat converge, and the ending comes more or less as might be expected.
I don't know what to say about this story. It really seemed to wander, and was hard to follow along. While I was somewhat used to this in the main Foreworld books, I was able to accept temporary confusion, knowing it would get brought together later, and that my persistence would pay dividends. In this story, with everything being self-contained, that payoff wasn't there, and in the grand scheme, I'm not sure why much other than the last 30 minutes of the story made any difference...and, since this story doesn't relate directly to the main-line books, it didn't feel like it made "sense" in the bigger picture. Without the tie-in to the larger world, this could have been any story set in the same world, so therefore didn't feel as satisfying.
It will be interesting to see how the final book in SideQuest Adventures No. 1 plays out, whether it will be more like the first story (which was great) or this one (which was unsatisfying).
December 27, 2022
A disfiguring injury sees a knight of the Order of Calatrava leave his duties to protect his wife and unborn child.
Teppo's short story weaves a wider world for his characters, beginning to tie the Foreworld universe together.
Teppo's short story weaves a wider world for his characters, beginning to tie the Foreworld universe together.
March 20, 2024
One of the stronger sidequests, this is an extension of the series into Spain, and sets up the Brotherhood of Calatrava.
A few decent characters, but like all the sidequests, it drops a few too many hints at plot developments and back-story without ever quite fully satisfying the reader.
A few decent characters, but like all the sidequests, it drops a few too many hints at plot developments and back-story without ever quite fully satisfying the reader.
February 16, 2013
Another short novella set in the "Foreworld" or Mongoliad universe. But outside the mention of the Shield Brethren not really connected to that storyline in any way. But one of the main POV characters, a staple of how the Foreworld series is written, has a connection to a couple of surprise characters near the end of The Lion in Chains. The two main character, one the titled Beast of Calatrava a former knight turned murderer of Moors with a heavily scarred face, and a man who travels as a monk with an army preparing for an invasion from the moors, see events unfold from different aspects. The monk tail is interesting because we see some of the tension inside the Christian army, which is what they are called in the story a couple of times. Particularly with the Templars, especially after they come across a town were Christians, Jews and Muslims live together peacefully, and an Abbot who wants to defeat anything that's none Christen in the area. It also deals with his search for a symbol that will unit all people. In the "Beast" story we see him try to forget the man he was as current events slowly start to encroach on the peaceful life he built for himself. Over all a decent read.
November 10, 2014
3.5 stars Originally posted at FanLit.
Mark Teppo’s The Beast of Calatrava is one of the “sidequest” stories associated with the FOREWORLD SAGA universe shared by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, and others. (Bill recently reviewed the novels in the series.)
This story is set in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. The Knights of the Templar have arrived to cleanse the land of the Muslims who took the region twenty years earlier. Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa, a former knight who was grossly disfigured in that losing battle, has been living in the area as a goatherd while secretly killing ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Mark Teppo’s The Beast of Calatrava is one of the “sidequest” stories associated with the FOREWORLD SAGA universe shared by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, and others. (Bill recently reviewed the novels in the series.)
This story is set in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. The Knights of the Templar have arrived to cleanse the land of the Muslims who took the region twenty years earlier. Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa, a former knight who was grossly disfigured in that losing battle, has been living in the area as a goatherd while secretly killing ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
September 11, 2013
Mark Teppo’s The Beast of Calatrava is one of the “sidequest” stories associated with the FOREWORLD SAGA universe shared by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, and others. (Bill recently reviewed the novels in the series.)
This story is set in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. The Knights of the Templar have arrived to cleanse the land of the Muslims who took the region twenty years earlier. Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa, a former knight who was grossly disfigured in that losing battle, has been living in the area as a goatherd while secretly killing ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
This story is set in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. The Knights of the Templar have arrived to cleanse the land of the Muslims who took the region twenty years earlier. Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa, a former knight who was grossly disfigured in that losing battle, has been living in the area as a goatherd while secretly killing ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
March 27, 2013
I like that the SideQuests move around the world, this one set in Iberia. The Beast was a cool, well written character for a short story. Good one all around.
February 16, 2013
Another really engrossing prequel to the Foreworld saga. These are tough stories, and totally amazing to read.
March 2, 2013
A worthy sidequest. Looking forward to book 3.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews