Zelikman and Amram are tenth-century Jewish nomads, eking out a living through labor both honest and otherwise. The former from Italy, the latter Abyssinia, they both wander to escape past sadness. Chabon draws them with a good-natured melancholy. It is Zelikman who more often drops into a sullen mood, but neither has found the freedom to be joyous in this life. Chabon has hit on something here, an infectious combination of morose humor and high adventure.

Our heroes find themselves in the Caucasus mountains, hired against their wills to accompany a young prince to Khazaria, a feudal Jewish kingdom set between the Black and Caspian seas. Things, of course, aren’t as they seem, and they soon find themselves eye-deep in battle and intrigue.

Chabon’s spare humor and picture-perfect observations let this little adventure story rise above its genre à la a Dumas story: you know you’re mostly along for the ride, but you can’t help admiring the skill of the driver.