Gentlemen of the Road : A Tale of Adventure

The story centres on two world-travelling Jewish bandits who style themselves with the euphemism "gentlemen of the road."

Amram is a hulking Abyssinian who is equally proficient with an axe as a game of shatrani; he is haunted by the disappearance of his daughter many years ago. His companion is Zelikman, a Frankish physician who uses an over-sized blood-letting lance as a rapier. Zelikman has a morbid personality due to the trauma of watching his family slaughtered in an anti-Jewish pogrom.

The two bandits begin in the Kingdom of Arran, where they con the customers of an inn with a staged duel. Before they can collect their winnings, a mahout attempts to hire them to safeguard his charge, Filaq, a fugitive Khazar prince. Filaq's family was murdered by the usurping bek, Buljan.

Before the pair can give their answer, Buljan's assassins kill the mahout, and the two gentlemen escape with Filaq, intent on collecting a reward from his wealthy relatives. Filaq, on the other hand, is committed to escaping and taking vengeance on Buljan.

The group arrives at the hometown of Filaq's relatives and discovers that everyone has been slaughtered by Kievan Rus'. An army of Arsiyah arrives too late to save the town. Filaq attempts to rally the troops to rescue his kidnapped brother Alp, but the army decides to place Filaq on the bek's throne instead. The army travels to the bek's palace, but a ruse by Buljan leaves the Arsiyah army obliterated. Filaq is captured and exposed to all as a girl. Amram is also captured while trying to rescue her.

In disguise as a Radanite, Zelikman meets with Buljan and manages to rescue Amram. Beaten and raped, Filaq is sold to a brothel where Zelikman and Amram take refuge. They treat her injuries and then plan to see the kagan, the spiritual ruler of Khazaria. Zelikman uses his physician's skills to anaesthetise the kagan's guards and gain an audience. The kagan agrees to help, as long as Zelikman helps him fake his own death to escape from his life of comfortable imprisonment.

Filaq meets with tarkhan of the Khazar army in disguise as her brother Alp, who died in captivity. The tarkhan supports her claim to the bek throne. While paying off a band of Kievan Rus' for their pillaging services, Buljan is overthrown by the Khazar army and killed by a war elephant. After the battle, Filaq and Zelikman make love for the first, and probably last, time in each of their lives. Filaq begins her life as Alp, both bek and kagan of Khazaria, while Zelikman and Amram leave to pursue their fortunes elsewhere.

Reviews about the author's work:

'Perfection. There are perhaps four other books I've loved this much, and none have made me cry more.' -- Daily Telegraph on Kavalier & Clay

'Dazzling. Chabon has not so much attempted the great American novel as brought to life the idea that it had already been written - week by week, in the humble heroism of the comic book.' -- Independent on Kavalier & Clay

'It's absolutely gosh-wow, super-colossal - smart, funny, and a continual pleasure to read.' -- Washington Post on Kavalier & Clay

'A superb creation, a raucously comic yet deeply lyrical work' -- Sunday Times on Wonder Boys

'Mingles wit, sex and fine writing' -- Sunday Telegraph on MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH

Author Biography:

Michael Chabon's novels include THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH, Wonder Boys, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and his latest, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, published by Fourth Estate. He is also the author of two collections of short stories, a young adult novel, and has written several screenplays. THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH is currently being made into a film starring Sienna Miller.