Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon

This is a straightforward tale of adventure told in an unusually elaborate prose style. Chabon says that the book's true title is "Jews with Swords", giving a fair indication of the stories dual interest in yarn-spinning and subtle identity politics.

I should also mention that the library copy I read was a particularly lovely artifact. The cover was lovely, there are attractive maps on the inside cover and there is a full-page illustration in every chapter. The publishers really pushed out the boat on this one.