I am a John Boyne fan; I have read and throughly enjoyed quite a lot of his books, both for adults and for children.
I have been anticipating the release of this book and I am sorry to say that for me, A Traveller At the Gates of Wisdom has failed to deliver.

I feel as though the premise was very ambitious. The book read like a mish mash of ideas that did not connect together. I did not like the baseness and cruelty displayed in many places, it was unnecessary and repetitive.

I know that the story focuses on the same characters from a family evolving and reappearing in given periods of history, but for me it didn't work.

I had no connection with the characters; because of this I found the stories repetitive and I did not care about the outcomes. The appearance of characters from previous books was a lighthearted touch, Maud Avery and Tristan were mentioned, but I feel that their inclusion may spoil these superior, stand alone books for people who have yet to read them.

Unfortunately for me this was not a great read. Others may disagree. I am hoping that John Boyne is back on form with his next offering, which of course I will read. He is a good author, but I did not enjoy A Traveller At The Gates of Wisdom.

A Traveller At The Gates Of Wisdom John Boyne
I finished this book a few days ago, and it is still on my mind. I normally write my review minutes after I close a book, but think I have delayed writing this one as I didn't know where to start, despite thinking more about this review than any other.
To cut a long story short, I absolutely loved this book. As a big fan of John Boyne, I was really looking forward to reading this, having previously said that nothing will ever beat The Heart's Invisible Furies for me, well this came pretty close if not equal.
I loved the ambitious concept, it was like nothing I have read before. I love books that span a lifetime, so this hit the nail on the head for me.
No one I know has finished this yet, and I am really looking forward to hearing other peoples opinion on it, and feel the need to discuss this book.
I would love to hear John interviewed about this book, and the concert, this author is such an amazing story teller, and no two books I have read by him have been the same.
An easy 5/5 for me.

A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne.
I feel really confused by this book. I wanted to love it and the writing is amazing but I found it hard work to read it. It is essentially a novel with huge ambitions. It opens in AD 01 and ends in 2080 so over two thousand years of history!
Each chapter is set in a different time and place with a different character but what links them is the universality of the problems which human beings encounter. It is all about families, religious beliefs, prejudice and human imperfection. I did not find any of the characters imprinted themselves onto my memory in the way which Cyril Avery of The Heart’s Invisible Furies achieved. I wanted to love this book by one of my favourite authors and I loved parts of it and was overwhelmed by the quality of the writing and the research but it would not go to the top of my list of favourite John Boyne novels.
I am eager to see what others feel about the book and feel that the fact that I do not love it may be my fault rather than the author’s. I also wonder whether I need to re-read the novel in order to truly get to grips with it.
I want to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

It took me a while to get used to the time jumps whilst seemingly staying with the same characters. However, I loved Boyne’s skill in creating characters I really cared about even though I only met them for a few pages; the imagination to tweak each character’s circumstances to make them unique but provide the link to the the previous segment is genius. A really thoughtful exploration of humanity.

I enjoyed this and was impressed by the unusual way Boyne moved the narrative one,leaving his characters behind in leaps through time and geography without losing the thread of the story. I thought I would really dislike that, as I'm not a fan of short stories because I like to immerse myself in a writer's world, but somehow this worked for me. That said, it felt just a tad overlong and there were moments in 400AD when I found myself wondering how long it would take to get to Shakespeare and whether or not it would go on to the present time period and beyond.
It's a stunningly complex accomplishment and I apppreciated the uniqueness of that and his attention to detail.

An extremely ambitious book but pays off completely. It took twenty pages for me to get into the story and understand the format but once I did was absolutely hooked. It spans two thousand years and many different locations and timelines. Characterisation was fantastic, I have never loved and loathed characters with so much passion in a book. The plot was also thrilling and fast paced, initially slightly disjointed, but once the concept was established it was a riveting read.

I have never read anything like this, it is very hard to describe and a very original concept - I adored it, even more so considering how the amount of research that Boyne must have put into it is astounding. I was totally absorbed in every new world he created. I will be recommending to friends looking for a lengthy and rewarding read.

A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom isn’t so much of a book as it is an experience, an experience that spans 2000 years, 47 countries, and legions of historical events.

The story begins in Palestine in A.D. 1 with King Herod’s ordered infanticide. Here we met a father, a mother, and two sons. One with his father’s violence in his blood. One who lives his mother’s artistry. One leaves. One stays. The story then jumps to Turkey, A. D. 41, followed by Romania, A.D. 105, and so the chronicle continues. Touring across time, we follow our unnamed traveller as he recounts his history of love, loss, grief, and revenge. While the world mutates and modernises around him, his destiny remains the same. It is written.

