A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom

A Novel

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Tim McInnerny

From the bestselling author of A Ladder to the Sky—“a darkly funny novel that races like a beating heart” (People)—comes a new novel that plays out across all of human history: a story as precise as it is unlimited.

This story starts with a family. For now, it is a father and a mother with two sons, one with his father’s violence in his blood, one with his mother’s artistry. One leaves. One stays. They will be joined by others whose deeds will determine their fate. It is a beginning.

Their stories will intertwine and evolve over the course of two thousand years. They will meet again and again at different times and in different places. From Palestine at the dawn of the first millennium and journeying across fifty countries to a life among the stars in the third, the world will change around them, but their destinies remain the same. It must play out as foretold.

From the award-winning author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies comes A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom, an epic tale of humanity. The story of all of us, stretching across two millennia. Imaginative, unique, heartbreaking, this is John Boyne at his most creative and compelling.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Heart’s Invisible Furies

“By turns whimsical and heartbreaking, Boyne’s sprawling novel treads Dickensian territory across seven decades of Irish history, ending with a redemption for both a country and a native son.”—People

“Bleak, bittersweet, and Irish to the bone . . . Explore[s] the relationship between Catholicism and patriarchy in midcentury Ireland and beyond.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“A picaresque, lolloping odyssey for the individual characters and for the nation that confines them . . . The book blazes with anger as it commemorates lives wrecked by social contempt and self‑loathing. . . . A substantial achievement.”—The Guardian

Praise for A Ladder to the Sky

“A satire of writerly ambition wrapped in a psychological thriller . . . an homage to Patricia Highsmith, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe, but its execution is entirely Boyne’s own.”—The Washington Post

“Boyne’s mastery of perspective, last seen in The Heart’s Invisible Furies, works beautifully here. . . . So dark it seems almost impossible to enjoy reading A Ladder to the Sky as much as you definitely will enjoy reading it.”—NPR

“Delicious.”—Vanity Fair

“A darkly funny novel that races like a beating heart.”—People

The ending was insipid. Trump spontaneously combusting? What?

Did not find it that compelling. I finished it only to see if he killed his cousin

Unique

Very unique story. Lovely book and performance. Definitely worth a listen. John Boyne is a great author.

Extremely clever

The description may scare you away from this wonderful novel but it’s extremely clever. Love John Boyne

Remarcably Spiritual, Deep, Insightful

A most exquisite work of humanized historical fiction with lots of both practical and philosophical challenges, this book describes the long lifespan of one soul, facing some of mankind's most troublesome existential dilemmas: creativity, as opposed to violence, family, as the cradle for love, loyalty, opression, abuse, the individual quest for redemption, the societal punishment for breaking the rules generally agreed upon, and many others.
Written with candor and witty humor, the book is a testament to the enduring power of craftsmanship and artistic expression,, through time and space, despite the lacking understanding and appreciation of their inherent value, by the common folk, as the human society evolves from the dark ages to present day and even further, into the future.
Revolving around ideas from different spiritual systems, without attaching to any particular one, the book brings forward notions such as: memory of the soul, continuous learning, destiny, katharsis, healing, starting anew.
A gorgeous voyage towards and beyond the far and wide limits of human awareness.

AD 2016

I was disappointed with the progression of the story when it traced 2016 AD. Up to this point, the story and characters were intriguing— full of exciting encounters and historical figures. In 2016 AD, I completely lost interest in the story. While some aspects of the story were amusing, it would have been more interesting had it followed a different narrative.