A couple of good, quick reads

I just finished The Road to Samarcand by Patrick O’Brian and Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey and enjoyed both books very much.

The Road to Samarcand is very different from O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin series of seafaring novels. Though it opens at sea, the majority of the book takes place on dry land as a small band of adventurers cross central Asia, traveling the Great Silk road across Mongolia, venturing into Tibet braving snowy passes and hostile lamas. The hero is a teen-aged boy and the book is a fast-paced action/adventure. In fact, it could probably have been marketed as a young-adult novel, though there is quite a bit of violence and bloodshed.

Brat Farrar is an elegant British mystery novel with a likable protagonist. I enjoyed the twists and turns and thought the ending was quite satisfying. Quite possibly my favorite of Tey’s novels, vying with The Daughter of Time which was the first Tey novel I read.