Balthasar's Odyssey
  • Published: 3 November 2003
  • ISBN: 9780099452089
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $29.99

Balthasar's Odyssey

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30 Nov 2011
Paperback
3 Nov 2003
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'Sparkling and erudite, this is a wonderful novel' Independent

There are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran, is it possible that there is a secret one-hundredth name?

In this tale of magic and mystery, of love and danger, Balthasar's ultimate quest is to find the secret that could save the world.

Before the dawn of the apocalyptic 'Year of the Beast' in 1666, Balthasar Embriaco, a Genoese Levantine merchant, sets out on an adventure that will take him across the breadth of the civilised world, from Constantinople, through the Mediterranean, to London shortly before the Great Fire.

Balthasar's urgent quest is to track down a copy of one of the rarest and most coveted books ever printed, a volume called 'The Hundredth Name', its contents are thought to be of vital importance to the future of the world. There are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran, and merely to know this most secret hundredth name will, Balthasar believes, ensure his salvation.
  • Published: 3 November 2003
  • ISBN: 9780099452089
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $29.99
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About the author

Amin Maalouf

Amin Maalouf's fiction includes Leo the African, Rock of Tanios, which won the 1993 Prix Goncourt, Samarkand, Ports of Call and Balthasar's Odyssey. He is also the author of an acclaimed scholarly work, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, as well as the much admired essay, On Identity.

Also by Amin Maalouf

On Identity
Ports Of Call
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
See all

Praise for Balthasar's Odyssey

His is a voice which Europe cannot afford to ignore.

Guardian

His observation of human nature in all its facets is wonderfully accurate.

Sunday Telegraph

One of Maalouf's most subtle books, and without doubt one of his most accomplished.

Le Point

Sparkling and erudite, this is a wonderful novel.

Independent

A splendid book that should be read in the way one looks at a highly coloured fresco, allowing oneself to be transported by the breeze that wafts Balthasar on the most unexpected journeys.

Josette Alia, Nouvel Observateur

Terrific

Sunday Times

Indeed, if you want to understand what's going on in the world at this moment, you could certainly do worse than to read Maalouf on the past

Guardian

A fine, unusual and rich book

Independent on Sunday

[A] wonderful tale-its bewildered and worldly hero, facing a chaotic universe, makes this meticulously researched historical novel uniquely relevant

Scotland on Sunday