The Journeyer
Jul 2024 · Macmillan + ORM
4.9star
38 reviewsreport
Ebook
801
Pages
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About this ebook
“Jennings combines inexhaustible research with the yarn-spinner’s art, drawing indelible portraits of Marco [Polo] . . . on the long journey. Stunning.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
Marco Polo was nicknamed “Marco of the millions” because his Venetian countrymen took the grandiose stories of his travels to be exaggerated, if not outright lies. As he lay dying, his priest, family, and friends offered him a last chance to confess his mendacity, and Marco, it is said, replied “I have not told the half of what I saw and did.”
Now, in his novel The Journeyer, New York Times–bestselling author Gary Jennings has imagined the half that Marco left unsaid as even more adventurous than the alleged tall tales. From the streets of medieval Venice to the sumptuous court of Kublai Khan, from the perfumed sexuality of the Levant to the dangers and rigors of travel along the Silk Road, Marco meets all manner of people, survives all manner of danger, and becomes an almost compulsive collector of customs, languages and women.
Reimagined with all the splendor, the love of adventure, the zest for the rare and curious that are Jennings’s hallmarks, The Journeyer is the epic account of the greatest real-life adventurer in human history.
“Superb.” —The New York Times
“Astonishing and titillating.” —The Chicago Tribune
“Fabulous. . . . Sumptuous and exceedingly bawdy.” —The Washington Post
“Pound for pound, The Journeyer is a classic.” —Gene Lyons, Newsweek
“Perfect entertainment.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
“An impressively learned gem of the astounding and the titillating.” —Chicago Tribune Book World
Marco Polo was nicknamed “Marco of the millions” because his Venetian countrymen took the grandiose stories of his travels to be exaggerated, if not outright lies. As he lay dying, his priest, family, and friends offered him a last chance to confess his mendacity, and Marco, it is said, replied “I have not told the half of what I saw and did.”
Now, in his novel The Journeyer, New York Times–bestselling author Gary Jennings has imagined the half that Marco left unsaid as even more adventurous than the alleged tall tales. From the streets of medieval Venice to the sumptuous court of Kublai Khan, from the perfumed sexuality of the Levant to the dangers and rigors of travel along the Silk Road, Marco meets all manner of people, survives all manner of danger, and becomes an almost compulsive collector of customs, languages and women.
Reimagined with all the splendor, the love of adventure, the zest for the rare and curious that are Jennings’s hallmarks, The Journeyer is the epic account of the greatest real-life adventurer in human history.
“Superb.” —The New York Times
“Astonishing and titillating.” —The Chicago Tribune
“Fabulous. . . . Sumptuous and exceedingly bawdy.” —The Washington Post
“Pound for pound, The Journeyer is a classic.” —Gene Lyons, Newsweek
“Perfect entertainment.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
“An impressively learned gem of the astounding and the titillating.” —Chicago Tribune Book World
Ratings and reviews
4.9
38 reviews
A Google user
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This was a few years ago. Since then, I have read it several times.
The story moves along at a pace and keeps you absolutely in place, the whole time.
There are sections in the book where, if you watching a movie, you would turn your head away. More difficult when you're reading (derr) but you do read with only one eye open.
Jennings is a master of character building and having built that character in your mind he/she never falters from type.
Its a brilliant telling of the Polo tale and one you would be insane to miss out on.
pulpkult
Matt A.
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July 25, 2013
Loved this book the first time I read it and loved it more the fourth time I read it. The Journeyer and Aztec hold high places of honor in my book-reading history as stories that ignited in me a ravenous appetite for historical fiction and non-fiction alike. Do yourself a favor and pick both those books up. And remember this: if it wasn't written by Jennings, but carries his name, don't bother with it. His name has been shat upon since his death by greedy no-talents.
1 person found this review helpful
Ed T.
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June 3, 2019
An epic read. A true page turner. Mr. Jennings paints a marvelous picture with words. You lose time reading these books. Amazing. An author you will never forget.
About the author
Gary Jennings is known for his intensive research which often includes rigorous and sometimes hazardous travels-exploring every corner of Mexico for his Aztec novels, retracing the numerous wanderings of Marco Polo for The Journeyer, joining nine different circuses for Spangle, and roaming the Balkans to do Raptor.
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