Synopsis: A couple of men conning their way through first millennium AD southeastern Europe get caught up defending a deposed prince and escorting him back to his kingdom to confront the usurper.
According to the afterword, Chabon's working title had been Jews with Swords. That's basically what the story is. The main characters are Jewish as is the prince and the usurped kingdom. Beside that, the religion is basically invisible. While there is a little plot connected to religious strife, it could be any two religions involved. The reason I bring this up is because many books these days seem to just belabor religion and grind their axes to nubs. This is not what Chabon does. And he does it right.
The story is entertaining, and the characters are interesting. Both are somewhat formulaic. The tale is somewhat common in the adventure genre, but Chabon tells it well. The story is short, which I always figure if you don't have an original story, it's best if you keep it brief. Nothing's worse than a writer who drags out his rehash interminably.
Chabon's prose is always enjoyable. I think I need to do a post just about literary fiction. I'm finding I love it when it's really well done. Then there's the other type...but that's another topic.
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