Amazon Publishing’s 47 North imprint has released a book trailer for The Mongoliad: Book One, the first installment in a group-written novel headlined by Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear.

Instead of making a Hollywood version of the book or hiring actors, the video actually reflects on the inherent silliness of making a book trailer in the first place. It ends with the tagline: “Some books are so good, a trailer just seems Medieval.”

Here’s more about the book: “The Foreworld medieval adventure saga was actually born out of swordfighting. Stephenson and the other authors are avid practitioners of Western martial arts and they are part of an enthusiastic study group in Seattle. Stephenson realized that the descriptions of swordfighting in his novels would have been much better with contributions from people with fighting expertise. Thus the idea for a saga about the complex, bloody history of Western martial arts was born, co-written by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, E.D. deBirmingham, Joseph Brassey, Erik Bear, and Cooper Moo.” (Via Reddit Lit Video)