A novel of ambitious storytelling, I admit to initially feeling doubtful. However, I quickly shrugged off my apprehension, grasped hold of the intertwining themes that weave the narrative together, and let Boyne sweep me away on an epic, strangely hypnotic adventure. As we advance through time and traverse nations, we witness the universal terrors and horrors of man’s inhumanity, familial relationships, the subjugation of women, and more. Boyne explores the unchanging nature of human emotions through time, while simultaneously speaking to us about the turbulence of contemporary society.

Challenging yet captivating, this is not a book to race through. It brims with intricate details, graphic events, and Boyne’s signature thought-provoking dialogue. I may be making it sound more daunting than it is, but I will be surprised if any review could truly do this book justice. It’s impossible to string together the words to evoke Boyne’s masterful accomplishment. I can only imagine the extensive writing process and amount of research that this marvel of a novel must have required.

John Boyne has reaffirmed his place among my all-time favourite authors. Each book I have read by him has been original, inspired, often heart-breaking, and impressive to the extent that he always leaves me stunned. This book achieves this and more.

A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom is an experience; an experience that you will only truly understand by undertaking the sweeping adventure for yourself. I doubt you will have read anything quite like it.

I am a huge John Boyne fan and this did not disappoint. Very unusual read and, yes, like other readers it took a few chapters to totally understand the concept and which direction the book was going. Going from 1Ad to beyond our time was a very courageous step and I agree there were historical inaccuracies but that did not take away from the clever concept of how the same troubles were borne through different ages, countries and cultures. The only reason I am not giving this 5 stars is the last 2 chapters, as it suddenly felt as if we were in a race to get to the end as quickly as possible.

A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom is a beautifully written story of a man’s life from boyhood to middle age, with a clever structure telling the same story in different places and times through history from Palestine in 1AD through to the 21st century. It demonstrated that places and times may change, but human experience, love and loss stays the same.

I have previously read and enjoyed Boyne’s work, was excited to read this one and was not disappointed. I would give this book 4.5 stars rounded up. I had been planning a solid 5 stars until the last two chapters, which felt jarring and separate from the traveller’s story that had been told up to that point. Nevertheless, a rewarding and recommended read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I am a huge fan of John Boyne, The Hearts Invisible Furies is up there as one of my all time favourite books, so when I had my request approved to read an advanced copy of A Traveller at the Gates if Wisdom I was over the moon!! I must admit, I initially wondered if i was going to struggle to engage with the book and it did take a few chapters for me to understand what was happening and how things were moving forward but I ended up fully immersed in the story and I loved the way that the reader is taken through such a huge period of time and such a variety of locations. I felt that the message was clear and very appropriate for the times that we're living in at the moment. These stories and emotions are universal and they transcend time, race, class etc. I've seen some negative reviews in terms of the historical accuracies but I don't claim to be any kind of expert on history so flaws of that nature were missed by me. I don't think the author is claiming to be a historical writer and so I think it unfair to judge the story on these elements, as they are the background and not the story itself, which I think is the point? I read Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas earlier in the year and had similar feelings when reading that. I would highly recommend this book, not the easiest read to get into but the pay off is completely worth it.

I'm completely disappointed by this book. I love John Boyne and that's why I was offered this new book. I expected something new and it being based on history. I know some of the author's books with historical topic and appreciate their quality so I am horrified to see how many mistakes were here. Let's write some the most obvious ones (and there are much more): Queen Victoria reigning in 1832, potatoes being eaten in Sweden of 1133, Orpheus being known in Guatemala before Columbus, Diego as a name in Argentine before 1492. Did anybody read this book and checked for such obvious mistakes? How can this happen?
All together I liked the the idea behind the book and it was an interesting reading. I liked the style and the author captures the athmosphere of different places, so you can really feel like being there (except when there is a talk of kimono in China). The characters are well drawn and allow you to follow their actions and thoughts, so you feel quite immersed in their lives.
When the mistakes are corrected I would be happy to give 4 stars.

Groundhog Day meets Matt Haig's How To Stop Time meets Forrest Gump. An ambitious story unfolding over multiple eras in multiple locations. The "humanity is universal" message was hammered home a bit too obviously for my liking. Clever concept but ultimately, for me, leading to an unengaging narrative,

Boyne’s most ambitious novel yet! We follow our narrator and his family from Palestine in 1AD all the way to the US in 2016, and beyond. The names change, the places change, but the heart of our narrator and his relationships with those around him remain the same, and the wisdom he gains follows him into each new life.
Boyne is an absolute master at storytelling and this novel is proof. This book is like an exquisitely woven tapestry, it’s difficult to imagine the research and hard work that must’ve gone into creating it. The language is simple, but rich. The historical references are fascinating, taking you from Attila the Hun to Michaelangelo and on to Trump in the recent years. My only issue would be that the last few chapters took on an almost farcical quality which was at odds with how profound the rest of the book was, but I would still highly recommend this, and give it an actual score of 4.5/5.

