Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #448785 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 1024 pages

Synopsis
The epic journeys of Marco Polo are recreated in a historical saga that follows the adventures of the Venetian explorer from medieval Italy, along the perilous Silk Road, to the Chinese court of Kublai Khan. Reprint.

Customer Reviews

A Fictional Look at Marco Polo

This book was first published in 1983 and I first read the book well over 20 years ago and was spellbound by the imagination and writing skills of the author. This is certainly one book where the reviewer could never give away the plot of the book, not even if they extended the review to several pages. It is amazing what one man's imagination can produce.

The book is over 1,000 pages long and every one of them is full of interest and excitement. It tells the story of Marco Polo, the Italian, perhaps he himself would prefer Venetian traveller, sent by the Pope on a journey to find and send greeting to the great Kublai Khan from the pope himself. Along with his father and uncle and two monks Marco sets out on a journey that will show him wonders he could never have though existed.

He finally arrives at the court of the great Khan after surviving all manner of dangers and he and his companions are feted with both stature and wealth. He and his father and uncle live among the subjects of the Khan and nothing is denied them they are showered with gifts and wealth and the most beautiful girls they could ever have dreamed about.

Eventually the Polo's sadly decide that they must leave the land of the Khan and return with their wealth to Venice. The Khan provides them with ships to speed their journey and also puts the Princess Kokejin into their safe keeping. But the whole of the story is not yet told . . . their journey back to Venice is even more full of adventure and danger.

Breathtaking epic that's more vivid than a movie
Marco Polo had traveled Asia in the middle ages, enduring much hardship, meeting colorful characters and learning things unknown to Europe in his time. The "Grandfather of all travellers" had told them in his autobiography. Jennings, with incredible imagination and meticulous research has retold his story, vividly recreating a world lost in time. This tale has it all; history, adventure, love, sex, pain, cruelty and death. Most of all it has unforgetable characters only comparable to Dumas'. You will not just "see" it like a movie but smell it and feel it too. This book will shock you, shake you, make you laugh and cry...There is only one thing wrong with this book, and it is the gaping void it leaves behind once finished the over 1300 pages, even though it still has the most satisfying ending of any book in history.
Be warned, you will be reading late into the night, neglecting everything and everyone while reading Journeyer. So take a few days off, stock up the fridge and swich your phone off, you will not want to be disturbed.
Content not suitable for readers under 18!

A master piece
Gary Jennings is THE best story teller EVER! The Journeyor is one of those books that gets under your skin, you cant switch the light out at night, you just have to read one more chapter, and another and another....... The Story of Marco polo and his amazing travels is brought to life so well that every sight and smell is there in the room with you ( not always a particularly pleasant experience) as Mr Jennings delights in detail. I think this would be a book I should want if ever I were to be stranded on a desert island! I have read it so many times and each time am amazed how much more I find. Quite simply, this is a fantastic book.