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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Whistler Public Library.
Apr 28, 2012DeltaQueen50 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon is a fun adventure story of two Jewish mercenaries (scoundrels/thieves) as they come into contact with a young prince of the Khazar Empire and help him in his quest to retake the throne and oust the usurper from it. Involving Vikings, elephants, warriors and whores this is a rollicking, medieval tale that left me wanting more. I wanted to stay with these characters, Amram and Zelikman, as they continued on down the road and share with them in any new adventures. Michael Chabon wrote this story in a style that reminded me of many of the adventure stories I read when young, by the likes of R.M. Ballantyne or Robert Louis Stevenson. Rather flowery, very descriptive, and requiring a dictionary, but the story moves quickly and I was soon caught up in the plot. For such a short book, less than 200 pages, Chabon packs in a lot of information, he also expects his readers to suspend our disbelief and accept a number of bizarre coincidences. I never quite sank fully into the story, but still I recommend this book for it’s swashbuckling, captivating, page-turning story.