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concealed_journeys's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, Rape, and Slavery
erica_palmisano's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The audiobook is narrated by Andre Braugher, so already that's amazing. The story is interesting and novel – I haven't explore Eastern Europe in the 10th century much before. The author's note at the end provides interesting context. The story isn't my favorite in parts, but it's got sections I really enjoy. It's just tough with the amount of misogyny portrayed to enjoy certain aspects of the tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, War, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Trafficking
Minor: Torture and Animal cruelty
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This is a very short book. I don't know how many pages it has (The StoryGraph says 204, but they're not always accurate with page counts), but the unabridged audiobook was just over four hours long. (For context, most audiobooks are in the 10-14 hour range.) I listened to it in one go between starting work and my lunch break.
Audio may not have been the best format to read, since I couldn't keep most of the names straight. I was about halfway through the book before I realized that one of the names being thrown around was not a third adventurer who never said anything, but in fact the name of Zelikman's horse.
It was an interesting story. Zelikman and Amram are "gentlemen of the road" - thieves, con men, and mercenaries for hire as the opportunity presents, traveling across the Khazar Empire and accidentally getting wrapped up in trying to help the rightful heir to the empire get back on the throne. From what I can tell from a brief look through Wikipedia, it was pretty historically accurate, and having the backdrop of a great Jewish empire while the two main characters fought, survived, and maintained a strong friendship was really cool. The best way I can describe the mood of this book is to compare it to The Walking Drum - except, you know, actually good.
I did enjoy the story, and despite having a hard time keeping track of the names I followed the plot pretty well. However, I think I missed a lot of details reading it as an audiobook, so I might come back to it later as a physical book and try to catch what I missed. It would be worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Torture and Animal death
Bodily functions/urination, racial stereotypes
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