Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon. Illustrated by Gary Gianni (Ballantine Books 2008) [B&T Books] PS3553.H15 G46 2007.

Michael Chabon is one of America’s “hottest” young fiction writers. Famous for such works as Summerland, Wonder Boys, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and the Pulitzer-Prize winning, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, he tries his hand at a new (for him) genre: the fantasy/adventure story.

Gentlemen of the Road is the story of two very different heroes who move across a landscape similar to that of the borderlands of Europe and Asia in the early Middle Ages. Zelikman is a Jewish physician and healer, who can deal death with a sword as easily as he can heal with his knowledge. Thin and pale, he comes from the depths of Europe seeking adventure and escape from his previous life. Amram is an Abyssinian giant who seeks fortune in lands and armies far from the world of his origin. The two are fast friends who travel together as “Gentlemen of the Road.” Their adventures are many and along the way they meet greedy merchants, highwaymen, soldiers of fortune, and princesses in distress.

I found this a very enjoyable read, but in some ways I think Chabon may have stretched his writing powers a little too far. He writes very self-consciously, using rare words which interrupt a rather straight-forward narrative and creates characters who are just too stereotypical. A novel like this is basically storytelling; attempts at “art” are distractions, not advantages, and the characters are familiar to anyone who’s read in this area. The blurb compares Gentlemen to the works of Fritz Leiber, whose Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories helped establish the fantasy/adventure genre; he dedicates the book to Michael Moorcock, whose Elric novels further built this art form. Chabon reaches for the golden ring, but fails to quite grasp it.

Again, I enjoyed his story and recommend it to anyone who likes a good swashbuckling tale. But if you enjoy it, seek out the works of the writers above, and others who wrote with them in the 60s and 70s, and see what real masters of the genre can do.

Richard Pipes

If Gentlemen of the Road looks good, here are some other interesting Baker and Taylor Books. . .

• Bangkok Haunts, by John Burdett
  Call Number: PR6052.U617 B3626 2007
• Sharpe's Fury, by Bernard Cornwell.
  Call Number: PR6053.O75 S527 2006
• Lord Jim and the Hand of the Devil, by Diana Gabaldon.
  Call Number: PS3557.A22 L665 2007

Updated October 30, 2008