John Boyne does not disappoint. This is an epic read, spanning millennia, families and lifetimes. And yet it all stems from one family and decision made that will have consequences for over 2,000 years. Dealing with love, death, murder, grief, revenge, the places and times change but the themes remain the same. An ambitious read but one I feel deserves to be read in one go, if possible. I was absolutely captured by it and how it reached its conclusion. He's done it again.

Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for an early copy of A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom.

This book is almost impossible to explain but an utter delight to read.

Boyne is a master story telling and whilst you do not follow the same characters for more than a chapter you become swept up in the story that spans over two thousand years. This is some of the most clever writing I have ever had the pleasure of reading and does not disappoint.

I also very much enjoyed the little Easter egg for those who have read The Thief of Time, again seamlessly done.

I would recommend this book to everyone, Boyne's writing is not to be missed and this is a unique story unlike anything I have read before.

At first I found the structure of this book confusing. I had to flick back across chapters to see if I’d been missing something. I hadn’t! The chapters jump across time and space. Leaving a character behind and picking up an almost identical one. It starts to flow the more you read.

I love the premise of this book. Of the universal story of humanity. Of the shifting in time and country. It’s a hugely ambitious project for an author. It was well executed but lacked a thread to hold onto. I really struggled with the lack of any character. With everyone kind of being the same person you end up with no one to feel emotionally connected to.

I don’t know that our human experience is universal. I think emotionally we experience grief and loss and sadness and joy. But there are also so many differences, so many more hardships for people of minorities that aren’t acknowledged here.

It’s a big book and a slow paced read. I think it will be loved by some and left unfinished by others.

Fabulous book! A walk through the centuries telling the same story with different names and in different places. Along the way we meet famous people from history. I even found some excellent one liners which made me chuckle.
One lesson to be learned from this story is that hate and revenge are never the right paths to take.
This book is excellent and written so well. There’s a smoothness in the transition from one era to the next but it never loses its way.
A definite must read.

The Heart's Invisible Furies is one of my all-time favorite books and I really enjoyed A Ladder to the Sky so I squealed with delight when I got approved for the ARC. Sadly I just wish I could've enjoyed it more than I did.

The concept is certainly unique and original: one story told through several iterations of the same characters and spanning two millenia and many cultures and civilizations (I can't imagine the amount of research and planning this book must have taken). Though at first it was slightly confusing ( I hadn't even read the synopsis) soon I got the gist of it. Fascinating as it was reading about different times and places in such a detailed manner, I think the plot was not strong enough for such a complex structure. I was left with the feeling that many chapters did nothing to advance the plot and were just filler, beautiful, but filler nonetheless.

The writing flows beautifully and is easy to read in spite of the complexity of the concept. Though it didn't meet my expectations, I don't regret reading it and I would certainly recommend it if you're a fan of historical fiction with a twist.

3.5/5

There is no doubt that John Boyne is a storyteller of extraordinary skill, but in this novel I missed the emotional connection to the characters that I have had in previous novels. The storytelling method was fascinating, and I can imagine the huge amount of research that went into it, but I feel that in all the world building we lost the human connection and the inner details of the characters that bring them alive to us.
This is still, very much, a book worth reading as it's storytelling technique is so unique and very much underlines the necessary message that no matter the time or the place we are all human and suffer from the same joys, sorrows and love. It highlights exactly what it means to be human.

Wow! Just wow. This book blew my mind. It is so unique in construction - to me anyway - and delivered time and time again all the way through.
It starts off a little weird, but once you get what is happening, you realise how blooming clever it all is. Basically, we follow an unnamed narrator and his family throughout history and across the world. From 1AD all the way through time to the present day. Chapters are headed with the where and when. Along the way we witness real history going on around him as his own story develops. His marriages, children, relationships with his family, jobs, tragedies, etc etc. If you know your history you will relish in some of the seamless ways the author has inserted his story, weaving his fiction around the truth. I have a modicum of historical knowledge so I got about half of the incidents but those I didn't probably didn't matter in the big picture.
Characterisation is - shall we say - interesting as the characters remain true to their core values and relationships to each other, but due to the structure of the book change pretty much everything else with each chapter. There are themes running throughout - family, revenge, love, loss - all of which lead to our narrator finding himself in some difficult situations along the way.
It's hard to really explain, or do the book justice in a review, as this is a book you really need to just start reading to get where it is really going. It may take you a few chapters to really understand what the author is doing but, believe me, it's well worth your time and trouble. It's a magical book and one of the few that I will probably re-read after a while.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.