Two rogues swindle and fight their way through the bloodthirsty and brutal landscapes of the 10th century. Amram, a towering pillar of virility, carries a giant axe known for its propensity to remove heads from necks. His companion is Zelikman, a scarecrow of a man clad all in black who uses a much less devastating but no less effective physicians lance. Their tongues are nearly as nimble as their weapons of choice and get them into and out of more trouble than a lifetime needs. Like two amiable brothers, they carry a strong bond between them, and they work together to separate the drunken and debauched from their money as easily as possible. They are mercenaries, criminals, thieves. They are gentlemen of the road, but when one of their plans goes awry, the two find themselves entangled in a war between nations, and they are forced to choose what is right and what is wrong.

Filaq is the son of a murdered war king whose land and power was stripped during a coup. Far too young to defend himself, Filaq is lucky to escape with the old keeper of the war king’s pachyderms. The old man sees that Amram and Zelikman can help the young boy escape those who hunt him down, and the two accept the job with their eyes firmly fixed on the reward they will receive when they the deliver the boy to his wealthy relatives. But things are never so easy. Filaq’s desire for vengeance drives him to either escape his new guardians or hurl invectives at them from various trussed up positions. And if that isn’t enough, to add injury to insults, Filaq winds up in the hands of those they were protecting him against. When Amram and Zelikman choose to go after him, they are embroiled in espionage, intrigue and a brewing conflict between savage Northern hordes and Khazars.

Recommendation: Michael Chabon is one of my favorite authors. Similar to most favorite Michaels of mine, he can do wrong. Sure, Jordan may have a gambling a problem, and Jackson is not the same guy that wrote Billie Jean twenty years ago, but they were still great at what they did, and you can’t take that away from them. At this point, Chabon has not retired nor has he gone Wacko Jacko, so rest assured that his writing career is still on track. This book is proof of that.

While it does not reflect the humorous pessimism of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union or the biting reality of his short stories, it captures the spirit of what imagination is all about. The two protagonists, polar opposite brethren, are reminiscent of the heroes that we love: the reluctant hero. Like many of the protagonists of books I’ve reviewed, including Ender Wiggyn in Ender’s Game or Lev Beniov in The City of Thieves, the two men are not concerned with saving many people besides themselves, but they wind up knee deep in conflict and being the heroes that people need. Like the two smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, Amram and Zilekman go searching for fortune and glory and getting much more than they bargained for.

The book is set in a time period that I am not very familiar with (950 A.D.), but the setting becomes natural as the scope of the tale becomes broader and broader. Each twist of the plot entangles the reader further into the journey of these two men, and I enjoyed ever page of it. I was never confused long enough to let it get in the way of my read, and by the time I was finished with the novel, I wanted only to be able to read more about the adventures of Zilekman and Amram.

Chabon, Michael. Gentlemen of the Road, Del Rey Books, New York, 2008.

Currently Reading: Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett

On Deck: The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano